Excerpt: Loft Panzerhalle, designed by Smartvoll, is an apartment preserving the historical space and environment and fills the room with daylight instead of artificial illumination. Instead of creating an ordinary second level, sleeping areas were moved to the margin, placing them directly at the windows with a breathtaking view from the bed. Due to the spacious apartment of 8 meters’ room height, we could create a separate relax- and spa area with a sauna and cozy fireplace. Through this project, the Panzerhalle was restyled with temporary design and functional architecture.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] It was decades ago, when tanks used to be repaired in the old brick lined wall so called Panzerhalle in Salzburg. If you visit this building today, you will find market stands, coworkingspaces, restaurants and a loft apartment that combines highest standards of interior design with a breath taking room volume. We won a competition in which a space of 350m2 should be remodelled to become an extraordinary loft apartment in the old Panzerhalle.


The challenge was to preserve the historic space and environment and to fill the room with daylight, instead of artificial illumination. Furthermore, one should be confronted with the most spatial experience. Instead of creating an ordinary second level such as a gallery, we decided to move the sleeping areas to the margin, placing them directly at the windows with a breath-taking view from the bed on to the Salzburg mountains.


There by the centre of the room offered enough space for a remarkable staircase with various functions such as separating the living areas from the entrance and illuminating the flat with natural light from the ceiling. Hidden underneath this concrete centrepiece, the kitchen made of lava stone, stretches between the two terraces. This multifunctional kitchen unit, in which herbs can be grown, serves as working-, eating-, and communication area. Staircase and kitchen are generously surrounded by the living room, the working place and the entertainment area framed by the old brick lined walls.


Due to the spacious apartment consisting of 8 meters’ room height, we could additionally create a separate relax- and spa area with a sauna and cosy fireplace. On top of this, the transparent shower cabin with lanternslide, gives you the feeling of floating 4 meters above the ground- in the middle of the loft. Through this project, not only the „Panzerhalle“ was restyled with temporary design and functional architecture, but also the whole historic building has got affected by this visionary step.


