Tower of Power | Vienna, Austria | 2015

Architects: göbl architektur ZT GmbH
Client: BFI Wien
General Contractor: Hannl Metallbau GmbH
Photographers: Bruno Klomfar

The Tower of Power, located in the Vienna Brigittenau district, is a public charging station for electric vehicles.

Operated by the Wien Energie electrical company, it was conceived to be a teaching and research facility as well.

Because of that the Tower of Power was mostly put together by trainees of an apprenticeship-learning-center in cooperation with leading companies from the e-mobility industry.

Using different charging systems such as contactless charging and commonly used charging plugs for cars, motorcycles and bikes, the station provides electricity for four cars and four e-bikes at the same time.

The roof and the tower are two of the most ancient architectural forms that are joined together in this project to create a building type that gives the project a distinctive and powerful shape.

The design also expresses the technical components of power generation: The tower houses a wind turbine, and the photovoltaic system is visible in the shape of the sawtooth roof.

The roof protects from the elements, provides light, and accommodates 130 square meters of photovoltaic panels.

The charging stations, the essential functional elements of the station, are located beneath it. The building itself is a steel frame structure clad with aluminum panels.

The Tower of Power is connected directly to Vienna’s power grid: whenever surplus energy is produced, it is fed into the grid.

Conversely, the power grid provides energy to the charging station as needed.

However, the total amount of energy provided to cars and bicycles is not greater than the amount produced by the Tower of Power itself.