DETAIL IN CONTEMPORARY

HOTEL DESIGN
Published in 2013 by
Laurence King Publishing Ltd
361–373 City Road
London
EC1V 1LR
email: enquiries@laurenceking.com
www.laurenceking.com

Copyright © Text 2013 Drew Plunkett

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage
or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978 1 78067 285 4

Designed by Olga Reid

Project Editor: Gaynor Sermon
Cover design by Hamish Muir

Printed in China
 DETAIL IN CONTEMPORARY
HOTEL DESIGN

DREW PLUNKETT AND

OLGA REID

LAURENCE KING PUBLISHING

CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION

2 NEW BUILD
BURBURY, CANBERRA, KATON REDGEN MATHIESON
CASA DO CONTO, PORTO, PEDRA LÍQUIDA
DAR HI, NEFTA, MATALI CRASSET
HOTEL MISSONI, KUWAIT, MISSONI WITH GRAVEN IMAGES
MADERA, HONG KONG, LAGRANJA
CITIZENM, LONDON, CONCRETE
THE OPPOSITE HOUSE, BEIJING, KENGO KUMA
PURO, WROCLAW, BLACKSHEEP
SANA, BERLIN, FRANCESC RIFÉ STUDIO
W, LONDON, CONCRETE
YOTEL, NEW YORK, SOFTROOM
KAMEHA GRAND, BONN, MARCEL WANDERS
SHERATON MALPENSA, MILAN, KING ROSELLI ARCHITETTI
HYPERCUBUS, MOBILE UNIT, WG3
ECO-RESORT, PEDRAS SALGADAS, LUÍS REBELO DE ANDRADE AND DIOGO AGUIAR
BALANCING BARN SUFFOLK, EAST ANGLIA, STUDIO MAKKINK & BEY
BROCH LOCH, GALLOWAY, LWD

3 REFURBISHMENT
HI MATIC, PARIS, MATALI CRASSET
NOVOTEL, MANCHESTER, BLACKSHEEP
THE CLUB, SINGAPORE, MINISTRY OF DESIGN
COCOON SUITES, ANDRONIKOS, MYKONOS, KLAB ARCHITECTURE
MOODS, PRAGUE, VLADIMIR ŽÁK WITH ROMAN VRTIŠKA
N.U.T.S., TOKYO, UPSETTERS ARCHITECTS
OKURA, AMSTERDAM, RPW DESIGN
PORTAGO URBAN, GRANADA, ILMIODESIGN
RADISSON BLU AQUA, CHICAGO, GRAVEN IMAGES

4 CONVERSION
25 HOURS HAFENCITY HAMBURG, HAMBURG, STEPHEN WILLIAMS ASSOCIATES
ANDEL’S, LODZ, JESTICO + WHILES
CARO, VALENCIA, FRANCESC RIFÉ STUDIO
CONSERVATORIUM, AMSTERDAM, LISSONI ASSOCIATI
DANIEL, VIENNA, ATELIER HEISS
MINO, MIGLIARINO, ANTONIO RAVALLI ARCHITETTI
NOBIS, STOCKHOLM, CLAESSON KOIVISTO RUNE
QUALITY HOTEL EXPO, OSLO, HAPTIC
TOWN HALL, LONDON, RARE
THE WATERHOUSE AT SOUTH BUND, SHANGHAI, NERI & HU
INTRODUCTION
Most interiors support a single, well-defined, function, but those in hotels must
accommodate a diverse range of activities – rest and refreshment, work and
recreation – each of which prompts a variation on the core aesthetic that binds
the whole. None necessarily requires grand gestures but in the generous volumes
of existing buildings that are increasingly being recycled as hotels and in the
suites that perch on top of stacked floors of conventional bedrooms there are
opportunities for more extravagant responses. Structural amendments may be
necessary for the most ambitious interventions but interior construction is
usually simple. Standard partition wall techniques will deal with the repetitive
carcassing of bedroom floors and sprawling public spaces can be styled and
shaped by the selection and deployment of furniture. Public and communal
spaces will normally aspire to the monumental but the activities they, and every
other area, accommodate should provide what is, in essence, a heightened
domesticity; the mechanics and comforts of home in an environment that
transcends the familiar.

In the beginning, the antecedents of hotels met the basic needs – to eat and sleep
– of those travelling through necessity rather than for pleasure. As domestic
interiors evolved so did provision for travellers and in the 19th century ‘grand’
hotels emerged in the great cities and resorts to cater for the leisured and
moneyed beneficiaries of industrialization, providing sumptuous environments
for formal social rituals. Continuing innovations in means of travel and a
filtering down of wealth exponentially increased the numbers and motivations of
travellers. Modest interpretations of the ‘grand’ model appeared at every large
railway station and, as the numbers of travellers grew, variations emerged to suit
varying pockets. In the second half of the 20th century the increasingly global
hotel market was subsumed by chains, the Hiltons, Holiday Inns and more, that
emerged to accommodate leisure and, increasingly, business travellers, who were
assumed to want the reassurance of a consistent ‘product’. This was
determinedly insipid, with bland interiors behind modular elevations, both
shaped by dour architectural theory and reinforced by business planning that was
not yet convinced about the lucrative potential of more ambitious design.

There were exceptions to the bland rule. Arne Jacobsen’s SAS hotel, 1956-60, in
Copenhagen made a stylistic match between Modernist exterior and interior but
new hotels generally offered a flavourless, diluted Modernism. Occasional
exceptions operated outside the chains and owed more to their owners’
eccentricity than the singular voice of a designer. The stylistic about-face that
followed the Post Modernist debate was marked in the hotel world by the arrival
in New York, in 1988, of Philippe Starck’s Royalton, an extraordinary aesthetic
leap forward that was the antithesis of the mainstream aesthetic and demanded,
and got, attention. Its exuberance and example were reinforced two years later in
the Paramount, a less expensive option for a less affluent clientele, also designed
by Starck, also in New York, and also for the Royalton’s owner, Ian Schrager.
The two interiors presented a provocative template that was ecstatically received
by enthusiasts for the new aesthetic that had become familiar in the interiors of
shops, bars and restaurants. Schrager, who had created Studio 54, New York’s
most fashionably notorious nightclub, understood that market; a renegade client
able and prepared to offer opportunity and support to a visionary designer. His
collaboration with Starck established, with the objectivity of the balance sheet,
that radical hotel interiors, which became ‘destinations’ in their own right, were
good for business.

The Royalton and Paramount were the most high profile examples of the new
wave but there were other designers who had found opportunities to innovate
with progressive clients. A few years before Starck Andree Putman had created
Morgans, also in New York and also for Schrager, with a more restrained,
elegantly sumptuous but decidedly contemporary aesthetic. It has been credited
with providing the template for ‘boutique’ hotels. Marie-Christine Dorner,
created La Villa in Paris in 1988 and confirmed that there was something radical
in the air in the field of hotel design.

