Vienna Media News 03/2020 Up on the roof, down in the club

9.3.2020 - Unusual locations for Vienna’s bars and restaurants: coming soon to one of the city’s rooftops or basements.

The opening week for a lofty new attraction at the MuseumsQuartier will get going on April 21, 2020: MQ Libelle is an event space perched atop the Leopold Museum complete with a 600m² terrace for the general public to enjoy. The new viewing platform at the MuseumsQuartier will include outdoor seating and a kiosk for drinks and snacks. The multipurpose event space was designed by Laurids Ortner, who, alongside his brother Manfred Ortner, was responsible for the large new buildings (Leopold Museum, mumok, Kunsthalle Wien) inside the main courtyard of the MQ. The new extension on the roof of the Leopold Museum also features works by leading Austrian artists: its glass facade was created by Eva Schlegel and there is a light installation by Brigitte Kowanz. The MQ Libelle is available for hire, both for art and culture projects and events. The House of the Sea, located in a former anti-aircraft tower just off Mariahilfer Strasse, reconfigured its restaurant area a short time ago. The 360° ocean sky restaurant is located 50 meters above ground, and offers panoramic views of Vienna from inside the establishment and out on the terrace. The restaurant can also be reached when the aquarium is closed, thanks to an external glass lift.

Fall 2021 will bring another new rooftop location in an unusual spot: on top of the Parliament building (currently closed for refurbishment) a restaurant with around 200 seats will open on the third floor with space for another 200 spread across four rooftop terraces. Swedish furniture giant Ikea is setting up a city center store at Vienna’s Westbahnhof station. Viennese architects querkraft are behind the project. The building will include a new hotel and a large rooftop terrace, where people can spend time without any obligation to buy anything. The grand opening is scheduled for 2021. Renowned international studio O.M.A. – Office for Metropolitan Architecture, founded by Pritzker Award-winner Rem Koolhaas, won the commission to complete the KaDeWe in Wien project. Positioned on Vienna’s largest shopping street, Mariahilfer Strasse, this modern take on the traditional department store will be completed by autumn 2023. It will offer a mix of shopping, café and restaurant, hotel and retail-free spaces. The rooftop level will include a restaurant as well as a publicly-accessible garden complete with views of the city. Covering some 1,000m², this park has been designed as a retail-free zone that can also be enjoyed outside store opening hours.

There’s also been plenty of movement on Vienna’s club scene, with new locations popping up all the time – underground passages and hotel basements are proving particularly popular. O – der Klub recently opened its doors to the late-night crowd in a former underpass beneath the Ringstrasse, outside the Vienna State Opera. The operators already have another club called Inc. on Schwarzenbergplatz, which caters to fans of hip hop. Vienna also has a new dinner club in the shape of Calea Club beneath the Hilton Vienna next to Stadtpark. Installed 18 meters below street level, this club is decorated with different types of moss and vertical greening systems.

MQ Libelle, MuseumsQuartier Wien, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna www.mqw.at
360° ocean sky Café-Bar, Haus des Meeres. Fritz-Grünbaum-Platz 1, 1060 Vienna, https://www.oceansky.at/
Parliament, Dr.-Karl-Renner-Ring 3, 1010 Vienna, www.parlament.gv.at
Ikea am Westbahnhof, 1150 Vienna, www.ikea.com/at/de/stores/wien-westbahnhof
KaDeWe in Wien, Mariahilfer Strasse 18, 1070 Vienna, www.signa.at
O – der Klub, Opernring/Operngasse, 1010 Vienna, www.facebook.com/O.Vienna
Inc., Schwarzenbergplatz 7, 1030 Vienna, www.facebook.com/inc.wien
Calea Club (im Hilton Vienna), Am Stadtpark 1, 1030 Vienna, www.calea.club