Platinum Winner of the Houzee Awards 2024

Reiters Reserve Premium Suites

Interior
Sustainable & Eco-Friendly Design
Completed / Built
Professional Category

Architect / Designer:

Stephan Ferenczy

Studio:

BEHF Architects

Copyright:

Kurt Hörbst

Country:

Austria

The inspiration for the new suites at Reiters Reserve Supreme is derived from the philosophy of its own hotelier, who built the retreat area as a self-contained unit. The focus is on the harmony between humans and nature and the considerate use of our resources.
Like a castle, the hotel (an existing resort from the 1980s) perches in the gently rolling landscape of South Burgenland. The location is shaped by the surrounding nature, and its inherent qualities are acknowledged and revealed.

Defining values of the design are honesty, innovation, and modesty. Genuine, natural materials of the highest quality and sustainability were selected for this purpose. Materials that you can smell and feel, and that, owing to their timeless colors and straightforward design, can age gracefully. The spatial composition is dominated by restraint and minimalism, focusing on the essentials, as well as on efficiency and a willingness to create true qualities.

The suites emerged from joining of originally smaller rooms. The intention was to create both functional and spacy suite for a flexible use. Various movable partitions and variable elements enable to fit the room to guests´ actual needs. One can take a bath in the living room, write a diary in a retractable workspace, fall asleep on a sofa (designed by BEHF and Wittmann), do sports on wooden wall bars or prepare a favorite drink in a hidden kitchenette. Floor-to-ceiling pivot doors allow for individual opening/closing of the bedroom to the living space.

Entry into the suite is through a small, semi-transparent anteroom separated from the rest of the large space. There is a bench and a silent fountain as a filter between the convival social life outside and a private withdrawal in the suite. In addition to generous storage space, there are long, space-defining benches and shelves where one can sit, place flower vases, or leave newspapers. The famous “Knitting Chair” invites you to read a good book or lay down your clothes.

In addition to sophisticated lighting design, expressive, individual single lights by the artist Megumi Ito (Vienna/Paris) complement the spatial experience. In principle, the entire furnishings, as well as walls and floors, are made of sustainably harvested solid wood (ash) verifiably sourced from nearby regions. Partitions are made of wooden grids that allow one to see through, thus giving the wall depth. Clay plaster and natural stone, as well as cork and fur, complement the high-quality material selection. This high-quality and durable implementation significantly extends the renovation cycle.

In the large suite, an Ofuro, a rectangular Japanese soaking tub, has been placed along one of the three window axes. From here, guests have an excellent view of the vast landscape as well as the spacious hotel room. Next to it there is also a wall bar with various sports equipment, providing guests with an opportunity to maintain harmony between body and soul through exercise.

BEHF Architects

BEHF Architects is an internationally active architectural firm, founded in Vienna by Armin Ebner, Susi Hasenauer and Stephan Ferenczy in 1995. It is one of the largest, most efficient and interdisciplinary architectural offices in Austria, employing with around 80 staff. BEHF Architects have established a particular reputation in the fields of corporate architecture, hospitality, residential and retail. Its contemporary and sensitive refurbishments and revitalisations of listed buildings have been awarded numerous internationally prestigious prizes, including the German Design Award, the Prix Versailles and the American Architecture Prize.

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