Vienna's ambitious transformation of the former Nordbahnhof area has gained a striking new landmark with the completion of Taborama, a residential high-rise that offers an innovative approach to urban living. Designed by querkraft architects, this 17-story tower stands as one of the tallest buildings in the emerging neighborhood, featuring an unprecedented array of shared amenities including a rooftop swimming pool, bouldering room, and creative workshops.

The development is part of the massive Freie Mitte – Vielseitiger Rand project, which covers 32 hectares and has been under construction since 2012. Located directly adjacent to railway tracks between Vienna's city center, Prater park, and the Danube River, this urban regeneration initiative follows a master plan created by StudioVlayStreeruwitz from Vienna and Agence Ter from Karlsruhe and Paris. The entire project aims to deliver 5,000 residential units and 2,500 jobs by 2026.

The architects at querkraft have designed Taborama with a distinctive stacked appearance, dividing the structure into four distinct volumes that create visual breaks in the tower's profile. The building begins with a tall ground floor housing lobbies and retail spaces, followed by a three-story section, then a four-story block, a two-story segment, and finally a seven-story crown. This graduated approach helps break down the tower's imposing scale into more manageable visual components.

The building's white facades are punctuated by offset balconies and a vertical grid of white steel tubes that will eventually support extensive greenery. Between each volume, the architects have created recessed floors painted in darker colors with wraparound balcony zones, which they call "caesura floors." This horizontal layering technique was previously employed by querkraft in their NB1 residential ensemble located at the southern edge of Vienna's new district.

What sets Taborama apart from conventional residential towers is its extensive network of shared community spaces distributed throughout the building's 34,000 square meters of gross floor area. On the roof of the lowest building section, residents can access a terrace with raised garden beds for collective gardening, alongside a large community room available for events and gatherings. The building's crown features a swimming pool that evokes memories of Vienna's famous Alterlaa social housing towers designed by Harry Glück.

The tower's recreational facilities extend far beyond typical amenities, including a three-story bouldering room for rock climbing enthusiasts, a two-story sports facility, a library, and dedicated spaces for crafting and painting. A canary-yellow table tennis room adds a splash of color to the offerings, while other multipurpose rooms remain flexible for various community activities. The ground floor houses a fitness center and bicycle storage in addition to the double-access lobby.

The building's innovative green concept, developed in collaboration with Vienna-based Carla Lo Landscape Architecture, goes beyond conventional facade planting. The white vertical rods embedded in the facade connect to permanently installed planting troughs, designed to gently encourage residents to participate in intensive greening of the building. Additionally, fixed landscaping elements maintained by building management serve as a backup in case voluntary resident participation falls short.

Commissioned by Strabag Real Estate, the project incorporates a sophisticated color scheme developed with artist Ingo Nussbaumer. The building's exterior will undergo a dramatic transformation as the integrated planting system matures, evolving from its current stark white appearance to a verdant vertical garden that residents help cultivate.

Taborama represents a new model for high-density urban living that prioritizes community interaction and shared experiences over purely private residential spaces. The project demonstrates how contemporary architecture can address urban housing challenges while fostering social connections and environmental sustainability in Vienna's rapidly evolving urban landscape.