BWM Designers & Architects

The idea, says Erich Bernard of BWM Designers & Architects, was to “create moments of surprise and delight.” Drawing inspiration from the circus world, the 25hours Hotel now offers a spectacle for one and all – with an assemblage of projections, art, illustrations, and much more. Custom-made gradient curtains serve as the unifying design element, tying together all the newly created features across the 198.5 m² lobby.

BWM merged the reception area with the shop and gave it a unique design reminiscent of a traditional fairground shooting gallery, featuring chequer-plate flooring, copper-sheet cladding, and a ceiling studded with the iconic exposed bulbs associated with the famous Prater amusement park. The shop’s merchandise is displayed in open shelving like prizes waiting to be won. The centrally positioned column, designed as a circular bench, serves as a meeting point in the lobby and has now been transformed into an installation by artist David Meran, who created a small world of illusion by hand-tufting the column's cladding and incorporating mirrors and typography. Artist Spencer Chalk-Levy designed the lift interiors using the trompe-l'œil technique, a style of painting that creates the illusion of three-dimensionality through perspective. An intimate cinema furnished with original Wiesner-Hager seating, together with a new bar counter directly connected to a co-working space, provides the finishing touch to the spectacle.