The new Ikea store in Vienna will be located in the central Mariahilferstrasse.
The ikea success It does not lie in the functional design of his BILLY bookcase, nor in the (also cheap) comfort of his famous POÄNG armchair, nor even in recent collaborations with renowned industrial designers. What has always characterized this Swedish furniture and home furnishings company –and what has earned him his popularity and acceptance– is knowing how to be ahead of his time.
When at the end of the last century half the world did not know what an allen key was, Ikea made assembly instructions for your furniture were required reading Sunday afternoons. And now that (almost) everyone knows how to put a screw (but we don't have time to do it), it turns out that they have just presented a system called wedge dowel that does without them.
Well, the same thing is happening with its stores: if before they were on the outskirts of the cities so that we could go shopping and take the products with us in our own vehicle, now the idea is place them in the urban area, in the very heart of commerce, because the future of cities is green and it is no longer fashionable to have a car. Yes, on the contrary, electronic commerce.
The store will not have parking lots; yes many green areas.
THE ECO-STORE
It is for this reason – that social customs and purchasing habits have changed so much – that Ikea has designed its most sustainable store to date (also in the world!) in Mariahilferstraße, the main commercial artery of Vienna.
Connected to the Westbahnhof train station, it will be accessible by public transport, by bike or on foot, and will not have parking since to move around the center of the Austrian city a car is not necessary. Nor to buy at Ikea, since large items will be delivered to your home within a maximum period of 24 hours.
Being as sustainable as possible is the objective of the IKEA Westbahnhof store, therefore, in addition to being built with ecological materials that respect the environment, It will have a roof garden and more than a hundred trees scattered around the building. In fact, as confirmed by the company, these landscaping solutions, in addition to being emotionally and physically comfortable, will also be thermally comfortable, since "will reduce the temperature in the building by at least two degrees, which will make the surrounding area look much greener and more pleasant."
The youthful JO & JOE accommodation concept will occupy the top two floors of the Ikea building.
MORE THAN A SHOPPING CENTER
Developed in cooperation with the Viennese architecture studio Querkraft Architekten, the building – transparent, designed in a grid with large open spaces – will house an Ikea store on the first four floors (and another four along Mariahilferstraße to create an active shopping street). Y, on the two upper floors, a JO&JOE (Accor) designer poshtel that will have a rooftop bar and restaurant.
Because the parallel objective of this new and sustainable store is to become a fun social meeting point, one that goes far, but far beyond what is a mall of the past.
One of the rooms of the JO&JOE poster of the Ikea store in Vienna.