Innovative interiors, accommodated almost invariably in the shells of existing

buildings, some of which had been hotels with flagging profit sheets, became
tourist destinations themselves, replacing the splendour and pedigree of the
‘grand’ hotels with a more inclusive flamboyance. The earliest iterations of the
formula tended, perhaps inevitably, to be one-off developments, and were
frequently small scale. The bland purpose-built corporate solution fell from
favour, usurped by the characterful detail inherent in recycled shells. Some one-
offs evolved into modest chains but their strategists recognized that if they were
to continue to be successful their name had to guarantee that, while each location
would offer the same standards of service, the interior would be unique,
evocative of its location and fine tuned to its anticipated clientele. They
subscribed to, and benefitted from, the cult of the chic brand. ‘Designer’ joined
‘boutique’ as a generic label.

The obsessive pursuit of the flamboyant and unique inevitably taxed creativity.
Solutions, overwrought by less talented designers, became fatuous and
frequently vulgar. An aesthetic escalation set in and some clients appointed a
gaggle of designers for a single project. Some went further in the pursuit of
attention and employed fashion designers and artists who had more name
recognition than specialist interior designers and whose exuberance was not
inhibited by an awareness of sound interior design principles. Neither formula
guaranteed coherence, particularly when different designers tackled different
public rooms. Stylistic incongruities were less problematic in bedrooms but,
since guests see only the interior of their own room, the menu of options, unless
exploited as a marketing device, had little value.

The visual language and eccentricites of the ‘designer’ hotel have found their
way into the cheaper chains, although gestures tend to be less bombastic, usually
curbed by financial considerations rather than taste, but none the worse for that.
The best examples show considered restraint and, if that is the result of tighter
budgets, it also corresponds to changes in designers’ priorities. Reaction against
extravagant use of materials and resource-intensive production is prompted by
concern, reinforced by regulations, for sustainability, and that resonates with
guests’ environmental sensibilities.

Economic anxieties, particularly in the stalled economies of the West, have also
encouraged more modest expectations. Highly tuned detailing of expensive
materials is being replaced with something that appears simpler, if sometimes a
little crude. This is acceptable, however, because the outcome appears to wear an
environmentally responsible heart on its sleeve. The re-use of existing buildings
may offer ready-made visual detail but it may also be perceived as a
conservation tactic and therefore as virtuous. Redundant industrial structures
lend themselves particularly well to shabbychic conversions and an acceptance
of dilapidation requires less painstaking restoration and less sumptuous furniture
and fittings.

Inevitably there are customers who favour conventional models, preferring a

familiar package that flaunts neither extravagance nor expediency, but even they
have learned to expect more than bed and breakfast. Competition, whether
between chains or single units, has led to an escalation of ancillary provisions,
conference rooms and business suites, swimming pools and spas. While the
awards of the stars and rosettes indicating quality continue to be crucial in
customers’ decision making, the inflexible provision of equipment and amenities
necessary to earn grades is as likely to result in a surfeit of gadgets as it is to
make a well considered bedroom. Bedroom planning is not obviously
challenging and perhaps if it were it would command more creative attention.
Economics generally demand minimal floor areas and ergonomics suggest a bed
should be accessible on its two long sides, which reduces residual floor space to
a perimeter circulation zone littered with the equipment demanded by grading
agencies. The more interesting designers have the confidence to ignore
checklists and concentrate on quality of experience, recognizing that the
priorities of potential guests is unlikely to tally with those of inspectors.

None of the arbiters of standards try to lay down aesthetic criteria but a
consensus appears to have emerged among hoteliers about an appropriate
contemporary style, and that can certainly be traced back to the Royalton and
Paramount. If new principles have been assimilated and consolidated, the
operation and habitation of hotels, like every aspect of private and public life,
has been further reshaped by digital technologies, which have fundamentally
changed the mechanics of selection, booking and paying and have re-booted
bedrooms as places of work and entertainment. Websites allow customers to
browse before booking and, within their preferred price range, interior images
become the deciding factor. To show too few images is to raise doubts and more
will persuade browsers that they have enough evidence to make the decision.

The comparatively recent innovation of a ‘business suite’ providing computer

access, usually located by default in a place of little use for any other activity,
has already been superseded by wireless connections in bedrooms and public
spaces. In hotels geared to attract business customers the DNA of bedroom
furniture is moving from domestic to office precedents. Dressing tables are
transmuting into worktables and an ergonomically refined work chair is
becoming more desirable than an overstuffed armchair. The spectrum of
entertainment options is streamed into bedrooms and furniture is designed for
better sprawling by viewers and players.

A new genus of customer has emerged. The budget airlines that have generated
mass travel and a market for shorter and more frequent holidays have created
demand for cheaper hotels and these, mainly young, travellers are unlikely to
spend much time in their hotels. While they will not expect to be cosseted, they
will expect to be provided with a comfortable bed, an adequate breakfast and an
attractive interior. French budget chains offer precedents for minimal
accommodation at minimal prices but their utilitarian aesthetic, driven by the
exigencies of cleaning, offers no memorable experience. Japanese capsule hotels
offer a memorable experience, at least on the first visit, but a regime that is too
ergonomically prescriptive for the pleasure-seeking traveller. The successful
hotels that have emerged for budget travellers are informal and tend to signal
their informality and relative economy by inhabiting incongruous and
unprepossessing building shells, flaunting unglamorous materials and
elementary assembly techniques. Regardless of the degree of their studied
decrepitude, good internet connection is crucial for every budget hotel because
they attract the youngest, most digitally dependent travellers. Utilitarian and
secondhand furniture dramatically reduce fitting-out costs and deal casually with
legitimate wear and tear.

At another extreme a deconstructed model of the hotel is emerging, which offers

conventional extravagances but adds the further luxury of isolation. Quirkily
designed buildings, offering the practical provisions of traditional suites,
grouped in close proximity or scattered across exotic terrains, replace the
traditional hotel’s honeycomb of identical bedrooms. While they may appear
little different from the rented holiday home, the quality of interior and service,
across what is in effect a chain of suites, matches that of the best hotels and they
would appear to represent the ultimate manifestation of the hotel as ‘destination’,
something they share with the ‘grand’ hotels of the past and the ‘designer’ hotels
of the present.
NEW BUILD

BURBURY, CANBERRA, KATON REDGEN MATHIESON

CASA DO CONTO, PORTO, PEDRA LÍQUIDA
DAR HI, NEFTA, MATALI CRASSET
HOTEL MISSONI, KUWAIT, MISSONI WITH GRAVEN IMAGES
MADERA, HONG KONG, LAGRANJA
CITIZENM, LONDON, CONCRETE
THE OPPOSITE HOUSE, BEIJING, KENGO KUMA
PURO, WROCLAW, BLACKSHEEP
SANA, BERLIN, FRANCESC RIFÉ STUDIO
W, LONDON, CONCRETE
YOTEL, NEW YORK, SOFTROOM
KAMEHA GRAND, BONN, MARCEL WANDERS
SHERATON MALPENSA, MILAN, KING ROSELLI ARCHITETTI
HYPERCUBUS, MOBILE UNIT, WG3
ECO-RESORT, PEDRAS SALGADAS, LUÍS REBELO DE ANDRADE
AND DIOGO AGUIAR
BALANCING BARN SUFFOLK, EAST ANGLIA, STUDIO MAKKINK &
BEY
BROCH LOCH, GALLOWAY, LWD
BURBURY, CANBERRA
KATON REDGEN MATHIESON

This 100-bedroom hotel, situated close to the Australian capital’s Parliament

House, caters for the corporate market and its restrained palette of colours and
materials is appropriately serious. Even the ‘Burbury Terrace’ on the upper level,
which acts as a multi-purpose space for functions, breakfast service and guest
lounge, eschews the crowd-pleasing gestures more typical of hotels catering for
the tourist sector.

