It has been built in the hearth of a European Capital, this Ikea’s shop cannot be reached by car but only by pedestrians and by train or bus: a very strange format that makes you question why you can enter only if you arrive by foot. Hereafter the reasons.
IKEA’s SHOP in the heart of the city, with no cars and reachable by PEDESTRIANS only
# The shop with no parking space
IKEA Vienna
It is in the heart of Vienna Westbahnhof, designed by the Querkraft Architekten Studio with no parking space, and therefore not reachable by car. The building has 7 floors, and it is characterized by the grill façade that recalls a shelf, which inspired the Studio for the project. The grill is made of steel and cement, and it is 4,5 meters deep, but it has also many trees that make the structure greener as far as color and the philosophy of the building is concerned. It has 160 trees in vases and climbing plants that should work as “natural conditioning system” and purify the air in the surrounding area.
# A sustainable shopping journey
IKEA Vienna Westbahnhof
The core of the project is, indeed, the concept of sustainability: citizenship behaviors are changing into an eco-friendly concept and for this reason Ikea created “sustainable purchasing experience”. As reported by the Swedish company “around 2/3 of the people in Vienna who live in the center of the city do not own a car. They use public transport, they walk, ride a bike, or drive a scooter. The Ikea Vienna Westbahnhof is at service of all these new trends.
Being for pedestrians, the Swedish shop Ikea Vienna Westbahnhof gives the chance to deliver the furniture to your home within the same day. Ikea states that now people expect to receive their purchases at home regularly.
# A hostel at Ikea’s shop
IKEA Vienna
At the ground floor of the building there is a big lobby from where you can have a great view on all floors. But the most peculiar thing of the shop is a hostel with 345 sleeping places located at the top of the building. A very unusual thing. There is also a hanging garden for guests and customers.
LAURA MALTAGLIATI
(Original Article by Beatrice Barazzetti )
