The Vienna Ringstrasse, built at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, is often regarded as a mere string of monumental buildings. This overlooks the fact that large sections were also used for representative living, especially by the aristocracy, the upper middle classes and entrepreneurs at the turn of the century. Their magnificent palaces were mostly representative company headquarters, as well as corresponding residences for the owners. Rental apartments in these palaces for the upper middle classes were also part of the utilization concept. Famous Ringstrasse architects such as Theophil Hansen, Heinrich Ferstel and Emil Förster not only created public buildings such as the Neue Hofburg, the Museums of Art and Natural History, the State Opera, the Burgtheater, the Parliament, the City Hall and the University, but also Ringstrasse palaces for the Epstein, Todesco or Ephrussi families.

In place of the former OPEC building, Universitätsring 10, which was built in 1965-1967 according to plans by architect Carl Appel, after the original one built by Emil Förster, which had formed an ensemble with the neighboring houses, was destroyed by bomb hits during World War II, a building with serviced apartments is to be planned, containing high-quality, comfortable apartments of various sizes. Representative large apartments are to be created as well as high-quality small apartments. When integrating the building into its historical surroundings, the scale of the Ringstrasse with its high-quality architecture is to be taken into account as well as that of the adjacent Mölker Bastei, but without falling into historical imitation.