Gutmann Pelletspeicher – Transformation of a silo, Hall in Tirol

The task of the design was to transform a grain-silo, built in 1978, into a storing-centre for wood-pellets. The tall silo dominated the site, the place spread out the mood of an abandoned industrial complex. The client asked for a new „art-lounge“ on the silo´s top for business-use and events creating by this a „local landmark“ and firm-emblem. An extension to the silo was built for pellets-manipulation and a heating plant.
Design
The „crown´s“ facade is made up of prefabricated concrete-elements forming a structural grid of regular openings derived from the basic module of the Silo-Structure, the „Silo-cell“. Silo and „Crown“ unify to a „Monolith“. Visitors of the art-lounge 45m above ground feel the wideness of the surrounding panorama, at the same time the enclosing grid-structure-facade gives them the feeling of being „far-off-reality“.
Transformation
Transforming existing structures for new use in order to deal with resources in a sustainable way nowadays has become an important task. An anonymous industrial structure by the „Ennoblement of the Silo“ became an impressive architectural site.