Innsbruck sits at the foot of the snow-capped Nordkette Mountain ridge. Using a beautifully made system of precast concrete and full height glazing, the architecture of this inner city shopping centre is strikingly and rigorously modern in an historic context. The treatment is lifted by the use of fracture or crank lines in the massing of the building. This subtle device does just enough to fragment the form to a scale familiar to the rest of the street, whilst retaining a unified composition.

Upon entering visitors finds themselves in a five storey naturally lit and highly spatially dynamic atrium which follows the line of an old right of way and provides access to all floors. The success of the scheme lies as much in the execution as in the flexible design.