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Wienwood 25: These wooden buildings are shaping the future of Vienna!
On September 18, 2025, the best wooden buildings were honored at wienwood 25 at the Architekturzentrum Wien. Discover the award winners!
Wienwood 25: These wooden buildings are shaping the future of Vienna!
In Vienna, the love of wood is no longer a secret. On September 18, 2025, the best wooden buildings in the city were awarded the renowned wienwood prize at the Vienna Architecture Center. This traditional award, which was established in 2005, celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. This year, 36 projects were submitted that were completed between June 2015 and June 2021, and the expert jury was spoiled for choice by choosing four winners and also awarding a special prize and three recognitions, such as Courier reports.
The jury, consisting of experts such as Arno Ritter from aut. architektur und tirol, Markus Lackner, Sylvia Polleres from Holzforschung Austria and Astrid Staufer from TU Vienna, viewed the submissions during a two-day tour of the city. “In urban contexts, wood is increasingly being used as a load-bearing building material and for facades,” says Arno Ritter. What was particularly positive was that the public sector actively promotes timber construction and thus strengthens the innovative character of these projects, he adds Timber construction Austria.
The award winners in focus
The four award-winning projects impressively demonstrate how wood impresses on both a small and large scale. The highlighted allotment house **Villa Minimale** impresses with a floor area of only 35 m² and was designed by Clemens Kirsch Architektur. The **Woody residential complex** in the 12th district shows, with 85 rental apartments in cross-laminated timber construction, that modern living can also be sustainable. Furthermore, the **Großfeldsiedlung training swimming pool** with its wooden slatted facade was awarded by ARGE illiz Vienna/Zurich. The quartet is rounded off by the **Rudolf Steiner School** in Mauer, which impresses with its dismantling and expansion measures by Dietrich Untertrifaller Architects and Andi Breuss.
In addition to these four main prize winners, the **SchloR – Schöner Leben** project, which sees itself as a collective business and residential community, received a special prize. There were also recognitions for the general psychiatric department of the Ottakring Clinic, the Sport & Fun Hall in Leopoldstadt and the Haus P residential building in the garden settlement.
An investment in the future
The wienwood Prize, which is awarded by proHolz Austria in close cooperation with the City of Vienna and supported by Wiener Städtische Versicherung, is not only a sign of appreciation for architectural excellence, but also an important funding measure for sustainable construction methods. A total of 15,000 euros in prize money is available for the winning projects. And to top it all off, the award-winning building projects will automatically be nominated for the Austrian State Prize for Wood Construction, which will be awarded for the first time in 2026.
The development in the Viennese timber construction scene is promising. Projects impress with their high quality and innovation. Wood is not only popular on a small scale, but it is also being used more and more in larger residential complexes and new hospital buildings, often in combination with clay and other alternative materials.
Again proWood As he notes in his report, these projects underline that the Viennese architectural scene is thinking strongly about the future - and is relying on one of the oldest but most important building materials: wood.