The timber wall panelling, the upholstery, the carpets used throughout the public
areas are all dark hued. While the taupe Gohera limestone in the reception area
breaks the rule it reinforces the matt black of the front of the desk, which, set in
its black panelled recess, introduces the predominant theme. The black and tan
carpet in the corridors anticipates the colour palette of the bedrooms, while its
transverse stripes shorten the perceived length. Primary light sources are
concentrated at the paired and recessed bedroom doors and, with the area of dark
carpet that connects them, further break up the length of corridor.

In the bedrooms natural light is filtered by white-painted louvred timber shutters,

which contrast with the dark fabric-covered wall panels that define the bed
space. Task-specific artificial light sources and a discreet cornice strip are
correspondingly low but augmented by spillage from and around the timber-
veneered ‘box’ – containing a built-in desk, wardrobe and mini-bar – that
physically separates the grooming area from the bed space. The shower and WC
are behind a translucent glass screen but the basin and grooming unit sit in a
recess off the entrance area and are expressed as a free-standing unit supported
on slender trestles, which, with the lighter colours, glass and mirrored surfaces,
increase the perceived dimensions of a tightly planned area. The comparatively
high illumination level within it punctuates the passage between the dimly lit
corridor and sleeping area, and the junction of its lightly toned floor tiles and the
more intricately patterned bespoke carpet helps further to demarcate the sleeping
space.
Typical bedroom plan
1 Entrance
2 Shower
3 WC
4 Basin and grooming
5 Wardrobe
6 Bar
7 Desk
8 Bed
9 Fabric-covered wall panelling
10 Chair
11 Table

Natural and artificial light levels are kept low and a restricted colour palette is applied throughout
the bed area, including the bed covers and carpet.
A recessed veneered desk masks the grooming area and supplements the ambient lighting levels
within the bed space. A concealed lighting strip visually separates the box from the side wall.
Typical bedroom-floor plan
1 Stair
2 Lifts
3 Standard bedroom
4 Long-stay apartments
The length of the corridor is punctuated by concentrations of lights at the paired and recessed
bedroom doors and by the cross banding of the bespoke carpet. Backlit room numbers are set
into the return of the door opening.
Dark hues prevail in the Burbury Terrace, located on the upper level of the hotel, while the carpet
and glazed black floor tiles provide textural variation.
The ceiling above the reception desk, which is tonally very close to the limestone floor, ‘floats’ in
the dark wood-panelled recess.
The essential components of the hotel bathroom are reassigned. The basin and grooming table sit
in a recess that is open to the entrance area, with the WC and shower positioned behind a
translucent glass screen. The mirror extends the space and concealed lighting strips soften its
edges.
CASA DO CONTO, PORTO
PEDRA LÍQUIDA

In 2009, work had almost been completed on Pedra Líquida’s first proposal for
the conversion of this nineteenth-century Porto house into a hotel when the
building was badly damaged by fire. While the subsequent project to salvage the
shell and insert a new interior layout offered opportunities for more radical
remodelling, the designers were keen to assimilate traditional elements,
decorative wall textures and oval skylights, in a reinterpretation of the typical
Porto house. The original two and a half storeys of the street elevation have been
retained and match their neighbours. Two new floors sit on top of them and are
comfortably integrated into the ad hoc additions that characterize the upper
storeys along the street, while the corrugated concrete-clad rear elevation is
flanked by equally disparate remodelled elevations.

Concrete, poured in situ, provides both structure and a decorative medium for
the interior. The shuttering (formwork) materials – rough sawn wood in the
central stairwell and plywood sheets for the bathrooms enclosures – generate
contrasting textures, and both are counterpointed by the more conventional
smooth white- painted plastered walls. The rough, mottled surfaces of the
bathroom enclosures contrast emphatically with the smooth machined finishes of
the equipment they contain. The angular pattern of the shuttering boards in the
stairwell is repeated in the raised grip strips on the flat metal balustrade.

The distorted elliptical form of the skylight over the stairwell is repeated in the
recesses above the washbasins, which combat claustrophobia. However, the most
remarkable indentations are the passages of text recessed into the concrete
ceilings of bedrooms and public spaces. While text in the reception area merely
confirms the identity of the hotel, that in the other areas is composed by writers
who are familiar with Porto and its architecture, and comments on the idea of
‘house’ and this house in particular. The distribution of text was determined by
the designers and interpreted graphically by R2 Designers.
The original architecture of the lower floors survives and the extension above sits compatibly
alongside its nonconformist neighbours.
The concrete of the interior is continued in the ribbed exterior panels of the garden elevation.
Sunlight accentuates the rough surfaces of the elliptical skylight above the stairwell.
The angled imprint of the timber shuttering boards on the monolithic concrete walls is reiterated
on the handrail of the steel stair.
Section
1 Stair
2 Lift
3 Reception
4 Communal room
5 Breakfast room
6 Kitchen
7 Bedroom
8 Balcony
9 Skylight
10 Terrace
11 Garden
The name of the hotel is indented into the ceiling and furniture provides colour in the reception
area.

Typical upper-floor plan

1 Bedroom
2 Bathroom
3 Kitchen
4 Balcony
5 Main stair
6 Lift
7 WC
8 Skylight
Ground-floor plan
1 Entrance
2 Reception
3 Communal room
4 Terrace
5 Main stair
6 Lift
7 WC
8 Stair to lower terrace and garden

Basement plan
1 Breakfast room
2 Terrace
3 Garden
4 Kitchen
5 Main stair
6 Lift
7 Staff area
8 Store
9 Stair to ground floor
On the top floors the ceiling follows the slope of the roof. The text in this room follows the line of
the slope.
The concrete text-incised ceiling and box enclosing shower room and kitchen define the interior.
The carpets provide physical relief but conform strictly to the dominant colour palette. In this room
the text is orientated to be read from the bed.
The ceiling of each bedroom is inscribed with a unique text.
A small kitchen occupies one end of the concrete box at the head of each bed.
The other end contains a shower, basin and WC.
A ceiling recess echoes that of the skylight over the stairwell.
Plan and section
1 Bathroom
2 Kitchen
3 Ceiling recess
4 Basin
5 WC
6 Shower
DAR HI, NEFTA
MATALI CRASSET

Constructed in the Tunisian desert near the town of Nefta, this project interprets
local vernacular building form and techniques to produce a resort hotel that is
configured more like a walled village. The complex is promoted as a place of
retreat rather than as a conventional hotel. When they enter the compound,
guests remove their shoes and substitute local sandals. They are accommodated
in eight two-storey ochre-coloured towers. Those staying on the upper level have
views across the surrounding desert through long, low windows. The position of
beds within the rooms and the provision of thin lounging mattresses suggest that
guests’ primary concern should be to relax and reflect. Those on the lower level
have similar outward views and are more involved with the communal terrace
and pool but these are tranquil places.

