The upper storeys are unornamented except for window boxes; according to legend, these were intended to allude to the Hofburg by resembling the Archducal hat in form;[citation needed] the Looshaus is opposite its north façade (Michaelertrakt).
The street-level salesroom was divided by four interior columns into distinct areas, and had oval display windows and furnishings sourced by Loos in England.
However, although the city had accepted the plans, in 1910 the unornamented upper storeys caused a scandal; construction was permitted to proceed only after Loos added window boxes with flowers to mitigate what one of many insulting articles in the press called their "inappropriate nakedness", and defended his design in a public meeting.
[2][3] Reportedly, Emperor Franz Joseph disliked the Looshaus so much that he ordered the curtains on the windows of the Hofburg facing the square to remain closed.
[5] In the process, the public area of the house in particular (the former Goldman & Salatsch business premises) was restored to its former state, which had been lost in the 1930s, and the upper floors were adapted as office space.
[6] As early as 1989, the Looshaus was the venue, alongside the Albertina and the Wien Museum, for the exhibition "Adolf Loos" (02.12.1989-25.02.1990), which was also curated by Burkhardt Rukschcio.