Five Wooden Buildings to catch the eye

Wood is such a versatile material and available in such abundance in places like Tirol that it is sometimes hard to fathom why not all building are made from it. After all, it is renewable, carbon-friendly and 100% sustainable. Wooden houses and buildings are naturally warm and often have a wonderful aroma, especially if they are made of pine. And, last but certainly not least, wood is so adaptable that many architects choose it for their most ambitious projects. Here are five of the coolest wooden buildings in Tirol.

1. Ufogel | Nussdorf-Debant

This small but perfectly formed holiday home in the village of Nussdorf-Debant takes its name from a combination of UFO and Vogel, the German word for bird. Despite having just 45m² of living space it included a kitchen, designer shower and room for up to five guests. The Ufogel is made of larch wood and has a huge ceiling-to-floor window with fantastic mountain views.

2. Waldhütte | Hochpillberg

There can be no better location for a house made of wood than a forest! The Waldhütte in the Tux Alps is hidden away in an area best explored using snowshoes. A great place for all those keen to experience winter in Tirol at its most authentic.

3. Malisgarten | Zell im Zillertal

 Not all buildings made of wood are chocolate-box chalets. The five-star hotel MalisGarten is a great example of modern, minimalist design made from this most renewable of materials. Wood has been used everywhere possible, including in the lift shafts. Definitely not the easiest way of building, but one which shows the owners’ commitment to climate protection. It is estimated that around 1,500 tonnes of CO2 are stored in the wood used to make this building.

4. Tirol Lodge | Ellmau

The Tirol Lodge in Ellmau is the polar opposite to all those generic concrete-and-glass megahotels we have become used to in recent decades. Situated in the beautiful Wilder Kaiser Mountains, next to the bottom of the Hartkaiserbahn cable car, this hotel with over 100 rooms uses the modular construction technique – unusual for a building of this size. Huge cranes were used to place one element on top of the other until the final wooden wonder was complete.

A hotel made of wood using a modular system – an unusual concept that has been brought to life at the Tirol Lodge.

 5. Schneiderhäusl | Alpbach

Tirol is home to plenty of charming villages, but few are quite as chocolate-box picture perfect as Alpbach. Since 1953 this village has had some of the strictest building regulations in the region stating that all buildings must (with the exception of the ground floor) be made 100% out of wood. There are also rules on things like balconies, roof angles and window size. One of the best examples of this traditional Alpbach style can be seen at the Schneiderhäusl. This farmstead near the village centre is to this day a working farm with goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens and ducks – plus a few holiday apartments.