The underpinning principle – that time and routine are of very little importance –
is reinforced by the catering provision. Local farmers grow the food and local
cooks prepare it according to local recipes and may be observed doing so in the
kitchen. While there is a dedicated restaurant area, guests may carry the food
where they wish and arrange tables as they please.

While some of the exterior’s solidity is transferred into the faceted structures that
divide up the shared indoor spaces, the bedrooms are more simply constructed.
Individual pieces and their assembly methods are easily comprehensible but odd
details – the small table cantilevered off a bed frame and the shelf that sits
incongruously on top of a bedhead – suggest an artisanal ad hoc ingenuity.
Despite a distinctive but limited palette of local materials, there are enough
variations on basic furniture forms to dispel any impression of a corporate style.
Decorative elements are simple variations on motifs that resonate easily for
tourists and there are enough apparently random incidents to obscure evidence of
a controlling hand.
The simplicity of the bed frame and its modest linen is upgraded, ironically, by the suspended
wooden slats that suggest a grander canopied piece.
Paint patterns in and around the kitchen suggest the angled solids of the exterior.

In the bedrooms, a simple logic determines all detail solutions, ranging from the angled concrete
support that is used for the back of the window lounger through to the concrete storage element,
and from the transparently rational structure of the chairs to the tabletop cantilevered neatly off the
bed frame.
The internal communal areas use materials and forms of the local vernacular.
Shadows, cast by the naked light bulb within the skeletal frame of timber dowels bound together
with string, decorate walls and ceiling.
Two-storey ‘houses’ that draw on the materials and forms of indigenous building are grouped
around the shared courtyard.
The bath appears to be hewn from the solid structure.
Strips of undressed timber on steel frames shade circulation routes in the courtyard.
When guests enter the complex they remove their shoes, leave them in the alcoves under this
bench and put on a pair of local sandals.

The simple construction of chairs and tables relates to furniture in the rooms. Guests may
rearrange the restaurant as they wish.
Decorative motifs refer quite directly to local precedents and are executed with an appropriate
simplicity.
HOTEL MISSONI, KUWAIT
MISSONI WITH GRAVEN IMAGES

Missoni first made its reputation in the early 1980s as a fashion knitwear
company, its output characterized by vibrant patterns and colours. It began to
produce furnishing fabrics in the nineties and, when invited by the Rezidor hotel
group to collaborate on the creation of a distinctive ‘boutique’ brand, made what
was perhaps a logical collaborative progression into the hotel sector. While the
Missoni team handled visual identity, provision and specification of finishes,
specialist interior designers Graven Images were responsible for planning and
detailing.

It is not unusual for public spaces within hotels to be the beneficiaries of an

exotic repertoire of finishes. The Missoni is no exception and, predictably,
pushes this exuberance further than most. A pair of over-scaled vases, the
familiar profiles of which are clad in mosaic tiles that replicate characteristic
Missoni colours and patterns, signals the intent of the interior. Conventionally
bedrooms, particularly in ‘boutique’ hotels, tend to be more restrained than the
communal areas, favouring a minimalist palette of colours and materials. The
Missoni shows no such constraint and the impact of colour and pattern is
enhanced by confounding expectations so thoroughly. Textiles, in conjunction
with a wide-ranging choice of paint colours, provide the primary means of
realizing the defining aesthetic in bed and sitting areas.

In bathrooms, practical obligations require the selection of more water-resistant

materials, which themselves offer a comprehensive range of proprietary and
bespoke tones. Their impact is the greater because white finishes and sanitary
wear tend to be the norm. Corian, with its bespoke colour options, serves for
shelves, tabletops and cladding panels. Mosaic tiles introduce pattern as well as
colour. Glass panels around showers provide either their own opaque colour, or
filter and reflect hues from within the space.
The entrance to the hotel is marked by a pair of 3m (10ft)-high vases covered in mosaic tiles to
emulate the textures and colours typical of Missoni fabrics.
Suite plan
1 Entrance
2 Dining
3 Sitting
4 Daybed
5 Bed
6 Writing table
7 Sitting
8 Clothes hanging
9 Vanity table
10 Shower
11 Bath
12 WC
13 WC
The materials best suited to meet the practical demands of bathroom finishes can also respond to
the paler hues of the Missoni palette, while textiles provide more vibrant counterpoints.

Smaller elements, including bespoke toiletries, can cope with more assertive colours. Gold
plumbing fittings seem perfectly appropriate in the context.

Part plan of bedroom

1 Daybed
2 Existing structure
3 Window
Section BB
1 12mm (½in)-thick smoked-oak top on MDF box frame

Section CC
1 12mm (½in)-thick solid smoked-oak top
2 Smoked oak veneer on MDF box frame
3 3mm (⅛in) shadow gap (reveal) painted black
Section AA
1 100mm (3⅞in) MDF box frame with foam layer and gold leather upholstery
2 Window sill
3 Leather to be extended 30mm(1⅛in) below sill
4 Missoni fabric on 100mm (3⅞in)-thick seat pad with double layer of foam
5 200mm (7⅞in) MDF box frame with one layer of foam and gold leather upholstery
6 80mm (3⅛in) smoked-oak skirting to match writing table and bed frame

Daybed front elevation

1 MDF frame with smoked-oak veneer finish front to match writing table
2 80mm (3⅛in) smoked-oak skirting to match daybed
3 3mm (⅛in) shadow gap painted black

Daybed plan
1 Side panel unit as infill between daybed and existing structure
2 Gold leather upholstery to both arm and back
3 Upholstery fabric by Missoni

The daybed in situ: final dimensions of the low smoked-oak infill sections at each end are made
on site so as to ensure a perfect fit.
MADERA, HONG KONG
LAGRANJA

There are broadly two tried-and-tested approaches to the creation of ‘boutique’

hotels. One nods to the tradition of established ‘grand’ hotels with an application
of well-upholstered luxury. The other aligns with the harder edges and materials
of the modernist palette. Either approach offers guests the opportunity to
experience a heightened version of the environment they have, or aspire to have,
in their homes. Lagranja – who were responsible for the design of the third-floor
common areas, the lift lobbies and nine ‘signature’ suites on the top four floors
of this 88-bedroom hotel – have chosen instead to create something they
describe as ‘warm and domestic’.

They have taken as their starting point the hotel’s name. ‘Madera’ means ‘wood’
in Spanish and the designers have used the material extensively. They have
selected only solid wooden or wood-framed upholstered furniture pieces, which
hint reassuringly at artisanal skills. Each suite is decorated with crafted wooden
objects from Lantau Island, and it is in their selection and disposition that the
underlying whimsical approach is most evident. Within suites floors are,
inevitably, wooden, as are partitions within suites, which are either clad with
‘tiles’ of various veneers or vertical strips. Horizontal strips are also used for
ceilings in bathroom areas.

