Since its founding in 1875, the well-established, traditional bookstore has been running its business in the Haus am Graben and since that time it has undergone structural changes in shorter and also longer intervals. In 1910, Hans Prutscher redesigned the portal and interior. "This is a work where functional style is at its best, not only due to its distinguished simplicity but also because of its practical use of space," a contemporary reviewer praised the store, which probably no longer existed in this form as early as in the 1930s.
 
In the late 1980s, an expansion and modernization - videos, among other things, were now included in the bookstore's assortment – were considered as an opportunity to provide the store once again with a new, contemporary face. In the course of these works the structure of this special type of Viennese store consisting of a ground floor and mezzanine was completely redesigned and reinterpreted. By opening the ceilings into the vaulted cellar, a new spatial connection was created. Its architectural backbone consists of a steel construction that first forms a bridge over the spacious interior leading into the depths of the room, and then acts as a showcase as well as a space defining piece of furniture in the vertical axis, which creates a room quality that invites customers to linger . A translucent book lift made of glass together with a skylight dome above the stairs to the upper floor support the airy impression. The transparent façade, which extends from above the entrance up to the cordon cornice, thus covering two open storeys, offers also people on the street the possibility to experience the store’s interior also from the outside. On both sides of the entrance, the outer wall panes finished with soft pink cloudy Venetian stucco lend the business portal an elegant monumentality.