Dream homes in a listed building by the Danube

Havienne is a real eye-catcher whether you pass by it on bike, train or boat. The complex housing 20 luxury apartments in the 19th district of Vienna deservedly won the 2018 FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Austria award in the Heritage category. The building is certainly old, but you wouldn’t know to look at it. It was built in 1930 as the Tegetthoff naval barracks directly on the banks of the Danube. Architect and co-owner Rita Reisinger-Schöbel and architect Doris Kutscher from the | sopht | loft in Vienna took on the project. They transformed the 3400-m² property into dream homes. The old building now contains spacious apartments and penthouse apartments with ceilings up to 6 m high and two new bungalows were also added.

This extraordinary renovation project required the highest standards. “Only the highest quality materials were considered for these luxury units”, says architect Rita Reisinger-Schöbel. “We opted for Tondach tiles in anthracite engobe for the 1700-m² roof area”, she adds. Beforehand, it was an undeveloped attic space roofed with natural clay tiles. “In consultation with the Federal Monuments Authority Austria (BDA), we quickly decided in favour of these roof tiles due to their colour. They look fantastic and the building material is both high in quality and durable”, says architect Doris Kutscher. “No other material came into question for this purpose”. 

As the former naval barracks is a listed building, the BDA applied strict rules, particularly for the reconstruction of the roof area. The old roof structure, which rested on massive concrete supports for many years, had to be removed. The new substructure consists of a steel primary framework with a wooden secondary structure. The result is a classic lightweight structure on which the 19-by-40-cm tiles are mounted.
 
“We had to adhere strictly to the existing shape of the roof and were not allowed to make it even one millimetre higher or wider. The basic requirement of the monument authority was that the form of the roof had to remain visible even during construction”, says Reisinger-Schöbel. This was also a very unusual project at other levels. “We started by installing flood protection, which we had to reconcile with the building’s preservation order. In addition, we have changed the function of the building and created new floor plans. We have never built a roof of this size before”, says Kutscher. “A lot of exciting aspects came together in this project”.