The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna campus was extended using sustainable mass timber to accommodate 650 students.

The extension, 'Ilse Wallentin Haus' was named after the first woman to receive a doctorate from the University: Ilse Blasch, née Wallentin.

The centre features ten seminar rooms, a library with a hundred reading places, and 40 institute rooms with shared green areas covering a net room area of 4,400 m².

The open entry-level and the public terrace create a communicative interface for students and faculty members from surrounding buildings. In addition to the atmospheric qualities of the exposed natural wood surfaces, the high proportion of daylight contributes to a pleasant learning and working environment.

The appearance of the building is characterised by its timber skeleton construction. The façade wooden grid is continued in the interior of the entrance level and the library as a structural grid for the roof.

The support structure becomes a design element. Full-height glazing creates a dialogue between the interior and the surroundings. During the warm season, individual glass elements can be opened to the terrace, creating a meeting place for students.

The four-story wooden structure was constructed with prefabricated Sylva™ cross-laminated timber CLT Walls and Roofs by Stora Enso and glued laminated timber (GLT/glulam) beams and columns by HASSLACHER Holding GmbH. Slyva360 was also used to assist with the installation.

All of the wood was coated with a colourless UV protection (ADLER Lignovit UV 100). Special light stabilizers, in the coating absorb UV radiation and stabilises the wood component lignin. In this way, wood yellowing is significantly delayed, when the wood is exposed to sunlight via the large windows.

The natural appearance of the wood is preserved so it will remain looking fresh and new for many years to come. And because it is colourless, you can barely detect it. The UV protection has the added advantage of protecting the wood from moisture, dirt or damage during transport or in high traffic areas by students.

And much of the wood was pre installed with digital sensors to continuously capture the temperature and humidity during transport and assembly.

Many of the Sylva elements were cut to allow for lifting slings and inserted with dowels. This meant when they arrived on site it was much faster and safer for the crane to lift up the elements and assemble into place.

Public and highly frequented rooms are situated on the lower levels. The two large seminar rooms on the entrance level can be joined and opened towards the foyer to provide a large flexible space for events. The excellent acoustics were easy to install thanks to the high degree of prefabrication that Sylva CLT Roofs deliver.

Well-being and closeness to nature are enhanced by the use of wood, while the quiet location and views of nature increase the quality of the student learning environment. The design concept is designed to make the construction and technology visible, so ventilation ducts and cable trays are installed visibly.

In Austrian forests, 30 million cubic metres of wood grow every year, which corresponds to 1 cubic metre per second, meaning that the wood required for the project can be regrown in 16 minutes. In the long term, the new timber construction binds approx. 1 000 tonnes of CO₂, while at the same time new trees grow in sustainably managed forests, which in turn actively remove climate damaging gases from the air.

View architectural drawings and more here: https://www.archdaily.com/955587/library-and-seminar-centre-boku-vienna-swap-architekten-plus-delta/600aed5263c0176a80000315-library-and-seminar-centre-boku-vienna-swap-architekten-plus-delta-plan?next_project=no

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDVl7UcVp-c

This description was adapted in part from text by the architects and BOKU