A round entryway in the recently transformed square leads down to the heart of the new 175 m² Visitor Centre. Here you will find a museum shop, ticketing and information desks, rooms for events and seminars, the open access section of the Styrian State Library and the Library of the Neue Galerie Graz. Also included in the plan are subterranean storage vaults for books as well as an underground infrastructure for museum logistics.

The museum square is open in both directions to Kalchberggasse and to Landhausgasse. Artworks, trees and plants make the Joanneum Quarter into a unique and inviting public space. Integrated into the square above, inverted transparent cones allow for ample daylight to shine down into the building. 

Both the small and large courtyards of the Baroque building will accommodate a café and restaurant, where one can grab a bite to eat, relax, meditate on the day’s new finds or meet with friends. (Opening Spring 2012).

The museum will open its doors again in March 2013, with temporary exhibitions showcasing current issues in science. The same level will also be the home of the semi-permanent display of specimens including, for example, the extensive collection of beetles from the zoological collections.

The mineralogical collection is one of the oldest historical museum exhibits in the world and, complemented with modern interactive displays, it represents the starting point for the first route through the collection. The second route is then dedicated to the development and the future of the Styrian landscape and will work together with all of the scientific departments (botany, geology & paleontology, mineralogy and zoology)

The largest State Library in Austria will now welcome its visitors in a new ambiance in the Visitor Centre of the Joanneum Quarter. Librarians, an open access library and other services are found here upon a foundation of modern reading areas and sizeable storage vaults.

The Neue Galerie looks to fulfilling its obligations to support culture for current and future generations through presenting contemporary art in exhibitions and symposia dealing with the regional, national and international context. Through its program, the Neue Galerie tries to provide some orientation in the complex and often arbitrary-seeming world of contemporary art production.
 

Ground Floor
The south wing of the ground floor is dedicated to the permanent collection based on acquisitions from the 19th and 20th centuries. The presentation will be altered with changing emphasis on specific aspects of the collection (from historical styles, movements to specific topics: “Biedermeier”, “Sezession Graz”, “Styrian Modernism” etc.). The north wing of the ground floor is the home of the “Bruseum”, which will also maintain an active profile with temporary exhibitions (e.g. Wiener Aktionismus, pictures and poetry, graphic arts). The north wing will also accommodate highlights from the collection (esp. the Trigon Room) up to the end of the 20th century.

Upper Floor
The upper floor will be used by the Neue Galerie for temporary exhibitions that will span a wide variety of different topics. One of the points of emphasis will be to comprehensively research and show work by the most important “classical modernists” in Styria. This work will be complemented by special exhibitions addressing this period and similar topics within a broader Austrian and international context. Further points include exploring the link between science and art as well as research and presentation of some of the neglected issues and artists that were nonetheless part of the history of 20th century art.
 

Archive und Library
The Neue Galerie library with about 45,000 books and art magazines along with the archive with about 13,000 archival folders referring to Austrian art ranging from the 19th century to the present with special focus on Styria will again be accessible to the public.

• Commissioned by: The Office of the Styrian State Government - Dept. 9 Culture 
• represented by Mag DDr. Gabriele Russ (Head of the Division)
• Contractor: Landesimmobilien-Gesellschaft mbH, 
• represented by Dr. Albrecht Erlacher (Managing Director); Dipl.-Ing. Werner Erhart-Schippek (Managing Director) 
• Builder: Landesimmobilien-Gesellschaft mbh 
• Mandate: Notice from 16/01/2008 from Department 9 
• Method of Financing: Sale and leaseback
• Project Team LIG: Dipl.-Ing. Carl Skela (Head of Project); Ing. Raimund Wagner (Ventilation, Heating and Plumbing); Ing. Josef Mörth (Electrical); Ing. Erwin Dorfer (Head of Project)

The Joanneum Quarter, an exceptional construction project
Comprehensive Renovation of the Museum and State Library
The Joanneum Universal Museum celebrates its bicentennial anniversary this November 2011, with the reopening of the newly renovated museum and the new Joanneum Quarter. With this, the Landesimmobilien-Gesellschaft Steiermark will bring this truly exceptional project to a conclusion. The Joanneum Quarter is located in the center of the historic section of town and is subject to rigorous building codes and therefore any architectural intervention demands the utmost respect and restraint. In 2006, the architectural team consisting of the Madrid architects Nieto Sobejano and the Graz office eep architekten won the contract with the plan to build the new Visitor Centre under the courtyard between the Neutorgasse and Raubergasse buildings. With their plan, the only direct intervention virtually disappeared in the existent surroundings. While the center of Graz is particularly appreciated for its picturesque rooftop landscape, this project was developed underground.

Cone-shaped glass openings in the roof of the subterranean addition allow light to shine into the space below, with a central cone constituting the entryway. With the new entryway, stairs and elevators, the Joanneum Quarter has now become almost entirely handicapped-accessible. The Visitor Centre creates a link between all of the buildings while at the same time serving as an entryway with museum shop and auditorium. A storage vault for the Styrian State Library occupies the second sublevel beneath it.

Before construction could begin, it was necessary to make detailed studies of the original structure of the building, while addressing some of the complicated issues raised working within the stipulations of the national heritage agency. Planning and development already placed heavy demands on all parties involved not only because of renovation work on the existent structure but also due to the necessity of creating a new infrastructure to accommodate for the demands of a modern museum. Minimal modifications in the interior rooms were effected without changing the outer appearance or size of the original structures, including the installation of modern ventilation, heating, lighting and security systems.

Excerpt from the government bill No. 1774/1:

“The financing of the project follows from the sale of the buildings to the LIG with the proceeds from the sale being added to the budget, whereby the costs of future rent are to be allocated to the department of culture separately from the general budget. The financing of the investment will follow over a period of 25 years by means of a supplement to the lease. The cultural councilor commits to paying the highest amount of rent possible based on the amount available from the funds allocated for spending on construction collected from the broadcasting fees. The remaining sum will in addition be paid using any surplus from the broadcasting fees budget from over the duration of the loan period.

The properties Neutorgasse 45, Raubergasse 10-12 and Kalchberggasse 2 and 4 were sold by virtue of budget agreements. The properties were sold for a total of € 13,460,000.00 . . .”