Living in the Gasometer — what is it like?
Short and honest: you live in one of four gas holders of 1899, 75 metres tall, listed since 1978, converted in 1999–2001 into about 600 flats and a student hall, with the U3 station at the main entrance. The trade-off: many windows look into the courtyard of a brick ring, and a whole quarter will be under construction outside the door into the 2030s.
Living Snapshot — the area in numbers
The Gasometers are not a Grätzl of their own in Vienna Living Map’s data — what is rated are the residential areas around them: Simmering Bahnhof a good one and a half kilometres to the south and Erdberg just under two kilometres to the north-west, across the district border.
What shapes daily life
The towers are older than the flats inside them. In 1894 the city bought the Große Spitalwiese in Simmering, construction began in October 1896, and on 31 October 1899 the gasworks went into operation: four holders, each 75 metres tall, 62.8 metres across inside, holding 90,000 cubic metres of gas; around 1900 some 2,000 people worked here. In 1978 the holders were listed as industrial monuments, and in 1985 and 1986 they went out of service. From 1999 to 2001 one architect converted each tower: Jean Nouvel Gasometer A, Coop Himmelb(l)au B, Manfred Wehdorn C, Wilhelm Holzbauer D. In autumn 2001 the first residents moved in: 615 flats, 247 student places, a kindergarten, offices, an event hall and the Vienna City and Provincial Archives with 35 kilometres of records, the oldest document from 1208.
Not everything worked out. The shopping arcade that ran 450 metres through all four towers started with about 70 shops; in 2012 it was consolidated into about 30 shops on three levels in Gasometer A. What stayed are the flats, the student hall, the archives, the hall and the U3 station Gasometer, opened on 2 December 2000 with the last section of the U3; its entrance on Rosa-Fischer-Gasse is right at the main entrance, and on weekdays bus 72A terminates there. Now the next layer is coming: in the western and southern Gasometervorfeld the “Bricolage City” is being built for about 2,000 people, with the first flats due to be ready from 2028; ground was broken for the 51,000-square-metre park in July 2026, and its first part is due to be finished in spring 2027.
What works surprisingly well
Distances are short: the U3 stops at the main entrance, one station to Erdberg and seven to Stephansplatz. For public transport the Simmering Bahnhof Grätzl reaches 8.8 out of 10. The Hyblerpark is about five minutes away on foot, and from 2027 the new park in the Gasometervorfeld opens, with 120 trees in its first part.
Each tower is a different house. Nouvel placed nine separate buildings in the ring of Gasometer A, and sun falls into the courtyard through the slots between them. Coop Himmelb(l)au set an 18-storey “shield” in front of the north side of B. Wehdorn stepped C back in terraces with plenty of greenery. Holzbauer put a three-winged star inside D that never touches the old brick wall — the flats look onto the monument.
What you consciously accept
Light here is a matter of the tower: a brick cylinder 62.8 metres across inside has a courtyard that the sun reaches only from above. How much of it a flat gets depends on the tower, the side and the floor — less low in the courtyard, more higher up and towards the outer wall. Anyone moving in looks at the floor more closely than elsewhere.
It is neither quiet nor cool here: the Simmering Bahnhof Grätzl sits below Vienna’s median for quiet at 6.5 (median 6.8) and above the average of the modelled summer-heat index at 62 (average 56). And building is going on outside the door: the park since July 2026, the housing of the Bricolage City into the 2030s.
20 minutes of everyday life
Six stops, one evening after work — every observation is true exactly here, not everywhere.
