How IKEA cools the neighborhood of Vienna's Westbahnhof with 160 new trees by up to 1.5°C on a hot day
A cool house park for Vienna
IKEA opened an innovative furniture store in Vienna in 2021. It makes a positive contribution to climate change adaptation, is car-free and a place where people like to meet. With its 160 trees, the building cools the neighborhood of Vienna's Westbahnhof by up to -1.5 °C on a hot day. The multiple-awarded building is the world's first greenpass PLATINUM certified building. The idea competition began with the question of what people around the location would want if they had the choice?
Together with his team and knowing that IKEA takes the issues of sustainability, biodiversity and neighborhood seriously, querkraft developed the visionary project of a vertical park that houses a furniture store and a hostel at the same time.
Platinum
Platinum
From blue boxes to climate-fit inner city furniture store
The first innercity IKEA store in Vienna impresses with a contemporary and highly innovative mobility concept – where there are no parking spaces, but for the first time there are many plants!
greenpass
Green Building
The many trees and shrubs on all facades shape the image of the furniture store strikingly. They grow out of big plant pots and are sensor controlled supplied with water and nutrients. The effects of the building and its outdoor facilities on the microclimate and urban climate were given a very high priority right from the start.
We have come a long way from 'blue boxes' on a green field to a inner city centre furniture store that is second to none. We are daring to undertake this experiment because our lives, customer behaviour and mobility habits are changing rapidly. In order to respond to this, new approaches are needed.
IKEA Austria CEO Alpaslan Deliloglu
The answer was clear – an inner-city park! – when asked what people around the location would want if they had a choice
Querkraft Architekten Jakob Dunkl
With greenpass we were able to confirm that the greening of this fantastic building is not just a "beautification" but that the 160 trees make an active and sustainable contribution to cooling the city. This is how contemporary architecture should work!
Kräftner Landschaftsarchitektur CEO DI Joachim Kräftner
| The urban IKEA furniture store at Westbahnhof is a showcase project in terms of sustainability and we are pleased that this has been officially confirmed by the greenpass Platinum certificate. |
IKEA Construction Manager Real Estate Europe Central Robert Charuza
The greenpass Climate module was used early on in the ideas competition phase in 2017 to demonstrate and argue for the effects of the various planning drafts and the effectiveness of the greening. The intensive greening of the building was developed by Kräftner Landschaftsarchitektur with the support of the greening experts from Green4Cities. With the help of greenpass and the Pre-Certification and Certification, the green infrastructures could be used optimally in the design and detailed planning. The goal: to ensure a high level of effectiveness and thermal comfort for future users and the neighborhood and to officially confirm this with the first international certification standard for climate resilience.
Results
A total of 6 urban topics with a focus on open space were analyzed, optimized and evaluated: climate, water, air, biodiversity, energy and also costs. With a total of 328 points and thus an overall certification score of 91%, the high-quality project received the world's first greenpass PLATINUM certificate. The scientifically developed proof of quality from greenpass was subsequently also adequately counted in the BREEAM evaluation system for relevant indicators (microclimate, biodiversity and innovation).
The evaluation framework for a greenpass (Pre-)Certification is formed by standardized and differently greened reference scenarios, from totally sealed to fully green (worst case – moderate case – best case). The striking green design of the furniture store scores better in all 5 key performance scores than the previous building stock. The results of the greenpass Certification show, based on the expert simulations using ENVI-met, that the project cools the air temperature on site by up to 1.5 °C on a typical hot day.
Platinum
IKEA City Store Wien
AT-2020-010
Zusätzliche Zertifizierungen
EXCELLENT
GOLD
Climate Resilience
Impact
The green furniture store therefore contributes significantly to improving the situation on site compared to the previous building. Not only the neighbors benefit directly, but also future visitors to the building. The perceived temperature (PET) on the roof terrace is more than 12°C cooler than on a heat day. The analysis and evaluation show that the vegetation used, including the substrate, stores more than 6 kg of CO₂ per heat day which is three times more CO₂ than with the previous stock. The project provide approx. 2,700 m² of green space and 160 trees, which add up to a leaf area of
Additional bonus points
In addition, the project achieved 15 (out of 20) bonus points in the qualitatively assessed bonus fields of biodiversity, resources and social issues. The focus of the project is primarily on promoting biodiversity through species diversity in the selection of plants, different vegetation structures, a species-rich herb layer, habitat structures, bee and bird pastures as well as nesting and breeding sites. The use of recycled building materials in the landscaping and the use of smart lighting and irrigation systems in the bonus field of resources round off the list. Finally, the project also makes a positive contribution to the bonus field of social issues by providing private open space, communal areas and accessibility of the outdoor space or building, completing the high-quality project qualities for users and residents.
Conclusio
The holistic greenpass Certification offers a fact- and figure-based proof of quality for the building and outdoor space and is the ideal complement to sustainable building certifications, which ensures a variety of additional and valuable qualities for users and the general public.
The project makes a very important contribution to the immediate neighborhood and users as well as to the successful adaptation of urban space to climate change and to the positive promotion of biodiversity and our urban habitat. It shows how climate adaptation and the city can be combined, including highly intensive use, and how to benefit directly from the many synergies.
IKEA Austria
querkraft Architekten
Kräftner Landschaftsarchitektur
Green4Cities
greenpass
