A social project close to nature

Erected in 2008 in Fuschl in Salzburg province, Mathiashof provides living and working space for handicapped persons that meets all criteria of sustainable construction. In addition, the house was designed and equipped for full accessibility for its inhabitants.

The building itself is a wood frame structure, whereby the structural parts of the walls were prefabricated, while the inside and outside shell were installed at the construction site. This enabled optimization of wind and air-tightness as well as perfect thermal features. The highly thermally insulated building shell reduces the energy requirement, as does the installed central ventilation system with heat recovery. The Mathishof has an overall heat requirement of 5 kWh/m₂a.

The heart of the heating system is a solar facility with a layered heat storage tank. Additionally required heat is provided by a firewood furnace operated by the residents according to instructions.