BEHF Architects has been twice awarded at the Iconic Awards 2019: Innovative Architecture – in the Architecture category for the projects Koller + Koller am Waagplatz Restaurant and Residential Complex Korb Etagen, Brandstätte 7 (BEHF Architects and Mittermair Architekten).

Iconic Awards: Innovative Architecture, established by the German Design Council, is the first independent international architecture and design competition to take into account the interplay between the various disciplines. Awards are given to visionary buildings, innovative products and sustainable communication in all sectors of architecture, the construction and real estate business and the manufacturing industries.

After undergoing a significant six-month-renovation, Koller + Koller am Waagplatz has opened its doors with a brand new look. BEHF Architects has envisioned a design strategy that brings in the 21st century to the interior’s aesthetic, giving it a refreshing and contemporary update, and at the same time highlighting the historic characteristics of the city’s iconic building from the 12th century.

As part of the redesign, an entrance, dining areas and sanitary facilities located on the ground floor were renovated. An unused second entrance has been reopened in order to provide separate, direct access to the upper levels as well as to the Freysauff cellar, which has remained essentially unchanged since its construction.

Koller + Koller AM Waagplatz Restaurant

In the heart of the historic centre of Vienna, only a few minutes walk from St Stephen’s Cathedral, BEHF Architects and Mittermair Architekten have converted the former office premises of Erste Bank situated above the legendary Café Korb into 69 inviting apartments on about 12,000 square metres.

The careful modernisation injected new life into Vienna’s historic complex. Reviving the charm of tradition that can now be felt inside these walls, the architects intensified the authenticity of the building and created a new presence of this historic structure in a dynamic neighbourhood.

Residential Complex Korb Etagen, Brandstätte 7

Top image: Hans Berger (Project Management, BEHF Architects), Franz Gruber (board member, BEHF Architects) and Stephan Ferenczy (BEHF Architects co-founder) at the Iconic Awards Ceremony in Munich

Images: Lutz Sternstein, Rupert Steiner, Bruno Klomfar, Günter Freund/wildbild