Cool Zones' in Vienna Help Austrians Cope With Heatwave

Such air-conditioned spaces offer respite as the mercury hits 30 deg C and higher

- Shabana Begum

VIENNA, Austria - College student Marlene Waldner was on her period in the first week of July, which happened to be the hottest summer week of 2025 so far in the capital of music, Vienna.

Daytime temperatures exceeded 30 deg C that week, and the mercury crescendoed past 36 deg C on July 3.

"If it's very hot, the period cramps get worse and I can't concentrate," said Ms Waldner, 25, who is among the majority of Austrians who live in housing without air-conditioning, a norm in much of Europe.

Reprieve, however, came in the form of a small social services centre for migrant women, tucked away in Vienna's District 2. The centre, called Piramidops, is one of 22 indoor spaces across the city that the authorities have designated as "cool zones" in July and August of 2025.

These include social service organisations, libraries and pensioners' clubs.

Seeking a comfortable place to work on a group project on July 2, Ms Waldner found out about Piramidops online.

These free air-conditioned spaces are cooled to between 20 deg C and 24 deg C, offering an escape from the searing, harsh heat. This is an expansion of a pilot that started with two centres in the summer of 2023, and more than 10 in 2024.

Ms Waldner and her friends were given lentil stew and pitchers of cool, fruity drinks as they worked on their school project. She said: "I'm definitely going to use these centres more. I don't even have a fan at home right now."