- Rosa-Fischer-Gasse 17:30
The entrance to the U3 station Gasometer, opened on 2 December 2000, right at the main entrance. A second entrance is due by 2027. - Gasometer A 17:33
Jean Nouvel’s tower: nine buildings in a ring, with slots between them through which the light falls into the courtyard. Since 2012 this is where the roughly 30 shops on three levels are. - Gasometer B 17:38
Coop Himmelb(l)au’s tower with the 18-storey shield on its north side; the event hall below, plus the student hall with 247 places. - Gasometer C 17:42
Manfred Wehdorn’s tower: terraces stepping back as they rise, greenery on the steps, rainwater collected separately. - Gasometer D 17:46
Wilhelm Holzbauer’s three-winged star in the middle, the brick wall left free. On the lower floors the Vienna City and Provincial Archives, since autumn 2001. - Hallergasse 17:52
The Gasometervorfeld: since July 2026 the park has been under construction here, 51,000 square metres in the end, with 120 trees and 5,000 square metres of flower meadows in the first part, from spring 2027. Behind it the building plots of the Bricolage City.
Who is it for?
For anyone who wants to live in a house of which there are only four, and takes the U3 every day. If you need evening sun at the window, choose tower and floor with care; if you want quiet from building sites in the coming years, factor in the Vorfeld into the 2030s.
Check the light per floor
In a ring 62.8 metres across inside, many windows look into the courtyard, and whether sun reaches them depends on the tower, the side and the floor. The light check calculates, for the address and the floor, when direct sun reaches the windows — on 21 June and 21 December, from the officially measured heights of the neighbouring buildings. The preview for one room is free. To the light check →
Open this place in Vienna Living Map →The Simmering Bahnhof Grätzl portrait · Living in the Arsenal · Architecture in Vienna · Simmering district · Karl-Marx-Hof · Arsenal
Method & sources
Gasworks and holders: Wien Geschichte Wiki (City of Vienna), article “Gasometer”. Conversion, shops and skywalk: Wikipedia, article “Gasometer (Wien)”. Architecture of the four towers: nextroom, “Gasometer Simmering — Neubau und Revitalisierung”. Underground: Wikipedia, article “U-Bahn-Station Gasometer”. Archives: Wikipedia, article “Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv”. Park: City of Vienna press service, “Neue Parkanlage Gasometervorfeld” (5 March 2025) and Wiener Stadtgärten, “Park Gasometervorfeld”. Bricolage City: ORF Wien (12 July 2026). All read on 12 October 2026. Quiet, summer heat and public transport: Vienna Living Map’s own data for the Simmering Bahnhof Grätzl.
Frequently asked
What are the Vienna Gasometers?
Four gas holders of the Simmering gasworks, built in 1896–1899, each 75 metres tall, 62.8 metres across inside and holding 90,000 cubic metres of gas. They have been listed since 1978 and went out of service in 1985 and 1986. From 1999 to 2001 they were converted into flats, a student hall, offices, an event hall and the Vienna City and Provincial Archives.
Which district are the Gasometers in?
In the 11th district, Simmering, postcode 1110, on Guglgasse. The U3 station Gasometer is at the main entrance, one station from Erdberg.
Can you live in the Gasometer?
Yes. The conversion created 615 flats and 247 student places, spread across all four towers. Many flats sit in the ring and look into the courtyard; how much sun arrives depends on the tower, the side and the floor.
Who converted the Gasometers?
One architect per tower: Jean Nouvel Gasometer A with nine buildings in a ring, Coop Himmelb(l)au B with the 18-storey shield and the hall, Manfred Wehdorn C with terraces, Wilhelm Holzbauer D with a three-winged star whose lower floors hold the city archives. The conversion ran from 1999 to 2001.
What is being built in the Gasometervorfeld?
The “Bricolage City”: a quarter for about 2,000 people in the western and southern Vorfeld, with the first flats from 2028. At its centre a park of 51,000 square metres, ground broken in July 2026; the first part with 120 trees is due to open in spring 2027, the rest follows in stages.
What is it like to live in the Gasometer?
Quick to get anywhere with the U3 at the main entrance, the Hyblerpark about five minutes away on foot, and a house that is a monument. In exchange, courtyard windows in a brick ring, a building site outside the door into the 2030s and, in the data, less quiet and more summer heat than the Viennese average. The Gasometers have no score of their own; the Simmering Bahnhof Grätzl around them reaches 65 out of 100.