Vienna, Austria
Designed by INNOCAD Architektur, THE ROCK Radisson RED Vienna is a new hotel housed in a landmark building whose white metal façade, gold-tinted windows, and glass house on the rooftop set it apart from the rest of the buildings in the neighborhood.
The designers have focused on public expression and communication, resulting in an individual shape and identity, designed for Radisson´s recently launched lifestyle hospitality brand, Radisson RED.
The hotel has 179 guestrooms, a restaurant, and bar, a gym, meetings, and events space, a 240-square-meter courtyard with hanging gardens, a rooftop bar, and a terrace next to Danube Canal and the city center.
The Rock Radisson RED Vienna which is the first of its kind in the German-speaking region can be found at both a physical and social junction in Vienna’s 2nd district.
The site is situated in a well-visited area among a row of notable highlights.
Architecturally, a complimentary tension exists between the facade’s regular raster of large windows and tectonic folding likened to that of a rock formation based on diverse influencing parameters.
The folds follow site restrictions, permit light to reach neighboring structures and the street, and visually initiate the building’s lively interaction with the public.
This exchange is fostered by an almost physical connection to the Schottenring metro station, directly in front of the hotel.
From the street, one can see through the lobby to the courtyard thanks to the ground floor’s transparency, emphasizing the building’s public nature and social intent.
This concept extends upwards from the courtyard into the rooftop garden and terrace.
The hotel´s urban, lively surrounding is mirrored by the 24-meter-high mural in the courtyard, acting like a visual anchor.
The interior´s surfaces, materials, and the hospitality group’s curated furniture selection merge Radisson’s design guidelines with Viennese culture.
The glass house rooftop is a platform for further public expression, forming a dialogue with the adjacent street, the river, and the city.
An additional “greenhouse” typology stands out as a clear attraction amongst the regularity and consistency of the neighborhood’s residential buildings, all having similar heights and traits.
Cantilevering slightly over a row of windows below, it clearly indicates an exceptional space intending to interact with the rest of the city.
The architecture´s notion is also transferred into the design of the top floor, where a lightweight, floating textile ceiling, unfolding tent-like into the bar space, blurs the boundaries between indoors and outdoors.
The white, rhombus-shaped aluminum cladding, precisely folding around the edges, merges exterior walls and the roof into one homogenous volume, emphasizing the unified, rock-like nature.
Gold-bronze, slightly mirrored windows extend outside of the facade, providing sun protection.
On the inside, they become pieces of furniture on their own, having the height of a bench and becoming “living windows,” communicating with nearby people and buildings and encouraging observation.
In this way, even the windows have a subtle way of connecting with exterior public space.
Project: THE ROCK Radisson RED Vienna
Architects: INNOCAD Architektur
Lead Architect: Oliver Kupfner
Design Team: Martin Lesjak, Jörg Kindermann, Michael Gattermeyer, Harald Glanz, Sidonie Muller, Michael Pleschberger, and Amila Smajlovic
Project Manager: Lugitsch & Partner Ziviltechniker GmbH
MEP Services: TB Stengg GmbH
HVAC Consultant: Bierbauer&Partner GmbH
Structure Engineers: Pilz & Partner ZT GmbH
Building Physics Engineer: Pilz & Partner ZT GmbH
Geotechnical Consulting: INSITU Geotechnik GmbH
Acoustics/Vibration: IC Konsulenten Ziviltechniker GesmbH
Client: Immovate Realita GmbH
Photographs: Paul Ott and Maximilian Haidacher