Each lift lobby and corridor is treated differently to give each floor a distinctive
visual identity. On the third floor, thin coloured cord is wound between 11,000
evenly spaced and evenly sunk nails to trace the outline of leaves, while behind
it heavy wooden frames around monumental wall-leaning mirrors and
photographs ensure that the signature material asserts itself against the heavy
metal equipment in the gymnasium. Other typical devices are thin strips of
veneer set on the face of a backlit translucent wall, light diffused through various
wickerwork weaves and gradated colour-stained vertical strips.
Walls opposite lift doors are lined with installations of shallow light boxes, mirrors and timber,
which help to suggest a space greater than the reality.
Furniture and fittings, whether painted or natural and sealed, confirm commitment to solid wood
as the material of choice.
At duplex level vertical strips deal easily with curved plan forms. Colour-stained wooden spoons
on the wall present a variation on the theme. Blinds are, inevitably, wooden.

Coloured cords stretched over a grid of evenly sunk nails and all contained within a wooden frame
identify the communal floor with its business suite and gymnasium.
The floor and frames offer a comparatively restrained use of wood in the gymnasium but the
large-scale photographs resting on the floor sustain the whimsicality.
Plan
1 Lobby
2 Lift
3 Firemen’s lift
4 Stair
5 Bed area
6 Social area
7 Bathroom

A backlit wicker screen faces the lifts and turns into the double door to a suite.
Within the suite, wooden strips clad the walls and ceiling of the bathroom area. Wooden spoons
on a wall lined with colour-stained wooden ‘tiles’ present an idiosyncratic application of the
signature material.
A mosaic of different wood varieties translates convincingly into a set of cantilevered shelves.
CITIZENM, LONDON
CONCRETE

This is the fourth completed building in a new Dutch chain that offers business
travellers and tourists high-quality accommodation in city centres. Its business
model depends on the elimination of superfluous elements and services but,
significantly, this does not include neglect of style, which is seen as a defining
ingredient in the chain’s offer. Bedrooms are indeed stylish but, in the pursuit of
economy, floor area is pared to 14 square metres (150 square feet), which
maximizes the number of rooms – here 192 – that may be fitted on to a site. For
efficiency rooms are prefabricated. Their modest dimensions make transport
comparatively simple and they are slotted into a structural grid constructed in
situ, which, in this location, accommodated a central open-air courtyard.

The bed (which is 2 x 2 metres/6½ x 6½ feet) determines the room width (2.2
metres/7 feet) and is located directly in front of the fullwidth, floor-to-ceiling
window. This strategy contradicts accepted practice, which prefers circulation
around three sides of a bed, for access and maintenance. However changing
linen has become easier as duvets replace layers of blankets and a patented
mechanism eases work on the M bed. Since business travellers tend to sleep
alone, access is not a problem, and tourists are likely to be relaxed about a minor
inconvenience when the price is right. The bed is wide enough for guests to have
the option of sleeping at right angles to or parallel to the window. A shower and
WC are contained within a frosted-glass wet room facing a separate Corian
vanity unit with basin and mini-bar, which, true to the chain’s ethos, is an empty
refrigerator in which guests may store their own drinks and food. Guests may
tune light levels and colours to suit their mood.

Six self-check-in terminals with a hotel staff member in attendance replace a

reception desk. The oak-clad helical stair, emblematic of all citizenMs, sits
opposite the lifts, next to the courtyard. Public areas offer a choice of
environments for socializing, working or relaxing in a variety of ‘living rooms’.
The ‘canteenM’, with an open kitchen, and an island bar provides catering. On
the first floor, ‘societyM’ caters for what the chain calls ‘business nomads’ –
those who are not, or choose not to be, tied to an office – with seven individually
designed meeting rooms.

Open-air central courtyard: each window, as on the street elevations, represents a bedroom.
Meeting rooms at first floor project under the wooden walkway. An open stair connects bedroom
floors directly to the courtyard at ground level.
Entrance area: the self-check-in table is on the right and the bookshop on the left, with the
trademark oak-clad stair beyond. The catholic mix of furniture pieces and the mural in the
background establish the hotel’s design orientation.
The structure of the bookshop acts as a dividing partition within a ‘living room’ and its angled plan,
representing an open book, gives it stability.
First-floor plan
1 Helical stair to ground floor
2 Lifts
3 Access/escape stair
4 Patio
5 Courtyard below
6 Meeting rooms
7 Informal meeting areas
8 WCs
9 Bedrooms
10 Service room
11 Ironing room

Ground-floor plan
1 Entrance
2 Check-in
3 ‘Living room’
4 Bookshop
5 Coffee shop
6 Bar
7 Kitchen and buffet
8 Working area
9 Courtyard
10 Helical stair to work rooms
11 WCs
12 Service zone

’Living room’ looking towards the bar: the cushions and the, just visible, pixelated rug based on
the Union flag, establish location. Heavy leather sofas define social sections within the whole.
Behind the bar, at one end of the courtyard, two large tables provide places to eat, meet and
work. The tangled wires of the diverse hanging lampshades have an affinity with the linear
complexity of the wall decoration.

The café, primarily for non-residents, has its own entrance from the street. Under its suspended
ceiling of newspaper imagery it has a hard uniformity at odds with the rest of the hotel.

One of seven meeting rooms within the societyM zone, designed for ‘business nomads’.
A widening of the corridor outside the meeting rooms provides places to meet informally and
make phone calls.
An eclectic collection of artefacts packs the display shelves, declaring cosmopolitan values. The
face and chair are compatible in form and scale.
The shower and WC are in a frosted-glass wet room on the left, facing a vanity unit with basin and
refrigerator on the right. A curtain may be drawn across the width of the room for privacy. The
colour of light through the translucent wet room ceiling may be varied, and filters through the
frosted glass to the rest of the room.

Bedroom plan
1 Entrance
2 Window
3 Blind
4 Bed
5 Television
6 Bedside table
7 Vanity unit with inset basin
8 Bedside table/desk
9 Curtain
10 Shower
11 WC
12 Duct

Bedroom section
1 Window
2 Blind
3 Bed
4 Drawer
5 Bedside table
6 Vanity unit
7 Refrigerator
8 Mirror
The vanity unit with the inset basin and refrigerator below.
The bed, with storage drawers beneath, occupies the full width of the room.
Bedroom-floor plan
1 Access/escape stair
2 Lifts
3 Bedroom
4 Service room
5 Ironing room
6 Courtyard below
7 External escape stair
THE OPPOSITE HOUSE, BEIJING
KENGO KUMA

Suspended sheets or lengths of non-rigid materials naturally make parabolic

curves, which seem invariably to have a casual elegance, presumably because
they are natural phenomena. Their compliance with gravitational immutability
means that, however grand the gesture they make, their only structural
requirement is the support of ends or edges. They are therefore simple and
economical to construct. Different lengths of suspended material will alter the
profile of a curve, and on-site experiments and adjustments may be carried out in
the knowledge that the resultant profiles will remain consistently elegant.
Suspension points need not be at the same height, which will also alter the
profile of the curve.

The full potential of the suspended curve is exploited in the monumental atrium
of Beijing’s Opposite House, where two different lengths of stainless steel mesh
make for two different profiles. The one that swoops lower over the reflecting
pools on the atrium floor extends to make necessarily more shallow curves in the
lower café area to one side, which in turn transmute into the solid red curves of
the café.

