Inside the large greenhouse up to 20 guests can stay overnight in small cabanas. They share a tea kitchen with a community table, a spa with individual showers, a big collective sink and a sauna, as well as a fireplace room.

© Hertha Hurnaus

Glass houses at a high altitude represent a special challenge. The large greenhouse is a so-called cold one, with a minimum temperature close to freezing point for year-round plant cultivation as well as an innovative shared accommodation for guests.

© Hertha Hurnaus

Thanks to its steel construction the “Salettl” does not need a single wall. Its lightness is accentuated in dialogue with the ancillary buildings made of stone and wood. The felt walls and brick floor contrast with the glass and aluminum foam façade.

© Hertha Hurnaus

The new 'Salettl,' in contrast to the pre-existing buildings, is open and transparent. It serves as a fine dining area with separate spaces when the partitions are down or as a dance hall for wedding parties when they are up.

© Hertha Hurnaus

The women’s washroom is a room like a kaleidoscope: the stalls made of fogged, reflective aluminium are situated in the four corners, with the 3D-printed concrete washbasins in front of a mirror wall in the niches between them.

© Hertha Hurnaus

Site Plan

Ground floor

First floor

North-South section

West-East section

In the Salettl, spatial comfort is provided by flexible, changeable wooden slat curtains. A large number of different spatial arrangements can be set up in a simple and quick manner.

The gazebo features an innovative floor based on a simple principle: perforated bricks are cut into thinner slices, arranged next to one another, filled in and mortised with concrete. Subsequent sanding gives rise to a previously unknown terrazzo pattern.

Thanks to a largely subterranean development and architecture built into the hillside, the project's newly added 3000 m2 of gross floor space (with 750 m2 of pre-existing space) are not apparent.

“The Steirereck at Pogusch by PPAG architects establishes a close relationship with nature, both in the way the architecture utilizes local materials and in the way it forms an enclosed human habitat that functions as a regional node in the network of food production. It connects several buildings constructed between the 17th and 21st centuries, creating an all-encompassing metabolism on the scale of a rural settlement that serves as both an ecosystem and an energy hub, while staying partially hidden underground. The architects have created a unique architectural language by respecting the conditions of the past, applying a clear form follows function principle, and practicing the reuse or repurposing of materials wherever possible. The result is an eclectic ensemble [...] that is an inspiration for the present and the future.“ (Indira Van 't Klooster)

The rural area is also developing in harmony with the times. The old inn on the Poguschpass at an altitude of 1,050m, owned for decades by the Reitbauer family, which is considered a benchmark of international culinary with the Vienna Steirereck, was poised to take on a key role in their self-understanding.
Innovation and sustainability: the pre-existing buildings and the contemporary additions became a necessary new. A large part is hidden in the hillside, deftly lit via the glass houses. In addition to the farmhouse, stables, solar and biomass power plant, there is a small glass house for the production kitchen, a large glass house for overwintering plants and for overnight accommodation of guests in cabanas, a bar kitchen, a steam counter, a multifunctional "salettl" (gazebo) with mobile wooden blinds, old guest rooms, a farm store, a wine cellar, a wine storage, a workshop kitchen and an earth cellar. This project effectively incorporates thirty individual projects into one. To merge them, as well as the old and the new, into a unique whole was both the challenge and the allure of the finished project.

"Architecture is a spatial product of its time, context and ingenuity. Climate, carbon footprint, sustainable production methods, empowerment of local communities and architectural quality. Architecture must have a greater purpose and utility than just aesthetics and must be evaluated by more than just architectural quality." (Indira Van't Klooster)
Everything was designed down to the smallest detail. All the existing elements were used, reused, reinterpreted or supplemented. A multitude of prototypical solutions were created, giving the project the dimension of a Gesamtkunstwerk of old, new, wood, stone, steel, concrete, glass, felt and aluminum. The new design leads to an energy self-sufficient, resource-saving hospitality project – despite its isolated location in the mountains. The focus was set on renewable energy supply, supplemented by measures to reduce resource consumption (on-site food production, circular economy, composting, re-use and ecological materials), mobility-related energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The Steirereck at Pogusch is part of a research program of the Austrian Ministry for Climate Action and Technology.