architek[tour] tirol – guide to architecture in tyrol

The small ensemble of vicarage, mortuary chapel and village square forms the new spatial centre of Mathon, a hamlet of Ischgl. The two new buildings – the solid-timber vicarage clad in larch shingles and the sculptural exposed-concrete volume of the mortuary chapel – are slightly offset from one another at the edges of the square and deliberately relate to each other and to their Alpine setting in terms of positioning, height and roof form.

The committed owner acquired a vacant former Paarhof farmstead on the Kaunerberg and, using extensive manual labour, carefully restored the residential building – which had been placed under heritage protection at his initiative – before adapting it for contemporary use. A new building was erected in place of the structurally unsafe barn, with a rammed-earth base for the stables, a hayloft constructed using traditional log-building techniques and a photovoltaic system on the roof. Agricultural use, energy generation and living have thus once again been brought together as an integrated system.

The new townhouse on Innrain replaces a Gründerzeit building that had become outdated. Designed by Rainer Köberl and constructed largely from prefabricated concrete elements, the seven-storey building contains two commercial units and 24 rental apartments. Facing the street, the building blends into the existing row of houses with a classically articulated façade; its defining features are the sculptural cornices, the reddish-brown colour and the generous entrance hall with its two round arches.

The prominent Gründerzeit building at the transition from Burggraben to Museumstraße underwent several alterations over the course of the 20th century. As part of an inner-city densification project, the two-part existing structure was to be raised by additional storeys. Structural considerations, however, required the gable end to be completely reconstructed. Henke Schreieck Architekten adopted the façade articulation of the 1960s to transform the heterogeneous building into a calm, coherent whole that continues the row of houses along Museumstraße and accentuates the corner facing Franziskanerplatz.

The guesthouse, the result of an EU-wide architectural competition, provides high-quality yet affordable accommodation for students and visiting researchers at the University of Innsbruck. A long, timber-hybrid building was constructed on the site along the heavily trafficked Südbahnstraße, following the alignment of the street and incorporating a diverse range of communal spaces at street level.

The primary school on Wattens’ Kirchplatz was conceived as a simple, clearly defined volume that confidently integrates into the heterogeneous urban fabric and opens invitingly towards the town through a deeply recessed entrance. The heart of the school is a top-lit atrium, its interior and exterior both defined by the timber construction. A generous stair landscape connects the flexible learning environments on the upper floors.

The approximately one-kilometre-long path connecting the Wattental and Voldertal valleys follows the topography with delicate consistency. A railing made of metal posts, rough-sawn boards and a simple capping detail gives this everyday piece of infrastructure an unexpected degree of design precision. Jurgen Groener submitted the project for the 2026 Tyrol Award for New Building; the jury recognised it with an "Honourable Mention” for transforming the inconspicuous into a distinctive design feature.

The new building on the outskirts of St. Margarethen creates an unusual combination of two uses: it accommodates the Buch fire brigade as well as a general medical practice. The two parallel volumes, unequal in height, are sheathed in a homogeneous cladding of locally sourced silver fir. Together with the sculptural hose-drying tower, they define the edge of the village where it gives way to the meadows and wooded slopes of the Kellerjoch range.

The new educational centre on the northern edge of Kössen combines a primary school, kindergarten, nursery, after-school care and a sports hall, forming a coherent educational landscape, while also creating a new public place for the community. Externally, the volume of three interlocking buildings of different heights conveys a sense of solidity and rootedness; inside, light wells, tactile qualities, color and an unusual use of ornament shape the atmosphere of the spaces.