University Graz

Project description

The heart of the university of Graz is the library. The largest educational institution in Styria has more than 4 mio information carriers. For the expansion of the library an annex from the ’70s and the connecting corridor between the main building and the historic library, were wrecked. This created space for a central foyer with a new forecourt as an attractive outdoor recreation zone. That square is covered by a glass cube on the roof of the old building, which has finally been given back its original façade after 125 years.
The building owner spent about 28 mio € on the renovation and new construction of the library. The construction work took almost three years. The aim of the renovation and new construction was to equip the historical building with modern functionality. The installer had to realise a mixture of more than 7,000 m² of partition walls, 2,000 m² of fire protection cladding and more than 12,000 m² of suspended ceilings, which had to meet the highest standards of quality. It was absolutely necessary for a library that almost all of the ceiling surfaces were constructed as acoustic ceilings with perforated boards in order to reduce the noise level in the reading areas to a minimum.
For the installer, one of the greatest challenges was the incorporation of the drywall components into the historic parts of the building. A high performance of logistical organization, time management and a lot of technical know-how from planners and installers were necessary.