The Linz Station quarter now has one more impressive building: The Wissensturm (Knowledge Tower). The Wissensturm Linz is a combination of city library and adult learning centre in one building – a 63 meter high, elliptical tower with 15 upper levels, a 3 level podium and one sub-level. The City of Linz has created another cultural and educational landmark – together with the Lentos Art Museum [>] and the planned expansion of the Ars Electronica Center on its way to being the European City of Culture for 2009. The project stands in city-landscape context with the LDZ [>], the new Terminal Tower and the Power Tower of the Energie AG group.

To accommodate the diversity of courses and events, the spaces and rooms need to be flexible and multi-purpose. All of the interior partitions from the 4^th to 15^th floor have been built using ECKLITE – insulated glass incorporating louvre-blinds. The variety of uses of the presentation rooms and the resulting requirements for individual privacy as well as an overall open ambience are perfectly accommodated by the controllable ECKLITE system.

In the mobility and creative centre of the building, room-high all-glass sliding elements have been installed using ECKLITE SC PRIVAT. In the regular floors ECKLITE SC has been used – easy to operate – like a light switch. The louvres are protected between the sheets of glass and offer a maintenance-free operation and extreme simplification of cleaning.

In the city library section of the building, mobile all-glass partitions of SECURIT allow simple retraction without compromising the view to the huge selection of media.

(Photos: Martin Steinkellner)