Schloss Steinburg Hotel, Würzburg

Right in the middle of the world-fa­mous Würzburger Stein vine­yard – with a view over the city as far as the fortress and Käppele pil­grim­age church – is located the new “Refuge” event and con­fer­ence centre run by the four-star Schloss Stein­burg Hotel. To­gether with the Ma­yarchitek­ten firm of ar­chi­tects, the build­ing’s client Lothar Bezold has put to effect a struc­tural en­sem­ble that com­bines ul­tra-mod­ern con­fer­ence and func­tion spaces with elegant guest rooms and suites on three floors cov­er­ing around 36,000 square feet of floor-space. In­cor­po­rat­ing a period, partly listed, mock-Tu­dor mansion 110 years old has created a stylish element of con­trast to the modern, highly func­tional “Refuge”.

The ground floor is given over to con­fer­ence rooms whilst the first floor houses 23 hotel rooms. The open spatial layout, which extends to in­te­grat­ing the bath­room into the sleep­ing and living area, is echoed by large window fronts that afford de­light­ful views of Würzburg and en­vi­rons even for anyone in bed or the bath. A mixture of “U” and “L”-shaped build­ings has helped fashion an inner court­yard and a terrace. The latter, which divides into dif­fer­ent levels, pro­vides space for re­lax­ing in as well as the option of putting on minor per­for­mances against the back­drop of the city.

The inner court­yard like­wise opens onto the city and can be used by con­fer­ence at­ten­dees. Some bits of the build­ing jut in, some out, so as to var­i­ously form en­closed, semi-en­closed and open areas that are con­ducive to en­counter and com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Up-to-the-minute levels of both tech­nol­ogy and hos­pi­tal­ity are also re­flected in the doors. Use is made of a system so­lu­tion for elec­tronic access man­age­ment to­gether with a welter of classic me­chan­i­cal fit­tings from the house of FSB. The C33 Dark Bronze An­odised finish blends in seam­lessly with the design of the Refuge. Earthy colours and natural ma­te­ri­als round off the stylish scheme and make for a pleas­ant at­mos­phere.