The huge, eye-catching centrepiece of Austria’s group pavilion couldn’t have summed up the country better – a Passivhaus kaffeehaus.
The house-size cut-away structure, designed by architects Trecolore, comprised panelised walls, skinned in Tilly laminated solid wood panels, Isocell and Isolena sheep’s wool insulation, a Fundermax façade system and a range of different high energy-performance windows from Katzbeck, Freisinger and EBS Elk.
“The decision to build a Viennese coffee house was made because Vienna has more large-scale Passivhaus housing developments than anywhere else. There are 150,000 built and another 1,800 under development,” said Markus Gumplmayr of the Advantage Austria promotional body.
Austrian Passivhaus ultra energy-efficient building expertise was also making an increasing impact in the UK, he said, including in the country’s first Passivhaus office building and school.
According to Tilly sales director Veit Ebner, the company’s panels are themselves inherently energy efficient. Available in 14 softwood and hardwood species, they are used for a range of applications, from furniture to ceilings, and combined with a frame in structural applications, as in the Passivhaus Kaffee.
Tilly ranks as one of Austria’s biggest engineered wood producers, and three years ago opened a €30m factory capable of making six million m³ of panels a year. It has sold in the UK for five to six years but is now looking for a new nationwide agent.
