Kaufhaus Tyrol () is the current name of a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

with a long history in the centre of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, the state capital of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, Austria. It was built in 1908, and a new building was opened in 2010. With 55 shops, it is the largest department store in Innsbruck.

Location

Kaufhaus Tyrol is located in the centre of Innsbruck, now in a pedestrian area of Maria-Theresien-Straße, close to the Rathaus-Galerien and the Landhaus.

History

The department store was opened in 1908 as the first in Tyrol by the Jewish families Bauer and Schwarz. Under the Nazi regime, it was forced to be sold, to the German firm Ferdinand Kraus, which ran it under this name. It was destroyed in World War II and restored after the war during a 10-year period. The name Kaufhaus Tyrol was introduced in 1966. The store changed owners three more times. In 2004, it was bought by René Benko, who demolished it in 2005 and built a new store which opened in 2010. The new building caused controversy because of its location in the historic centre of Innsbruck.

Architecture

The new building was designed by the English architect

David Chipperfield Sir David Alan Chipperfield, (born 18 December 1953) is an English architect. He established David Chipperfield Architects in 1985. His major works include the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (1989–1998); the Museum ...

in collaboration with the Innsbruck architect Dieter Mathoi. The facade was planned to not imitate historic buildings but form a bridge between old and new. A system of Thermische Bauteilaktivierung was installed for

heating, ventilation, and air conditioning Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HV ...

to save energy and minimise costs. The interior of the building is open to daylight through a glass dome. The building won a

RIBA European Award RIBA European Awards are part of an award program by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Complemented by the RIBA National Award, RIBA National and RIBA International Award, International Awards, it rewards "the excellent work being done by R ...

in 2011. It was among the contenders for the prestigious

European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award is a prize given biennially by the European Union and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, 'to acknowledge and reward quality architectural production in Eu ...

, the ''Mies van der Rohe Award'', that year.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Department stores of Austria Buildings and structures in Innsbruck 1900s architecture 2000s architecture Modernist architecture in Austria Retail companies of Austria Economy of Tyrol (state)