Kaufhaus Tyrol Department Store

Maria-Theresien-Straße is a picturesque street in the historic centre of Innsbruck dating from the Middle Ages. The new Kaufhaus Tyrol integrates itself sensitively into the existing context while retaining a sense of confidence and individuality. The building occupies the space of the former Kaufhaus Tyrol and stretches from Maria-Theresien-Straße through the interior of the block to Erlerstraße.
The project consists of three different building volumes, the first of which completes the block structure of the historic street. It has an almost sixty-metre-wide elevation onto Maria-Theresien-Straße and is separated into three sections that are at a slight incline to each other. The articulated appearance of the façade is most noticeable when approached from this street. The main entrance, situated in the centre of the long façade, faces a pedestrian zone in the old town and is emphasised by the additional height of the central part of the building. The deep main façade uses light and shadow to develop the rhythm of the neighbouring building bays and projections. It is made of precast concrete elements with natural stone and marble aggregates, which have polished and sandblasted surfaces. In the window reveals these polished surfaces have a terrazzo-like appearance. Room-height window openings on every floor mediate between the new Kaufhaus Tyrol and the historic environment.
The neighbouring Schindlerhaus, dating back to the sixteenth century, has been carefully restored and a new floor added, providing space for offices and meeting rooms as well as housing the Schindler Café. The second building volume mediates between the first and the third. It is a glass-roofed atrium that provides public circulation for the store. The different bridges and balconies offer framed views out to the city centre and the nearby mountains. The third volume stretches sixty metres beyond the atrium towards Erlerstraße where the larger departments can be found. The east façade of the Kaufhaus Tyrol along Erlerstraße picks up the theme of the main façade with its room-height window openings. Constrained by the existing structure, it is built as a non-bearing post-and-beam construction in anodised brushed aluminium. An additional entrance on this side allows shoppers to walk all the way through the building from Maria-Theresien-Straße to Erlerstraße. The five-storey, naturally lit atrium provides central access to all floors, offering views of different departments and orienting visitors.