Hospitality Design - September 2012 - 102

perspectivesplaces
vienna
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unveiling of the Hotel Daniel—and they’ve been
picking up momentum ever since.
Adaptive Reuses >With 115 rooms, the
Daniel off ers a revamp of a 1960s listed building
that’s been recognized for its pioneering curtain
wall, as well as its forlorn emptiness, for years.
“The building has a remarkable legacy so we felt
the interiors had to refl ect that special quality,”
says Christian Heiss, principal of Atelier Heiss,
the hotel’s Vienna-based designers. While the
existing fl oorplates limited room size, fl oorto-ceiling
windows and concrete ceilings lent
ready-made distinction, Heiss says.
But he strived to avoid “theme-ness” by
playing on the mid-century roots. Green pendant
lamps, sumptuous gray leather headboards, and
hammocks in the guestrooms present strong
cocooning touches that are echoed by an eclectic
collection of vintage furniture throughout the
public spaces. “It’s always changing,” says Heiss
of the assemblage, “so it never becomes kitschy
or self-conscious.”
Meanwhile the 25hours Hotel Wien—an
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4
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outpost of the Hamburg-based budget boutique
brand—arrived late last year in a mundane
1970s, six-story hostel. Interiors by the German
fi rm Dreimeta revolve around a quirky circus
theme with pop color schemes and custom
illustrations of ringmasters and acrobats by
German artist Olaf Hajek.
Bernhard of BWM topped the building with a
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2. Concrete ceilings,
green pendant lamps,
swooping hammocks,
and gray leather
headboards play on midcentury
roots in Hotel
Daniel’s guestrooms.
3. Sofitel Vienna
Stephansdom’s striking
rooftop dining room
overlooks the city.
4. Jean Nouvel’s bold
glass skyscraper for the
Sofitel helped pave the
way for Vienna’s modern
renaissance.
boxy three-story glass addition. The current 34
suites are housed in this new piece, with plans
calling for the lower fl oors to be remodeled to
house 187 more guestrooms, as well as a spa and
a restaurant. The overall eff ect, says Bernhard, is
one of “playing with the roughness of the space’s
concrete fl oors and open ceilings with exposed
pipes and ductwork. It’s a very relaxed feel.”
New This Year > Bernhard contrasts this
project with another one undertaken by BWM,
the new-build Hotel Topazz, which opened this
spring near St. Stephansdom, the city’s iconic
cathedral. “This one is much more exclusive
and highly fi nished,” he says. “It has subtle
quotations of traditional Viennese elements,
such as in the Salon on the ground fl oor which is
a tribute to the café culture of the city.”
Taking inspiration from BWM’s defi antly
modern, cylindrical 10-story building, interior
designer Michael Manzenreiter’s 32 guestrooms
feature comfy divans set into the elliptical,
asymmetrically placed windows, and fabrics and
fi nishings that reference Wiener Werkstät e.
“Throughout,” says Bernhard, “there’s a great
deal of high-level fi t ings and handmade works.
Not much is standard in this hotel.”
102
September 2012 hospitalitydesign.com
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
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