The parabolas may be experienced differently on the different levels of the guest
balcony corridors that provide access to the bedrooms on five upper floors, and
from the narrow sides one may look into the mesh valleys at their core. Their
impact is heightened by their reflection in the black metal pools that subdivide
the atrium floor, and by artificial lighting by night.

In the bedrooms – described as ‘studios’ because they all incorporate generous

relaxing and entertaining areas – translucent curtains and glass screens sustain
some of the light-filtering qualities of the atrium’s mesh but the defining
materials here are wood and slate, set against white plastered walls and ceilings.
The restrained solidity of the right-angled geometry of the furniture pieces
contrasts with the less substantial but attention-grabbing curves of the mesh in
the public areas.
Coloured light tints the mesh, which also performs as a ceiling and dividing element in the lower
side spaces.
Ground-floor plan
1 Entrance
2 Vestibule
3 Reception
4 Staff work station
5 Luggage storage
6 Display wall
7 Bar
8 Bar seating area
9 Bar wine storage
10 Atrium
11 Reflecting pool
12 Sloping glass wall
13 Void over swimming pool
14 Cafe
15 Espresso bar
16 Kitchen
17 WC
18 Office
19 Lift lobby
20 Stair
21 Mechanical services room
22 Display area
23 Terrace
24 Parking ramp
25 Skylight
26 Bamboo garden
27 Sunken garden

Typical floor plan and bedroom

1 Atrium/mesh screen
2 Lift lobby
3 Stair
4 Balcony/corridor
5 45sq-m (480sq-ft) guest room (‘studio’)
6 70sq-m (750sq-ft) studio
7 95sq-m (1,000sq-ft) studio
The atrium is dominated by lengths of suspended stainless steel mesh and access balconies to
guest bedrooms run around its four edges. The lift tower is washed with red light.
Water-filled pools reflect the sweep of the mesh, the exhibits that appear to float above and below
it, and the illuminated display wall. The irregular surface pattern of the display wall has empathy
with that of the mesh.
In the penthouse, stretched cords form the ceiling and screen between bed and bath area and
make a connection with the visual patterns of the atrium mesh.

In the studios, timber and slate finishes are set against off-white walls and ceilings. A floor area in
the largest is raised to accommodate a hot tub.
From the end balconies guests can look into the volumes shaped by the mesh.

The longer mesh lengths sweep under the guest room floors and enclose the access balconies.
The lift tower glows red at the end.
Section at rooflight/mesh suspension
1 Tempered laminated insulating glass
2 Plasterboard and paint
3 Dark grey rustproof paint on steel beam
4 Dark grey rustproof paint on steel channel
5 Dark grey rustproof paint on steel girder
6 Stainless steel hanger rod
7 Stainless steel bracket
8 Motorized blind
9 Painted timber air conditioning grille
10 Suspended stainless steel mesh
11 Tempered laminated glass balustrade
12 Wool carpet on felt underlay on acoustic cushion
13 Reclaimed-pine vertical boarding
14 Recessed floor lighting
Section
1 Atrium/gallery
2 Terrace
3 Office
4 Café
5 ‘Studio’ guest room
6 Balcony/corridor
7 Rooflight
8 Restaurant
9 Swimming pool
10 Gymnasium
11 Mechanical services
12 Sunken garden
13 Bamboo garden
14 Parking
PURO, WROCLAW
BLACKSHEEP

This is the first completed interior for a chain of ‘budget-intelligent’ hotels in

Poland, in which digital technology enhances both guest experience and hotel
operation, responding to the needs of a proliferating community that travels for
business and pleasure, whose budgets are modest and whose lifestyle is
informal, for whom digital connectivity is the crucial component in work and
leisure. It offers its guests autonomy and provides them with the places and the
facilities with which to shape their personal experience.

A length of solid wall, set just inside the glazed façade, presents the hotel’s
graphic identity to the street and folds back to become a lowered ceiling that
defines the area where guests check in, independently of hotel staff, at a bank of
computer terminals. This first physical expression of the hotel’s ethos is
consolidated by a multimedia information ‘wall’ that relays 24-hour news, and
by iPads on custom-made stands that are distributed throughout sitting areas for
casual internet use. The inevitably ubiquitous wireless internet connection makes
the lobby a place for work and informal business meetings. Work and leisure are
supported by free coffee, obtained by room key card, from automatic dispensing
machines. Other drinks and food are provided by customized vending machines.

Alternately projecting and retracting elements of the façade identify one of the
102 bedrooms. The rooms are compact but the beds are large and the provision
of digital equipment comprehensive. A touch-screen tablet controls air
conditioning, lighting and audiovisual equipment, and motion sensors control
lighting. A single unit integrates work surface and clothes storage. The glass-
walled bathroom has underfloor heating. Grey tones predominate in the colour
palette throughout all areas but are punctuated in the lobby/ lounge and the
café/bar by the occasional acidic greens and yellows of upholstered furniture and
shelves. Dark oak walls add strategic passages of warmer tones and visual
textures. The leaf of a native Polish oak has inspired the graphic motif, designed
by Blacksheep, for carpets and wall coverings in two tones of grey with
occasional yellow highlights.
Bedrooms alternately project and regress to create a heavily modelled façade. The signage wall
marks the location of the check-in table.
Coffee is dispensed from machines recessed into oak-clad walls. The position of ceiling grilles
relates to the floor plan.
The self-check-in terminals sit under a lowered ceiling that emerges from the signage wall.
Ceiling-mounted grilles further define the area.

The furniture in the café bar is comfortably upholstered but veers toward the visually utilitarian,
which is appropriate to vending-machine service.
Plan
1 Entrance
2 Check-in desk
3 Information screen
4 Stairs
5 Lifts
6 Lounge
7 Internet station
8 Interactive wall
9 Coffee dispenser
10 Bar
11 Food vending
12 Waiter station
13 Exterior terrace
14 Office
15 Kitchen
Winged chairs imply a more private personal space. Cut-outs make room for the spreadeagled
arms of a laptop user.

Yellow highlights in the carpet match wall colour in the corridors of the upper floors. ‘Leaves’
cluster at bedroom doors.
The sharper greens and yellows of occasional furniture pieces punctuate the predominant tones
of grey, while iPads on custom-designed stands provide casual internet access.
Plan 1 Timber-laminate clothes and luggage storage 2 Drinks shelf and safe 3 Desk 4 Desk chair
5 Off-white floor tile 6 Frosted-glass panel 7 Leaf-motif carpet 8 Leather armchair 9 Coffee table
10 Floor-mounted light 11 Bedside table 12 Upholstered headboard 13 Adjustable light 14 Wall-
mounted television 15 Curtain 16 Roller blind
The colours, patterns and materials of the communal areas are redeployed in the bedrooms.
Walls of glass allow natural light to reach the shower room and a curtain offers the option of
privacy. A bottom-lit trough of white pebbles corresponds to the shower area. Variations on the
leaf theme decorate both the bathroom door and the wall behind the bed.

