The Raiqa

New Quarter in Innsbruck Centre

Raiffeisen-Landesbank Tirol AG is building a new quarter at the entrance to Innsbruck city centre. The modern DAS RAIQA building complex will create space for services, art and culture, enjoyment and a hotel and will unite a wide variety of areas under one roof. It will act as a host and be open to everyone. DAS RAIQA is multi-layered and unique, and sustainable architecture was already a central idea of the clients in the tender. By demolishing the old building, individual components could be retained and reusable materials were recycled. So what could be more obvious than to think of individual areas of the building in wood? Wood as a building material impresses with its sustainability throughout its entire life cycle, can be used in a variety of ways and creates opportunities for architecture in building construction.

Project information

Use:
Multifunctional (bank, hotel, art space, offices, catering, retail)
Location: Innsbruck city centre
Completion: Late 2025
Theurl products used: 1,600 m³ CLTPLUS

Project partners

Timber construction: Carpentry Scherer
Client: Raiffeisen-Landesbank Tirol AG
Architecture: Pichler & Traupmann
Structural design:
RWT Plus ZT GmbH, Vienna
Renderings:
Patricia Bagienski-Grandits, Vienna | Chronic Pictures, Vienna

A hotel is created from different types of boxes

The building consists of a total of nine upper floors, with the hotel’s timber construction starting on the fourth and sixth floors. A special feature are the hotel rooms, which are built in modular timber construction and appear as rigid bodies in their own right. The individual solid timber components are prefabricated in the factory using a sophisticated system to form closed room modules by the Scherer carpentry company and then stacked next to and on top of each other directly on the construction site.

Solution approach

The CLTPLUS wall and ceiling elements were factory-fitted with various finishes such as deep-hole drilling, openings and end finishes. The low dead weight of a wooden box room module measuring 3.70 x 7.20 m is approximately 6 tonnes.

Result

THEURL is supplying a total of 1,600 m³ of wall and ceiling elements made from CLTPLUS. One of the main advantages of modular construction is its high degree of prefabrication, which in turn reduces the construction time on site. A total of 161 wooden boxes in various shapes and sizes are being built for the hotel – from standard rooms to suites.

"Building materials are visibly and noticeably used."

In the RAIQA, however, the natural building material not only plays an important role in the structure. The renewable building material is used visibly and tangibly in many places and thus contributes significantly to the special atmosphere in the building.

Arch. Christoph Pichler, Pichler & Traupmann Architekten ZT GmbH

A special ceiling element

A particular challenge in timber construction is the overhang of over four metres in the north-eastern part of the building.

A cross-laminated timber panel thickness of up to 52 centimetres is achieved in a modern process. In order to exceed the standardised maximum height of 40 centimetres, block bonding with increased quality control is used. The special arrangement of the panel joints ensures the necessary transverse rigidity. These innovative developments and experiences make it possible to utilise the building material CLTPLUS beyond the previously known limits in building construction.