Originally opened in 1919, Café Drechsler is a Viennese institution with an around the clock service to customers ranging from early morning market vendors, through business lunchers, to late night clubbers. Conran & Partners’ challenge was to modernise the much-loved café while retaining its classic essence.

By retaining existing features such as the vaulted ceiling, Bauhaus pendant light fittings and black marble café tables, and with the reintroduction of elements such as banquette seating and timber panelling, Conran & Partners have captured the aesthetic of the traditional Viennese café. The café provided some hidden gems to aid in the restoration; a collection of unused Thornet bent wood chairs were discovered in the attic and stripping back years of wallpaper revealed an original painted ceiling which was retained in the new design.

Conran & Partners relocated the bar and introduced a private dining room. Graphics from the old café menu were incorporated into the decoration of the lower salon and serve as a reminder of the quality of the traditional Austrian food served through the café’s history and today.