Master's final project

Refurbishment of a hotel building in the historical center of Vienna This final master project is an answer to the protest against the Heumarkt Neu project which involves the redevelopment of the Intercontinental hotel and the Vienna ice-skating club. Situated in Vienna's UNESCO-designated historic center, the Heumarkt Neu project involves demolishing the existing 1960s building and building taller structures, impacting the views protected by the organisation. This project rethinks the future of the block that houses both institutions by preserving the existing building and redeveloping the remaining plot to create a mix of uses and enhance the urban integration. To achieve this, it aligns with Vienna's city development strategies around transportation hubs to encourage business tourism. The hotel's base serves as a unifying foundation and is extended over the rest of the parcel to accommodate new functions. To the west, coworking floors are topped by co-living units. The semi-public space, divided into a lower courtyard and an upper courtyard transformed into a park, houses a sports facility featuring an ice rink and an aquatic center. The hotel is refurbished into apart-hotel, allowing for longer stays. Its facade are renovated with a suspended double skin that provides outdoor spaces for the rooms and improves the building's thermal performance through ventilation and heat transfer systems. Lastly the whole project utilizes various available resources to meet the needs of each part of the project. For example, the excess heat produced by the ice rink's cooling system is used to heat the housing units, while the calories from units waste water is used to warm the aquatic center.