Newly developed technology in people-transport sets examples for the future. What used to be bland construction without any design is now being put into the spotlight through architecture.

Georg Driendl Architects proceeded with their project as winner of the design competition. The new developments in cable-car technology – using „big-wheels“ – makes it much more comfortable for passengers to get onto the car and in this particular case provides a striking architectural accent in the village.

The free-standing steel and glass structure sits on two stylish reinforced concrete walls and provides the envelope for the technology which is not fixed into the foundations of the building. Glass exposes the technical inner-life and gives the passenger from the outside a show of what experience the mountain-ride will entail.

The transparent, very dynamic structure which has triangular and rhombus shapes of glass covering the 2,200 m2 completely enclosed skin, shapes the envelope to suit the technology inside. The architectural landmark in St. Anton encompasses the highest possible level of safety using STADIP laminated heat-strengthened glass.

What some show as cathedrals of technology, others release with fantastic forms like fairytale images. Georg Driendl grins when he hears the analogy of „a dragon which is gorging the village“.

In the Autumn of 2007, the Unger Steel company was awarded the Austrian steel construction prize for exceptional performance on the Galzigbahn project.

The Galzigbahn Ski-station has received an exceptional Silver Award from the IOC/IAKS - the only international Architecture prize for a Sport and recreation facility already in service.
"In the midst of ski regions, where one is normally confronted with conventional, primitive cube-shaped buildings, we find this project with great transparency and a high quality of architecture" - underlined the jury's review of the complex but also achieved challenge.

(Photos 1,3-5: Bruno Klomfar, 2 and 6: Roland Krauss)