Pyramidenkogel, Keutschach (AT)

A platform, a transmitter and a café are to be lifted up by a wooden structure, accessible via a lift, a staircase and a ramp. The goal is a landmark: see and be seen. The wooden tower is intended to express the possibilities of the material, mark the place and create orientation in the landscape.
The design is based on two vertical, closed and fire-safe shafts – one for the elevator, one for the escape staircase – supplemented by a third, free shaft that swings out at the top and accommodates the viewing platforms, the café and the technical floor. The three columns are embraced by a circular ramp that spirals up around the structural core. This path forms the adventure trail, which circles the tower 20 times and offers the view a changing landscape. This escape route also serves as a maintenance walkway and horizontal weather protection for the load-bearing structure.
Restaurant, exhibition and shop in the pedestal zone follow the path after leaving the tower. Massive in the ground, above earth built in wood, they follow a clear sequence of rooms. Their position in the east of the tower allows visitors to see the tower grow out of a hill and not out of a building.