Sections
1 Curtain
2 Roller blind
3 Perimeter light
4 Leather armchair
5 Bed
6 Woven throw
7 Upholstered bedhead
8 Floor-mounted light
9 Adjustable light
10 AV control panel
11 Bedside table
12 Light switch
13 Glass panel
14 Frosted section with leaf pattern
15 Vinyl leaf pattern applied to wall
SANA, BERLIN
FRANCESC RIFÉ STUDIO

Yellowish-greenish backlit vertical strips punctuate the dark grey façade of this
hotel, which occupies a city-centre block with 159 double rooms, 13 suites and
42 apartments. The muted colour palette of the exterior is continued in the public
spaces of the ground floor and the seven floors of guest accommodation above.
The green glass of the revolving entrance door distinguishes it in the otherwise
clear glazing to the ground-floor areas and anticipates the tints of the angled,
perforated metal sheets within. These were treated with cadmium pigments to
produce predominantly yellow and green tints and are said to have been inspired
by the colour and bubbles of German beer. These folded sheets clad the internal
wall of the double-height lobby space and, clearly visible from the street, are the
hotel’s defining element.

On plan the wall traces a continuous, sinuous curve that links the various bars
and restaurant. It is subdivided horizontally by metal strips that articulate
precisely the line of the curve and visually rationalize the changing profiles
caused by projections on the upper section and the setbacks and omissions at
ground level. Variations in the angles of the folds and light levels along the
length of the curve accentuate colour variations. The whole suggests a library of
enormous books. The wall opens up opposite the entrance door and leads to a
bar area behind and around the mirror-clad lift shafts and to an open-air terrace
beyond. Mesh on the front of the reception counter integrates it into the whole.

On the upper floors dimly lit corridors provide a prelude to the brighter interiors
of guest rooms in which alternative finishes – white lacquer or oak veneer – for
the wall that contains and hides the inevitable clutter of storage and services
offer guests a choice of ambience. Areas within suites and apartments are given
structure by the smoked-glass enclosure of the bathroom, which separates
sleeping and social areas. The level of its transparency depends on the level of
light within it but its interior can borrow natural and artificial light from the
bedroom, while views into the room beyond reduce claustrophobia.
Backlit inserts articulate the dark grey granite façade.
Cadmium pigments colour the metal.
Stacked levels of folded, perforated metal sheet dominate the lobby and the view of the hotel from
the street.
Plan
1 Entrance
2 Lobby
3 Reception
4 Mirror-clad lift enclosure
5 Bar
6 Restaurant
7 Breakfast room
8 Flexible room space
9 Terrace

Opposite the front door, which is reflected in the mirror-clad lift enclosure, the lower wall is omitted
to give access to the bar and open-air terrace beyond.
The metal-clad front of the reception desk makes it an integral part of the principal wall. The upper
curves forward to create a lowered ceiling.
Vertical strips beside bedroom doors are the principal sources of low-level light in corridors.
Inflated brown room numbers that sit slightly proud of the brown wall are eccentrically positioned.
Standard double bedroom plan
1 Corridor
2 Entrance
3 Vertical striplight
4 Clothes storage
5 Bathroom
6 Change of ceiling height
7 Bed
8 Face of lacquered or oak service wall
9 Television
10 Writing desk
The tinted-glass enclosure of the bathroom allows light in and views out. The circular mirror insert
‘floats’ above the basin.
Alternative finishes, of gloss white lacquer and oak veneer, for the service wall offer guests with a
choice of ambience.
W, LONDON
CONCRETE

Located in the West End, an area of London that relentlessly draws in tourists
and business travellers in search of hospitality and entertainment, W sets out to
offer a microcosm of the experiences on offer in the capital. The unifying theme
is stated by the lights that pack the storey-high W identifying the hotel’s
entrance, and is continued in the lobby by a clustering of mirror balls, which are
illuminated by a battery of spotlights so that surfaces, and guests, are dappled by
reflected moving lights. The formula continues in the sequence of circulation
zones that begin in the ‘Welcome’ area, with its three stainless steel and Bisque
Corian check-in pods, each with a recessed deep purple LED light. Throughout
the building, floor numbers are assembled from stacked mirror balls, and room
numbers are made of small chromed studs.

The ‘WYLD’ bar is primarily a night-time place. It flaunts the biggest mirror
ball – 3 metres (10 feet) in diameter – and complements it with red and black
leather furnishings. Its two-storey-high liquor cabinet matches the height of the
24-metre (80-foot)-long spice cabinet in the restaurant. In the lounge, deep
translucent, squareedged suspended fittings hang from above and mimic the
layout of seating islands beneath them. The lounge bar is defined by a 37-metre
(120-foot)-long studded leather sofa that snakes around its perimeter and into its
centre. Lowered ceiling areas follow it and conceal light sources in the gold
painted recess.

The business centre is marginally more restrained but the slashes of its light
fittings, matched by those of the carpet pattern, suggest contained flamboyance.
A screening room – appropriate because of the concentration of cinema and
television companies in the area – also favours slashes of white light to
illuminate its red leather seats. In all four categories of guest accommodation
much is made of a dressing area, which also acts as the entrance space and is
arranged around a monumental vanity unit. This doubles as a work desk, and
becomes grander and more complex as the status of accommodation rises. The
most spectacular suite, the ‘E WOW’, sports its own mirror ball sculpture.
The lights that pack the faces of the three-dimensional ‘W’ logo announcing the entrance of the
hotel anticipate the importance of light and reflective surfaces in the interior.
Mirror balls and reflected swirling lights dominate the ground-floor reception.

The walls of the hotel shop swing open into the reception area.
When the shop shuts, these walls then swing closed. They, and the lift walls alongside them, are
upholstered in black artificial ‘leather’ with silver stitching, in an interpretation of the Union Jack
flag.
The cluster of 280 mirror balls in the reception area projects reflections on to the walls, ceiling,
floor and passing guests, and creates a transition zone between the street and the flamboyance
of the hotel interior.
Mirror balls threaded on to stainless steel tubes to make floor-to-ceiling floor signs are made more
complex by reflected light and wall mirrors.
Miniature reflective round-headed studs make up room numbers.
The WYLD bar is the most extreme manifestation of the prevailing aesthetic, with a 3m (10ft)-
diameter mirror ball, 17,000 mirrors and a two-storey-high liquor display cabinet.
In the restaurant, densely hung inverted woks have a geometric affinity with the mirror balls
throughout.
Translucent light boxes that mimic the formation of seating replace the mirror balls. The use of
smoked-oak parquet patterned tiles on floor, walls and ceiling suggest mirrored surfaces, and the
black strips on the ceiling imply reflections of both furniture and light fittings.
In the self-contained darkness of the screening room, sharp slashes of light pay little heed to
physical planes.
The lowered ceiling sections, bar counter and tables interact with the footprint of the 37m (120ft)-
long leather sofa. On tables living flames are kept safe within glass cylinders.

