ARBOR+, a timber structure was developed at the University of Innsbruck by i.sd_Structure and Design, University of Innsbruck and Bollinger and Grohmann Engineers Vienna, in collaboration with the Amt for Grünlagen (City of Innsbruck) and funded by the OeAD Student Housing GmbH.
The timber structure emerged from a series of workshops at i.sd with Bollinger+Grohmann Engineers, in which students explored the design space of reciprocal structural systems. Building on these investigations, a three-layered structure of slender timber sticks was developed, extending the structural system into an expressive formation that can be overgrown by plants to create a green, vaulted garden space.
At i.sd, a robotic fabrication process based on hydraulic pressing was developed to produce timber joints without weakening the elements through material removal. Pressing the joints preserves the integrity of the wood fibers while enabling the elements to intersect. In prototyping courses, students assembled the robotically fabricated components on site. Arbor+ completes now the ReUse Garden project that has been implemented by i.sd since 2023 and includes seating islands made from reused concrete rubble and the overall garden layout developed by students as part of an i.sd student design competition.
The ReUse Garden transforms a residual urban space next to a railway track and a street into a garden environment for the inhabitants of the student housing. The project demonstrates how overlooked and underused spaces within the urban fabric can be transformed into places of character and quality that also contribute to urban microclimate and biodiversity.
Team Arbor+
i.sd: Johannes Megens, Maximilian Wacker, Fabian Braun, Muchen Yan, Fabian Quirin,
Project lead ReUse Garden: Stefan Rutzinger and Kristina Schinegger
Bollinger + Grohmann Engineers: Moritz Heimrath, Adam Orlinski, Ludovic Regnault
Students participating in Reciprocal Design Workshops with Bollinger + Grohmann: Betül Aksu, Julian Marius Berger, Arthur Frederik Berns, Ioannis Chorozopoulos, Vincent Nepomuk Drechsel, Samuel Vishnu Fichtl, Alan-Lou Glemser, Laura Guggenberger, Zadeh Yasamin Hamid, Niklas Merlin Hauck, Melanie Kammerlander, Laura Mayer, Simon Justin Niclas Neumeier, Sascha Stefan Klaus Oestereich, Harun Özmen, Laurent Pfeiffer, Matthias Plunger, Laura Schöll, Hannah Bettina Marie Schwalm, Alena Denise Steiner, Jacob Johannes Tien, Kyriaki Tsialera, Lilli Mathilda Vetter, Michael Voigt, Christian Nick Waldenmaier
Students participating in the Assembly and Prototyping Seminars: Laura Schöll, Michael Kofler, Sabrina Munoz, Benedikt Felder, Alena Steiner, Michael Voigt, Silas Peuker, Ioannis Chorozopoulos, Luisa Dirheimer, Julia Rupprecht, Anne Nakahara
Tutors: Benjamin Hering, Thomas Laimer
Join us today, 20.10.2026, at 4 pm at Karmelitergasse 9 to celebrate the opening of Arbor+ and the completion of the ReUse Garden— celebrating the transformation of an residual urban space!
