Kulturpavillon Kuenburg Schlössl
| Location | Payerbach, Austria |
| Principal use | Cultural Venue and Concert Hall |
| Status | Preliminary design |
| Year | 2022 |
| Design team | Mark Neuner, Christian Höhl |
The design is based on the striking contrast between the solidity of the historic Kuenburg Villa and the lightness of a modern concert pavilion. Whilst the villa is preserved as an ‘anchor’ through careful restoration of its original fabric, the new wooden structure functions as a delicate, transparent sound box within the castle grounds. This architectural duality makes the history of the site legible whilst simultaneously opening it up to the demands of modern event formats.
the cultural pavilion is situated atop a hill next to Schlössl Kuenburg in Payerbach, Austria Common Space Kuenburg Schlössl
A spatial resource for everyone
We do not view the Schlössl as a self-contained building, but rather as a ‘spatial resource’. Thanks to a flexible usage concept, the site serves multiple purposes: as a top-class concert venue, a public castle park and a local meeting place. This strategy of multiple use ensures social sustainability, firmly anchoring the site in the consciousness of the local community.
Circular Architecture
The Pavilion as a Material Bank
In line with a consistent circular economy, the concert pavilion is designed as a fully demountable timber structure.
Uniform materials: We use only untreated, single-species materials, joined without adhesives or composites.
Reversibility: Each component is designed so that, at the end of its life cycle, it can be dismantled without damage and reused elsewhere or returned to the biological cycle – architecture as a temporary material store.
entrance area to the cultural pavilion The Kuenburg Schlössl project aims to bridge the gap between the historic tradition of summer retreats and contemporary cultural production. Our goal is to transform a private heritage site into a public place of identity that will provide fresh impetus for the Semmering-Rax region through the symbiosis of heritage-sensitive restoration and innovative timber architecture.
terrace of the cultural pavilion Historical Background
Villa Kuenburg (also known as Villa Khuner) in Payerbach is a jewel of Viennese Modernism and of late 19th-century summer retreat architecture. Originally designed as a private retreat, it reflects the cultural heyday of the Semmering region. The planned collaboration between Michael Kuenburg and Kultur Sommer Semmering aims to build on this tradition, with a view to rediscovering the site as a cultural centre for the public after decades of private use.
event hall in the pavilion 
