New IKEA inner-city store rethinks everything

Seven floors of sustainable design
For those used to big blue boxes, the design of IKEA Westbahnhof is strikingly different. Situated in the middle of urban Vienna, the 7 story, grid-like design provides an oasis of green in one of the busiest parts of the city. “We are so excited to have an opportunity to meet our customers in this amazing location. Being able to create such unique customer experience is truly inspiring” says Jette Jørgensen, Expansion Manager Ingka Group.

Designed by local Austrian architects Querkraft as a response to radically changed customer and mobility behaviours, the store showcases innovative sustainable practice, with 160 trees, solar panels and hyper-efficient heating and cooling helping to deliver the store an excellent BREEAM status and an exceptional Platinum Greenpass certification — measuring climate, water, air, biodiversity, energy and costs to run. Such is the effect of the sustainable practices that the felt temperature of the environment around the store is about 2 degrees lower than the rest of the city.

Remapping the IKEA store experience
Inside, the seven-story store will feature an omnichannel way to shop, meaning visitors will need nothing more than the IKEA App and a credit card to shop, and there will be same-day delivery by electric trucks for products that are too big to carry out by hand. Occupying the top two floors will be a hostel called Jo&Joe, run by the Accor group. Above the hostel a rooftop terrace, open to the public and shielded by solar panels, provides events, innovative takeaway and one of the best views of the city. Inside 250 IKEA employees will provide expert advice, inspiration, and a pleasant atmosphere for the many customers. From the very beginning, our focus for Westbahnhof has been ‘how do we make the very best meeting place for people in a busy city centre.’” says Sandra Sindler-Larsson, Establishment Manager for IKEA Austria. “Everything since has flowed from that.”

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Facts & Figures IKEA Westbahnhof

• 7 floors (5 floors IKEA shopping centre, 2 floors Accor hostel JO&JOE) + roof terrace
• 18,000 m2
• Roof-top terrasse that offers an amazing view over all of Vienna and will be accessible by the many people of Vienna 24/7.

A completely new shopping experience

• The building houses a full-fledged IKEA store on a total of 5 floors.
• There is no traditional furniture warehouse: Customers can buy small products on site that they can transport and bring home by themselves on public transport or with their bicycle – over 3,000 items are in stock.
• All larger products can be ordered and will be delivered on the next day emission-free with our new EV trucks to their homes or can be picked up in our other stores in Vienna and its surroundings or from our pick-up points (Click & Collect).

Omnichannel shopping 

• All you need to shop is your mobile phone and the IKEA app: Using the IKEA app and Scan & Pay/Shop & Go, customers can place their products directly in the IKEA carrier bag and pay stress-free and without long waiting times at the cash register. Cash registers are available on all our floors of the building. But there are no more regular cash desks! It is all digital and self-serve … and our Co-Workers are there to help, plan, support and inspire with their home furnishing expertise.
• New digital screens provide even more inspiration as well as information on our self-service solutions to support their shopping experience.
• Open concept: People come and stay, indoors and on the roof terrace
• Gastronomic offer for modern and healthy Swedish flair: many people of Vienna can come, hang out, enjoy snacks and beverages from our own IKEA Swedish Snack bar
• Beautiful rooftop terrasse that is open to the public, without the pressure to consume
• Hospitality concept: host a hotel on the two upper floors JO&JOE

Sustainable features

• Transport junction: The entire building is designed for pedestrians, users of public transport and cyclists, thus saving around 350,000 car trips., = 1,000 tons of CO2, compared to a conventional furniture store -5,000 tons of CO2!
• Energy: Solar panels will be part of the façade of the building, covering as much space as possible.
• 160 Trees for a better climate: A total of 160 trees planted throughout the building will allow for a more pleasant microclimate in the area. On a hot day, they can bring down the temperature in the neighborhood by up to -1.5°C. They will also improve air quality in the neighborhood, as they convert nitrogen into oxygen at the same time.
• Beehives: In open spaces that are not accessible to customers, we want to integrate modern beehives to support the increase in population.
• Birdnests: Before the demolition of the old building, we could find some bird nests of swifts and kestrels. We want to give the birds a new home here, so we have a specialist who takes care of 30 nesting sites everywhere to invite our new guests.
• Ultra-efficient heat pump: An ultra-efficient heat pump is installed in the building, which can also be used as a backup chiller. It reduces energy consumption and steers more towards electricity from sustainable sources.
• Emission-free delivery Our goal is to make all deliveries in the city of Vienna emission-free by the end of 2021. In a first step, emission-free delivery will start from Strebersdorf and go to all 23 districts of Vienna and within a radius of 30 kilometers.
• IKEA bike messenger: As an environmentally friendly and social service, we offer a transport service from the Westbahnhof with E-Cargo bikes. The project is run by Wien Work to help long-term unemployed people to re-enter the labor market.
• Store Operations: waste sorting, LED-lightning, Circular IKEA, etc.

Certificates:

• BREEAM certificate “excellent” (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method): the international standard certification system for sustainable construction
• GREENPASS Platinum Certificate – Austrian Organization – GREENPASS® is the first international certification standard for climate resilience (Microclimate)
• Fairfüralle Certificate – Austria-wide valid certificate to implement accessibility systematically and holistically