Sponsor Phase I:
 
The project was carried out as part of the “Energy of the Future” program and was carried out by the Research Promotion Agency on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor.
 
uniqa Group Austria
Wood industry trade association
proHolz Austria
 
The eightplus research project is an Austrian contribution to the development of urban, multi-story timber construction. The central issue is the question of whether and to what extent timber construction can prove its worth in high-rise construction. The project title comes from the fact that wooden structures with eight or more floors are being examined. The minimum of eight floors results from the fact that special rules apply in the Vienna building regulations from this height onwards. The influences of wind and earthquake forces significantly determine the construction. At the start of the project, there were no reference projects and no more in-depth studies on the topic, which is why the project initiators found it essential to put together a team of experts from all relevant disciplines in order to examine the topic from as many perspectives as possible. The feasibility of a wooden high-rise building should not only be examined from a technical perspective, but the ecological and economic concerns should also be examined.
 
The research project is essentially based on four pillars:
  • Development of a type of high-rise building with more than eight floors.
  • Basic solution for the supporting structure including prefabrication, assembly, fire and personal protection
  • Technical due diligence including building services concept
  • Market-oriented positioning in an economic and ecological sense.

The insights gained exceed the original expectations of the project. When the project started, we looked for a way to scratch the high-rise boundary in the area between 8 and 12 floors. In the course of the research work it was shown that up to 20 floors could be implemented within an economically sensible framework.
 
At Mexicoplatz in Vienna, a place with great potential to grow into a vibrant urban subcenter, the eightplus concept was tested in the form of a project study. As an entrance portal from the water side, the wooden high-rise building becomes a landmark in which urbanity and ecological urban development come together. Analogous to the Reichsbrücke, a 200-meter-long clasp extends from the Mexico Park over the Handelskai and the express railway line to the Danube harbor. It enables barrier-free, walking connections from the port to the subway and creates an attractive, weather-protected space in the city. There are parking spaces underneath, sunk into the terrain. Above it, placed on the clasp, sits a six-story wooden crossbar that accommodates the administration of the Vienna Harbor Company. Offset behind it is a twenty-story high-rise building, whose wooden construction can be seen on the facade. The office building has an open floor plan and technical equipment that allows the building to be operated as a passive house. The building concept offers companies and organizations a location that allows them to express their basic ecological attitude.