The architectural landscape of Hohenems has experienced a thoughtful yet striking transformation with the completion of Market Street 52 (Marktstraße 52), designed by the renowned studio MWArchitekten. As part of a larger ongoing municipal initiative to revitalize the historic spine of the city, this project tackles the delicate balance between historical preservation and modern urban redensification.
Rather than treating the streetscape as a static museum piece, MWArchitekten approached the commission as an opportunity to repair and complete the urban fabric. The development is divided into two distinct components: the revitalization of the primary historic structure fronting Market Street (Market Street 52) and the strategic insertion of a newly constructed companion building at the rear (Market Street 52a).
Key Project Details:
Project Name: Market Street 52 (Marktstraße 52)
Architectural Firm: MWArchitekten
Location: Hohenems, Austria
Photographer: Dominic Kummer
Primary Materials: Exposed concrete, warm timber, and glass
Building Typology: Mixed-use urban revitalization, residential redensification, and infill architecture
The intervention successfully bridges the gap between historical continuity and contemporary spatial needs. By utilizing an understated material palette—predominantly featuring raw concrete and rich timber—the architects have crafted a project that speaks softly to its historical surroundings while projecting a thoroughly modern architectural vocabulary.
Chronology
The realization of Market Street 52 is the result of a multi-year planning and execution process aimed at breathing new life into underutilized urban parcels. While the final photographic documentation was captured by Dominic Kummer, the trajectory of the project reflects a deep engagement with the local context of Hohenems.
Phase 1: Contextual Analysis and Masterplanning (Pre-Design)
Long before construction commenced, MWArchitekten undertook an exhaustive study of Market Street’s urban morphology. The site presented a classic European inner-city challenge: a prominent street-facing structure in need of modernization, coupled with an awkward, underutilized backyard gap in the second building line. The municipality’s broader masterplan called for careful densification to prevent suburban sprawl while preserving the pedestrian-friendly scale of the historic core.
Phase 2: Design and Municipal Approvals
During this phase, the architectural team finalized the dual-pronged strategy. The front building required sensitive restoration and programmatic reprogramming to meet contemporary standards of living and working. Simultaneously, the design for Market Street 52a was drawn up to occupy the neglected rear gap. Navigating strict local zoning codes, historic preservation guidelines, and neighborhood sunlight access requirements, MWArchitekten secured the necessary approvals to proceed with the infill construction.
Phase 3: Construction and Material Execution
The construction phase tested the precision of modern building techniques within a tight urban footprint. Managing logistics on a constrained site required careful sequencing, particularly for the pouring of architectural exposed concrete and the integration of prefabricated timber elements. The structural framework went up in stages, ensuring that the interface between the historic front building and the newly minted rear structure remained seamless.
Phase 4: Completion and Public Integration
With the finishing touches applied to both the interior spaces and the exterior balconies, Market Street 52 officially opened its doors to residents and visitors. The completed project quickly drew critical acclaim for its nuanced approach to urban repair, culminating in its feature documentation and widespread recognition within the architectural community.
Supporting Data
Understanding the architectural weight of Market Street 52 requires looking at the quantitative and qualitative data that shaped its design and execution.
Urban Metrics & Spatial Strategy
Infill Typology: The project utilizes a "second building line" (zweite Baureihe) strategy, a common planning tool in Central European towns to maximize urban capacity without altering the primary street wall height.
Building Gaps Closed: Market Street 52a successfully fills a historical void in the parcel’s depth, transforming an empty or poorly managed back-lot zone into active residential space.
Material Distribution:
Exposed Concrete: Utilized for structural integrity, shear walls, and contemporary volumetric framing, offering a durable and industrial counterpoint to the historic streetscape.
Timber: Extensively deployed across interior finishes, balcony accents, and cladding details, introducing warmth, acoustic comfort, and local material heritage.
Environmental and Contextual Parameters
Density vs. Openness: Despite increasing the built density of the plot, the architects carved out precise courtyards, terraces, and sightlines to ensure that natural light penetrates deep into both the front and rear structures.
Thermal Performance: Integrating modern insulation standards into a legacy urban framework required high-performance glazing and continuous thermal bridging mitigation, significantly lowering the energy footprint of the combined properties compared to their pre-renovated states.
Official Responses
The unveiling of Market Street 52 has drawn positive reactions from urban planners, architectural critics, and local stakeholders alike, who view the project as a benchmark for how historic towns can adapt to modern demographic pressures.
In their official design statement, MWArchitekten emphasized the philosophical underpinnings of the intervention:
"Market street 52 was revitalized as another component of the market street development and redensified at the rear. Market street 52a is located in the second building line. Here, the gap in the building line is being closed."
Elaborating on this concept in subsequent architectural forums, the firm noted that modern infill architecture must avoid the twin traps of pastiche historicism and aggressive, alien contrast. By respecting the volumetric rhythms of the neighboring structures while utilizing honest, contemporary materials like board-formed concrete and warm timber, MWArchitekten sought to create a dialogue across generations.
Local municipal authorities in Hohenems have similarly praised the project as a model for inner-city development. Town planners noted that Market Street 52 proves that urban growth does not need to happen at the expense of historical identity. By turning attention toward neglected interior courtyards and secondary building lines, private developers and architects can activate hidden spatial reserves within the urban core.
Implications
The completion of Market Street 52 carries significant implications for the future of Hohenems and similar historic municipalities across the Alpine region and wider Europe.
1. A Blueprint for Inner-City Redensification
Many historic European towns face a difficult dilemma: how to accommodate growing populations and housing demands without destroying the historic fabric that gives them their cultural identity. Market Street 52 offers a compelling template. By focusing on multi-layered site development—upgrading the primary street frontage while concurrently filling gaps in the second and third building lines—cities can increase density organically. This approach avoids the destructive tendencies of blanket suburban expansion and keeps municipal infrastructure costs down.
2. Material Honesty as a Mediator
The material dialogue established by MWArchitekten—pairing raw, industrial concrete with tactile, organic timber—demonstrates how contrasting architectural eras can coexist peacefully. The concrete grounds the project in contemporary structural engineering, while the timber nods to regional building traditions. This synthesis suggests a mature path forward for contemporary architecture in historic contexts: one that refuses to mimic the past, yet refuses to disrespect it.
3. Activating the "In-Between" Spaces
Historically, inner-city courtyards and rear plots in towns like Hohenems were often relegated to utilitarian dumping grounds, parking lots, or forgotten green patches. By introducing Market Street 52a into the second building line, the project transforms these leftover spaces into vibrant, inhabited environments. This shift redefines how urban dwellers experience depth and community within high-density settings, encouraging future developers to look beyond the immediate street facade when conceptualizing urban renewal.
Ultimately, Market Street 52 stands as a testament to the power of thoughtful, context-aware architecture. Through the vision of MWArchitekten, an ordinary street corner and its neglected rear have been rewoven into a rich, cohesive fabric that honors the past while confidently stepping into the future.
