Pixel in the Tower – Enns
Pixel im Turm - Enns - open
Enns, the oldest town in Austria, possesses an architectural jewel in the form of its 448-year-old bell tower.
The free-standing tower, the only one of its kind in the country, has served as a steeple, fire detection station, clock tower and town watch. It stands as the symbol of Enns, and not just because of the superb views it commands.
After 448 years, the Enns tower has gained a new lease of life as the site of a hotel room.
Together with Pixel Hotel the association "Die Herren zu Ens" began in 2008 to be initiative and they started to work on the implementation of the Pixel in the tower.
A steep climb up 71 stone steps leads you now to an exceptional hotel room 20 metres above the main square of Enns: welcome to the Pixel im Turm!
In compliance with stringent rules on preserving sites of historic interest, the shell of the room in question was renovated. This involved the painstaking exposure and documentation of 23 layers of plaster and paint applied over four centuries.
In June 2012, as they worked on the remarkable stuccoed ceiling, restorers came across the (apparently original) feed channel for the rope once used to wind the clock in a recess.
The original floor was uncovered beneath more recent floor coverings, numbered piece by piece and restored accordingly.
Between the conglomerate stone and the smoke-blackened arches, Enns-based architects haas_architektur created a modern Pixel Hotel room complete with rain shower in the old smoke room.
The Pixel im Turm is now a vivid illustration of how contemporary stylistic features can be blended seamlessly into historic spaces, which are thereby turned to fresh uses.