Look. Measure. Open.
Full house.
NEST reactivates empty buildings, halls and sites for owners, municipalities and developers. Since 2015, from street-level shops to whole districts.
Vacancy arises when use, funds or vision are missing. Places do not stand empty because they are worthless, but because the basis for a decision is missing.
Ownersdo not know what is possible.
Usersdo not know that something is possible.
Administrationsees too much risk and too little evidence.
This is as true for a ground-floor shop as for an industrial site. NEST brings these sides together and supplies what a decision lacks: an opened place, data and a model that holds up.
You own a shop, a house or a hall that is empty or about to be. We assess its condition and potential, find suitable users and accompany the first opening until you can decide on the basis of real experience.
Town centre, high street or neighbourhood: we map vacancy, develop a strategy and put first uses into practice.
Years often pass between purchase, planning and construction. We open the site during that time, test uses and collect data that feeds into your planning.
It is always a process. We follow it in four steps and keep collecting data throughout.
A low-threshold first opening of the place. Minimal investment, maximum learning.
We observe what actually happens on site and record it quantitatively and qualitatively. Real use instead of theoretical assumptions.
The data yields use scenarios, economic models and an assessment of social impact, compared with figures from other projects.
We are done when three foundations stand: an active community that carries the place, a flexible, robust structure that allows use, and an economic model that keeps the place going in the long term.
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The obstacles are the same at every scale. That is why we use the same method, whether the area is 250 square metres or 500 hectares.
Listed textile industrial site of F.M. Hämmerle Holding AG. Since December 2025 NEST has supervised a pioneer phase of around 1,000 m² in Hall 1 and the former administration wing. NEST is the interface between city, owner and users and builds a network of early interested parties. NEST also leads the research project “Spinnerei Gisingen: Integral project development for sustainable building culture” with TU Wien and stadtland.
The former ORF broadcasting house, an industrial monument of the 1930s. NEST advised on phase 0 and the pioneer phase, from March to December 2025. Phase 0 clarifies which uses and steps make sense before anything is built.
AdviceFormer stable buildings on about one hectare near the Prater. NEST conceived and supervised the pioneer use, focusing on crafts, culture and catering. Many users joined together as the cooperative USUS e.G.
Pioneer useA detached house on the Ardetzenberg used as coworking, seminar venue, event venue and residency. NEST conceived and supervised the pioneer use.
Pioneer useConcept for programming and organising the plinth zone of a new urban development area, together with superwien architektur and design studio WHY. The result was criteria for a use mix and a network of early interested parties.
ConceptPhase zero clarifies what a place needs and can bear before planning begins: demand, location, condition, potential for use. At the Spinnerei Feldkirch it runs as a research and development project in a triangle of university, NEST and real-world lab. The pioneer phase is both real-world lab and teaching material.
The project is funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport under its building culture funding call. TU Wien (Research Unit for Heritage Conservation and Building in Existing Contexts) and stadtland take part.
„The new vacancy agency takes away these fears: it knows the scene and the suitable candidates.“Hans-Jörg Ulreich, developer and spokesperson of the Austrian developers (APA-OTS, 17 March 2015)
Titles stay in the original German.
Vacancy management brings unused buildings, areas and sites back into use. It starts with an analysis of what exists, opens the place for first uses and ends with a model that holds in the long term. NEST works with a building analysis, pioneer uses, a use concept with economic assessment and a digital twin.
A pioneer use is the first reopening of a place, with low investment and real users. It shows what works on site before money goes into a conversion. The Spinnerei Feldkirch and the CREAU in Vienna are examples.
Phase zero examines demand, location, building condition and potential for use before planning begins. This lowers the risk of wrong decisions later. At the Spinnerei Feldkirch, phase zero runs as a research project with TU Wien.
Yes. Projects have taken place in Feldkirch, Bregenz, Andelsbuch, Schönsee, Trofaiach, Munich, Kempten and Straubing, among others.
Kreative Räume Wien is the service and advisory office for vacancy activation and interim use on behalf of the City of Vienna. NEST is a private agency. We are commissioned by owners, municipalities and developers and carry out projects, also outside Vienna and for industrial and heritage sites.
When three foundations stand: a social one (an active community that carries the place), an architectural one (a flexible, robust structure) and an economic one (a model that keeps the place going in the long term).
We are happy to answer further questions on costs, duration, handover and permits in conversation.
NEST was founded in Vienna in 2015 as the first agency for vacancy management in Austria. We are architects who work with what is already there. Our aim is to change the cityscape for the better through networks, because only a lively city is a place worth living in.
Managing director is DI Lukas Böckle, shareholder DI Mag. Angelika Schmied.
We open places again for those who need them. We reduce risk through step-by-step development, with controlled experiments instead of visions from an ivory tower. We lay the groundwork for long-term economic viability and the common good.
Describe your property or area briefly. The more precisely, the better we can judge whether and how we can help.