The spontaneous statement of a passer-by who marveled at Balthasar Volcano in St. Wolfgang, Upper Austria, fulfilled a great wish for 35-year-old Anna Winkler and her 39-year-old husband Max Eisl. Their four premium vacation apartments are not only shining because of the imminent opening at the beginning of September. The staunch advocates of a modern, ecologically sustainable way of life have set a dazzling exclamation mark in the tourism hotspot in terms of environmentally friendly, gentle and efficient construction methods, thus fulfilling an inevitable dream and providing the timber construction industry with a steep lead. The two owners of a regional advertising agency are happy to tell you personally who Balthasar Volcano is. We were able to get to know Anna and Max, their drive, motivations and credos, in conversation.
- St. Wolfgang, 24.08.2021
How does it feel to have a new roof over your head, to be able to call it your own and to be able to look back on so much energy, creativity, sweat and time?
Anna: When I look at the photos, I slowly realize what has really come out. In your head you know exactly how it should look in the end and you only make progress step by step and then suddenly it's there. After three and a half years of planning and implementation, it's a huge weight off our shoulders to be so far along and to be able to open up.
Anna, let's start from the beginning. What was Balthasar Volcano to you before it was born - a dream, a vision, a fixed plan, a very concrete goal, or was it absolutely clear that it had to happen?
Anna: It all started around nine years ago when I saw Max's family home and thought it would be perfect for a bed and breakfast. It turned out that it wouldn't work out with this house, which is why we kept looking around for other properties.
Max: We were also looking for a new place for our office in St. Wolfgang because we wanted to get out of the old, damp office. In the course of this search, the family decided to give up the old building after all. Our rough ideas for the current concept were coherent right from the start and also secured us the financing. Initially, we wanted to keep the old house, but this turned out not to be expedient from a building ecology point of view.
The site on which Balthasar Volcano was built would be every real estate agent's dream. In the center of the Salzkammergut, in the middle of the tourist hotspot St. Wolfgang and yet far away from the hustle and bustle, in an absolutely quiet location, surrounded by forest and meadows with a view of the entire Wolfgangsee. How did this place come about?
Max: My grandfather was one of eight siblings to receive this site and built a house on it in the post-war years. However, this old building was at the end of its tether. Renovating it would have been tantamount to the famous Hinterholz Acht, which is why we decided to demolish it and rebuild the square.
Why was it so close to Anna's heart to launch Balthasar Volcano with all its special features?
Anna: The thing that is closest to my heart is to push for the vegan lifestyle to be accepted by the masses and for the outdated image of the eco-friendly person who does without everything to disappear from people's minds. We consciously use materials that are not of animal origin. We have also gathered information on this at a number of trade fairs - the trend is clearly moving in this direction. It's a topic close to my heart, but I can hardly fit it into my professional life. At the end of the day, I may have designed beautiful things and persuaded customers to switch to recycled paper, but I can hardly influence the products
. Of course, it's different with my own project.
Apart from your joint professional work in your company. What does your life revolve around? What is important to you?
Max: In the last few years, we've mainly been able to find a balance by growing vegetables in our garden and enjoying the beautiful nature in the Salzkammergut, which we use for long walks with our dog. Over the last three years, there hasn't been much time for our lives between the office and the Balthasar Volcano construction project apart from these activities. (laughs)
Living consciously, thinking and acting across generations - the much-cited sustainability - is more relevant today than ever. Is it a zeitgeist or a way of life for you?
Anna: It's definitely a way of life for us. Although we don't have any children, we try to do everything we can to leave a better world for our next generations. Treating nature, animals and plants in the right way is very important to us.
Was there a starting point, a key experience or a point of no return for this attitude of yours?
Max: The first documentary films about our food system made a huge impression on me and made me take a closer look at many other topics in addition to the ever-increasing industrialization of food production and agriculture. It's not just about cooking at home. It's also about building a house, buying materials in the office or in the rental business, all of which have a huge impact. It requires us to be consistent, which is certainly worth it, and we want to draw attention to this with the Balthasar Volcano project.
