“Architecture is about precision and economy, so it’s about the hard, rational aspects. Ultimately, however, it’s just as much about the sensual qualities of a building.”
lichtblauwagner architekten

susanna wagner and andreas lichtblau have been navigating this area of tension since they started working together in 1987.

during their first projects and studies, they established their thematic priorities, focusing on energy-efficient, environmentally friendly architecture and innovations in spatial economy, which they continuously and consistently developed: as early as 1996, well before the current trend, they used ventilation systems with a heating and cooling function as well as a system supplying conditioned fresh air in a low-energy office building in gleisdorf, styria (southern austria).

the school of health care and nursing of the kaiser franz josef hospital in vienna, a project completed in 2010, also features a sophisticated heat recovery system that ensures the supply of fresh air for all the classrooms with a volume of 30,074 cubic metres.

in housing, lichtblauwagner architekten focus on the typological development of high-quality floor plans. both in private housing (such as in the “solar.roof” top-floor apartment project of 1997) and in public housing (such as in the apartment building attemsgasse, 1220 vienna, completed in 2009), their designs feature multi-purpose function spaces, flexible flat sizes as well as the integration of the bathrooms in the living areas – a particular objective of the architects in creating distinctive spaces. the language of their architecture is consistent with their thematic focus and is precise, yet visually subtle.

architecture journalist otto kapfinger wrote: “their buildings are well-defined and perfectly formed, light and open, devoid of formal over-definition … sustainable comfort with undramatic appeal matters more to them than grand visual gestures.”