Interior design studio Stephanie Barba Mendoza looked to Vienna's artistic past to devise the communal spaces of this aparthotel, which takes over a 19th-century post office in the Austrian capital.

The landmark post office building was constructed in Vienna's Fleischmarkt district in 1854 and stayed in operation for 150 years, during which the city gave rise to major art movements from the Viennese Secession to the Wiener Werkstätte.

This came to be a key point of reference for London-based Stephanie Barba Mendoza, who has designed the shared spaces of the Wilde aparthotel to nod to Vienna's rich cultural legacy.

"The design of Wilde, Vienna Fleischmarkt is rooted in Vienna's rebellious artistic history and the idea of the post office as a place of exchange – of ideas, culture and community," she explained.

"I wanted to honour the extraordinary heritage of the building while creating spaces that feel relevant, open and alive today. It's about bringing the spirit of Vienna's coffeehouses and artistic movements into the 21st century."

The guest bedrooms of the aparthotel were designed in-house at Wilde, which also has branches in Portugal, the Netherlands and across the UK.

Mendoza's aesthetic touch is encountered first in the hotel lobby with its tall, vaulted ceilings. Despite the space's generous proportions, Mendoza wanted it to be more evocative of a stube – a German term for a cosy living room – leading her to create several intimate pockets of seating.

On one side of the room, a floor lamp illuminates a group of tiger-print chairs placed on a swirly green rug. On the other, a brown velvet sofa backs onto a shelf filled with various art objects and antique books.

Surfaces throughout the lobby are a buttery yellow hue, with one wall adorned with a geometric mural.

Murals were a common feature in spaces by the Secessionists, who championed the 19th-century concept of a Gesamtkunstwerk or "total work of art", bringing together multiple creative mediums such as painting, architecture and sculpture.

"Space like [the lobby] asks to be activated," Mendoza told Dezeen. "We were deep in the Secession and the Jugendstil movement at the time, and it felt like the right moment to bring in a local artist who could carry that inspiration but speak with a completely new voice."

"Rather than replicate, we wanted a reinterpretation, something that holds the spirit of that era whilst feeling entirely of the present," she added.

Beyond the lobby is the hotel's restaurant, Rascal. Its walls are off-white, but running through the centre is a hand-painted red chequered line that snakes around the room's columns.

This motif is meant to be a nod to traditional Viennese coffee houses, in which decorative borders were often used to define architectural features; chequerboard patterns also frequently appeared throughout Secessionist design.

At the heart of the restaurant is a bar counter fronted by gold fretwork that emulates the ornate style of Secessionist-era jewellery.

Dotted around are polished wood tables and crimson-coloured leather chairs, but guests also have the option of sitting at the checkered blue banquettes at the edge of the room.

The banquettes are bordered by short white curtains, intended as another reference to the city's coffee houses. Large mirrors and oversized brass hanging lamps provide further decoration.

Just beyond, the restaurant features an opulent guest bathroom with a medley of chequerboard flooring, veiny marble skirting and striped awning beneath the sinks.

Other places to stay in the Austrian capital include The Hoxton Vienna hotel, which occupies a marble-clad 1950s office building.

The photography is by Julius Hirtzberger.