Anna: One of the worst things for people is going without. People often believe that going vegan means going without. However, the more you look into this topic, the more you realize that the sacrifice is not so much a loss of quality of life, but an exchange of certain things, even an improvement in many areas. I used to think about these things a lot, but it wasn't until I looked my young dog in the eye one day that I made the final decision to distance myself from animal products.
Does a neo-host couple welcome their guests to the Balthasar Volcano or how would you describe yourselves against the tourist background of St. Wolfgang?
Anna: Of course we want to welcome our guests personally, but we have planned the house in such a way that it also works when we are away on business and are not in the house. Many people value their peace and quiet on vacation, which we also want to respect if this is desired.
In your intention to create Baltasar Volcano, did the idea of an accommodation business or a complete novelty in the residential sector prevail? Did you simply need something new and different and you had the idea?
Max: We wanted to start a room rental business on the side and incorporate the many inspirations from our travels into it. This has a lot to do with how we like to stay in hotels ourselves. Anna is a very creative person and we have already been asked by enthusiastic people who have already viewed the house who our interior designer was. It's a nice acknowledgement and praise when people appreciate what we've done.
Was it perhaps also a lucky coincidence of new findings or people and products that made Balthasar Volcano what it is today, or were the ecological milestones basic prerequisites for you even before construction began?
Max: During the planning process, we kept seeing ideas and materials that were even better. For example, our architect told us about a lecture on larch bark and its excellent insulating properties. That's how we got to know Günther Kain, who is doing research into this. As the bark is landfilled or burned, it seemed a logical consequence to us to take a closer look at the utilization of this natural material instead of burning it, because we should bind the CO2 in the future and not blow it into the air. We had the company Barkinsulation from Hallein produce a prototype for our larch bark insulation. In the time since production, the company has discovered a fully certified and completely ecological binding agent that will be used in the future. This additionally impregnates the boards, which makes it even more interesting for outdoor use. By initiating this development alone, we hope to make our contribution and that the industry will sooner or later become aware of this insulating material.
With Balthasar Volcano, you are located in one of the most beautiful regions of our country, and in a constantly developing and booming tourism mecca. What role does Balthasar play in the portfolio of these many accommodation providers?
Max: We are a small accommodation business with an unusual concept. There are hardly any comparable ecological properties in our region that are used as rental properties and we are also aiming for certification with the Austrian Ecolabel (certified Ecolabel Hotel since October 2021). There are still very few such properties in our region.
As a graphic and communication designer, designing, shaping and embellishing are already close to your heart as a professional. How do resource-conserving production, sustainable construction and design go together for you?
Anna: It definitely works together, but it's difficult. Nevertheless, we are convinced that we have managed to combine the best of both worlds with Balthasar Volcano.
For you, does being in harmony with nature also mean visually adapting to the surroundings with the architecture and the choice of materials, blending in and doing something good for the eye?
Anna: One of our main ideas was that the building should be as unobtrusive as possible when you drive up to it, but still achieve a wow effect. It's 250 square meters in total, but you don't perceive it as bulky. With the green roof areas, it blends in well with nature. We have tried to implement new living concepts. Compared to other apartments, our apartments are smaller but better utilized. In today's world, we have to use our living space more efficiently in order to reduce the amount of space we use, which is what we want to show with our concept.
Is it a basic trust that you carry within you to tackle projects, to develop them anew, to allow them to come into being and to be sure that this action will be crowned with success?
Anna: Of course, Balthasar Volcano is the biggest project we have implemented so far and we are looking forward to what we will experience with it over the next few years and what we can achieve with it. In the worst-case scenario, we will have to realign ourselves. We have a lot of faith in ourselves, we are hard-working and we have also seen in the agency where we have implemented many projects that we didn't think we would do. For us, Balthasar Volcano is the logical consequence of the things we have wanted for a long time.
The journey and construction phase is complete. With the opening, you are embarking on a new path. What do you want to be able to say about yourselves and Balthasar Volcano in five years' time?
Max: In five years' time, we hope to be able to say that we have made a lasting impact with our building and that we have also inspired other projects to a certain extent.
