TU Vienna
From wooden barracks to a studio house
24 architecture students from TU Vienna are transforming a wooden barrack in need of renovation in the Lindabrunn sculpture park into a functional clubhouse. Supported by the Sto Foundation, an attractive place for art was created independently from design to inauguration.
During the winter semester of 2024/25, students in the design.build studio at TU Vienna developed the design under Professor Peter Fattinger. The challenge: to functionally and creatively develop a barrack from the 1980s with 150 square meters of floor space that was in urgent need of renovation on a limited budget. The young talents moved the front facade two meters forward. This creates space for a light-flooded common area. A large-format seating and reclining window connects the interior and exterior, while a corner window with sliding sashes serves as a bar during events.
The construction phase followed in the summer semester of 2025. The students demolished the old facade, welded a steel structure for the weather-protected open space, and cast monolithic concrete elements for the outdoor kitchen and bench. They hand-polished the surfaces of the eco-concrete, which references the local Lindabrunn conglomerate stone. The stone became famous through the annual sculpture symposia held in the sculpture park from 1967 to 1997.
For Symposion Lindabrunn, the project represents an infrastructural quantum leap: in the middle of a 24-hectare sculpture park, artists can now find a contemporary place to live, work, and exhibit. The Sto Foundation and the Public Art Lower Austria fund supported the project.
Baukreisel e.V.
Meeting point instead of rubble
Students built a room for young people from demolition material
The reuse.practice Spring School 2025 shows how architecture students achieve real impact through recycling. Thanks to funding from the Sto Foundation, a multifunctional space for young people was created in the Asiat Park near Brussels – built from old materials and new ideas.
In April 2025, 20 architecture students from all over Europe transformed an old barracks building in the Asiat Park in Vilvoorde near Brussels under the guidance of Baukreisel e.V. The goal: to create a place for young people with a stage, recording studio, kitchen, toilet, and meeting zone. The project ran in three phases: material procurement from demolition buildings, on-site planning, and finally the conversion.
The students developed wall modules, furniture, and room concepts and worked together with local initiatives on the construction site. They were supported by craftsmen – financed by the Sto Foundation. Students, residents, and young people jointly determined the form and function. The biggest challenge? Everything had to be created from old parts, from windows to bricks to pipes. The result is a vivid example of the construction transition.
