Youth Hostel Echternach

The new hostel with 118 beds, situated at the lake of Echternach, replaces the hitherto existing building in the middle of town. The new building blend in carefully in the natural environment with a respecting distance to the lakeshore. The setting includes varying sized bedrooms, a gymnasium, a 14 m high climbing wall, a cafeteria and restaurant for 100 guests combined with a terrace with a panoramic view over the lake and tutorial and conference facilities. To discover the surrounding a bicycle rental is offered.

A dormitory and a sports facilities wing assemble the building forming the entrance at the intersection in between.The superposition of the wings enables a variety of combined utilizations as well as the separated mode of the sections. The dormitory is realized with a solid structure providing the requirement for privacy. Consequently the dormitory is located in the 3 storeys above the ground floor comprising two, four and six bedrooms and on each floor two additional bedrooms for disabled persons. Claded with larch timber battens this introverted cube hovers above the opposing basement. Due to the concrete structure the basement floor presents itself with a largescale glazing offering pedestrians inspecting the building and users enjoying the vistas into the landscape. The sport facilities are visible from the street side as well as from the lakeside the outside and the climbing wall that advertise the special features of this hostel. Due to their representational exposure the sports facilities advertise the special features of the hostel and the climbing wall is always an eyecatcher and a magnet that draw the pedestriansŽ interests. The selection of materials was aligned on the criteria's of local availability and environmental responsibility. In that context PVC was avoided and the façade consists of local untreated timber battens. The compact shape and the highly insulated outer shell result in minimum energy consumption. Solar thermal collectors support warm water preparation and the mechanical ventilation is optimized by waste heat recovery. Located in an exceptional landscape the new hostel is designated for school classes, families, individual travellers and groups, sports enthusiasts, accommodating all needs for school trips, recreational holidays, family gatherings and conferences.

A highly insulated building envelope, a compact design and solar panels on the roof enable low energy consumption.