The MPREIS supermarket chain from Tyrol has been opening numbers of new stores across Austria in recent years. The company is known for sustainability and for the strikingly individual architecture of their stores.

The store in Klagenfurt is situated in a highly visible position with excellent accessibility along a main road. It combines shopping with a café and bistro zone, adding an attractive meeting place to the new buildings on the site. For this situation, Tyrolean architects i-unit created an unusual and eye-catching design.

The architects’ first idea involved a concrete structure, but after the site survey revealed that the ground was unsuitable for this, they switched to a lightweight wooden construction method. As architect Volker Miklautz says, this change of direction led to a design of a completely different character, with a fantastic atmosphere. Despite the overall weight restriction due to the quality of the ground, the wooden construction was well able to satisfy the requirements with its combination of low deadweight and high strength.

The key to the design are the arcades. They form a sheltered area along the front and side of the store, and also create a pleasant lighting situation in the interior. They form the access ways and entrance, provide shade, and also enclose the outdoor seating area of the bistro.

The building is a low-energy design and its entire energy needs are met by the solar panels on its roof.

Since supermarkets have an indispensable role in society as local suppliers of people’s everyday needs, their owners have to take up the task of building appropriately for our time. This store in Klagenfurt is exemplary in terms of its architecture, its state-of-the-art building methods and performance.