Banking house Carl Spaengler

Linz, Austria

Photo © Josef Pausch

Architects: Heidl Architekten

Location: Hauptplatz 20, 4020 Linz, Austria
Year: 2008

Strikingly narrow (only 6 metres wide and 60 metres deep), the building has the basic structure of a Late Gothic “long courtyard house” and is divided into main, middle and rear sections. The middle section has an arcaded courtyard. A special feature of the house is a meandering intermediate wall that perspectively stretches or foreshortens the room zones. The result is a complex sequence of spaces, courtyards and arcades, views outside and through-views with constantly changing perspectives. A very subtle addition to the historic structure using contemporary elements was built in three stages. The intense interweaving of exterior and interior, old and new, is evident particularly in the courtyards. From the ground floor to the second floor, the primary aim was to rehabilitate the historic building fabric. As the result of a city fire in the 18th century, the third and the fourth floors had few rooms worth preserving and were completely remodelled.