Hillside Mission

We know the area quite well as we built the Tyrolean Treasure Trove in the neighbouring town of Hall some years ago. In Absam, we will now renovate and extend the 1970s Police Security Academy with an operations training centre. The topography plays a major role: the new building is embedded in the slope with terraces and crowned with a central educational facility in timber hybrid construction. A contemporary and attractive teaching and training campus for police education.

Taking Stock

A key requirement was to retain as much of the existing complex as possible. Only smaller additions will be removed; the rest of the elongated structure is fully integrated into the new concept. In the future, all accommodation rooms will be housed in the new extension of the existing building. A clear differentiation between accommodation, training, and special functions facilitates better orientation in the spacious complex. We have designed a three-storey building for the complete teaching facilities of the education centre – a beacon at the heart of the new campus. The compact, timber hybrid structure will form a dynamic ensemble together with the refurbished existing building and the historically listed Wiesenhof Chapel. The ground floor of the new building accommodates the administration and teachers’ offices, while the classrooms are located on the upper floors. A balcony zone wraps around the entire structure, providing quick access to the outdoors from every classroom and ample shade in the summer.

»It was important to us to retain as much of the existing building fabric as possible and only make minor interventions. The new, central education facility will be built as a durable timber hybrid construction.«

Claude Probst, Franz&Sue Department Head Competition

Main Circulation Axis

The first sublevel is embedded into the slope and receives daylight from the south. On this floor, a central circulation axis connects the training centre in the west with the accommodation rooms in the existing complex. The police operations training centre and the firing ranges have their own separate premises at the western edge of the building. In this way, the zones requiring special security are functionally and structurally decoupled from the training centre. An underground car park and a number of off-site parking spaces make it possible to keep the Police Security Academy car-free on ground level.