A piece of heaven, from a man called "Holl"

No one less than the American star architect Steven Holl is responsible for the design of the wine & spa resort LOISIUM Hotel, which has left not just the guests but also the inhabitants of the Austrian town of Langenlois amazed by the boldness of the design and in which perforated sheeting plays an important role.

“Polarising at the first glance, visionary at the second” – is how the hotel brochure reveals what visitors can look forward to. This first view from the outside clearly bears the signature of Steven Holl.

The aluminium perforated sheeting façade in the midst of the Lower Austria vineyard countryside – a special production, which was milled by the company Heinrich RennerGmbH www.derrenner.at and subsequently powder coated – really is polarising. “Steven Holl is of course fascinated by the material perforated sheeting”, confirms Irene Ott-Reinisch. It was in the Sam Ott-Reinisch Viennese architecture office that Holl found his congenial executing partner for the project. “This fascination is also understandable”, joins in Franz Sam as he picks up the story. “The interesting thing about the material perforated sheeting is being able to gaze into its depths. There is something quite subtle in being able to look behind a façade.” Behind the perforated sheeting façade of the LOISIUM Hotel, the guests can luxuriate in a place where design, comfort and ease go hand in hand. From the open baths in the rooms, there is a view on the vineyard landscape, something which once again picks up the idea of transparency. “This transparency is, however, only one advantage of perforated sheeting”, says Franz Sam. “As the executing architects, we are also skilled top-class engineers. And for this reason, we are aware of all the possibilities that a perforated surface has to offer. The strength of a material can, for example, be increased through the formation of holes, provided of course that this is done correctly. In this case, a perforated sheeting façade can, under certain circumstances, offer much more than a plaster or brick façade.” Just as the first view of the hotel is polarising, the second reveals it as visionary: “The innova-tive façade architecture continues in the inside of the hotel”, explains Irene Ott-Reinisch. “We find it in the colour concept, in the columns, which give one the impression of tree trunks, in the floor compositions.”

The LOISIUM Hotel was not a risk-free architecture project in the heart of this wine-loving countryside. But the courage of all those involved was rewarded with the European Hotel Design Award 2006 in the Best Hotel Architecture category and the high number of visitors, who enjoy the extensive wellness and spa centre in addition to the hotel as well as the “Cellar World” visitor centre. There underground, everything revolves around wine. While overground you have everything you could wish for in terms of excellent architecture, together with luxurious indulgence and enjoyment. A piece of heaven from a man called “Holl”!

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