In the business centre, slashes of lighting strips are complemented by the pattern of the carpet.
The bathroom and its vanity desk in the most extravagant suite are, inevitably, bigger and more
lavishly equipped. Custom-made tiles cover the floor and walls. Red glass encloses the shower.
The gold mirrored ceiling and wall extend and deconstruct the room. The television, set in the
mirrored wall, appears to float in the illusionary space.
YOTEL, NEW YORK
SOFTROOM

Yotel here adapts its concept of ergonomically condensed sleeping

accommodation, inspired by Japanese capsule hotels and pioneered in London
and Amsterdam airports, to a more conventional city-centre hotel while retaining
the same commitment to digital technologies and ‘yo’ prefixes and suffixes. The
23-storey tower houses 669 rooms, with public rooms and outdoor terraces
linked at fourth-floor level. Guests check in digitally at a bank of computers in
the street-level lobby while, to one side, ‘Yobot’ securely stacks left luggage and,
when not busy, performs balletic movements. Finishes are robust. Ceramic wall
tiles are a miniaturized version of the exterior cladding, which is based on
company branding.

On the fourth floor a lounge supports the city’s indigenous lobby culture – for
locals as much as for guests – and can be subdivided by a bespoke chain curtain
to create a more private area. A custom-built desk provides guests with
information and take-away food.

The ‘Club Lounge’ supports social and business meetings by day and by night
transmutes into something closer to a nightclub. ‘Cabins’, each with banquette
seating, an adaptable-height table on a telescopic leg and a flat screen for
business presentations or entertainment feeds, line its perimeter. The layout of
the ‘Dohyo’ restaurant has a central area with communal tables that may be
raised to accommodate the legs of customers who sit at floor level, or lowered in
order to create a performance area. The adjacent bar shares its furniture, its
mural and its menu. The long wall of the ‘Green Lounge’ opens to the terrace
and leads to ‘Studiyo’, a multi-purpose space.

There are three different bedroom options. ‘VIP’ suites have fireplaces, circular
rotating beds and terraces with river views. ‘First class’ suites have terraces with
outdoor jacuzzis. A third of the 16-square-metre (170-square-foot) floor area of
the standard ‘premium cabins’ is devoted to the bathroom, idiosyncratically
located on the external wall. Floor space is maximized by stowing luggage under
the bed, while smaller items may be deposited in the sculpted shelves of the
‘Technowall’, which contains business and entertainment technologies.

On level four a 10m (30ft)-long chain curtain, by Shinpei Naito, divides the arrival zone from a
more secluded lobby space. Suspended lozenge-shaped ceiling ‘clouds’ soften acoustics.
Plan
1 Lift lobby
2 Lobby
3 Concierge
4 Curtain
5 Private lobby
6 Club Lounge
7 Private ‘cabins’
8 Green Lounge
9 Dohyo restaurant
10 Bar
11 Studiyo
12 Terrace
‘Yobot’. An automated luggage storage and retrieval system deposits guests’ luggage in a 6m
(20ft)-high bank of storage units and performs balletic movements between storing duties.
In the ‘Premium cabin’ the bed is electronically adjustable to accommodate sleeping, working on a
laptop or watching television. Suitcases may be stored beneath it. When the end is raised floor
space is freed. The bathroom on the external wall frees space at the entrance. Translucent
curtains screen it without blocking light from the window.

‘Premium’ room plan

1 Entertainment wall
2 Bed - fully extended
3 Bed - retracted
4 Storage
5 Table and chair
6 Curtain
7 Basin
8 Storage
9 Shower

The Dohyo restaurant is inspired by the Japanese sumo wrestling ring, with its raised central
combat area. Banquettes and booths surround communal tables that rise to make space for the
legs of diners sitting on the ‘floor’, and lower to make a level deck for performances.
KAMEHA GRAND, BONN
MARCEL WANDERS

Bonn, the capital of West Germany until its unification with the East in 1990,
has continued as a centre for administration and political activity, with a
significant share of government departments and agencies and public sector jobs.
It is one of Germany’s major business centres and attracts international
organizations and institutions. Inevitably it has also become an important venue
for conferences and conventions and, in response to this diversely prosperous
market, the Kameha Grand aims to add flamboyant luxury to the restrained
efficiency normally associated with more modest business hotels.

The hotel’s exterior, by Karl-Heinz Schommer, establishes the hotel’s presence

on a bend of the Rhine, close to the city centre. An 18-metre (60-foot)-high
multi-function event hall sits at the heart of 154 rooms and 60 suites. The
character and scale of suites varies, to match the particular occupational or
recreational priorities of guests. It is, however, the decorative language, shared
and evolved through public and private spaces, that gives the hotel its identity.
Recurring visual themes are easily read but each space offers its distinctive
variations. The themes are stated emphatically in the tall entrance space and
restated clearly enough for a guest moving from one area to another to
recognize, understand and enjoy the progression.

The objects that dominate the entrance area, simultaneously suggesting columns
from an Egyptian temple and huge decorated vases, make no overt allusions to
the engineered column that is their practical core. They do fulfil the practical
function of subdividing the expanse of floor but while the structural organization
imposes a regular grid, formality is undermined by an irregular pattern of black
and white floor tiles, while the skeletal bell forms that hang low from the ceiling
help identify scattered seating areas. The inflated scale of the columns and bells
occurs again in the black framed images that perform as bedheads in the suites.
Patterns of varying scales but consistent intensity are pervasive, and digital
printing has translated the black-on-white floral motifs introduced on the
columns of the entrance area into the more subtle colour variations used
throughout more modest public spaces and in the guests’ private territories.
Two accommodation wings flank the event hall, which connects the street entrance to the river
terrace.

The inflated skeletal bells that hang over the entrance, the graphic style and the wit of the motto
on the canopy edge give a foretaste of an eclectic interior at odds with its tectonic exterior.
In the entrance area, exuberant pattern making, reinterpretation of form and eclectic furniture
selection establish the themes that are reworked throughout the interior.

The shop exemplifies reinterpretation and connection. The display stand evolves from the
patterned columns of the entrance area. The dressmaker’s dummies will reappear in bedrooms.

The palette evolves. Columns are white, like the stylized chandeliers and inflated flower heads
that overlay desaturated geometric patterns.

The central area is necessarily a blank space until dressed for an event, although the floor pattern
and the inflated image on a black background in a black frame make connections.
Floors are identified by elaborately incised monochromatic sheets set in front of coloured,
patterned walls.
Rooms and suite names are patterned cut-outs set in front of monochromatic backgrounds.
Occasional areas are free of repeat pattern making. In a dining area within a suite draperies make
near abstract patterns against a black background in a black frame that leans, like the bedheads,
against the wall.
Pattern is carried into the rooms in the carpets, set against luxurious monochromatic furniture.

Pattern within rooms reduces in scale but not in intensity. Not even the mirror is excluded.
Humour permeates decoration. Inflated images of cigar bands decorate a lounge and a dart board
occupies the centre of a floral wall pattern.
SHERATON MALPENSA, MILAN
KING ROSELLI ARCHITETTI

It is generally held that an interior should have stylistic affinity with the exterior
that contains it. In characterful old shells there is scope for the interaction of new
and existing elements and it is accepted that the new should be distinctly
expressed; the aim is to protect the integrity of the original while working off
and with it to borrow some of its physical and emotional patinas. With newly or
recently built shells options are more restricted. The nondescript will justify a
radical intervention, which may pay little regard to the existing but, when the
exterior has merit, the interior should adopt a complementary language.

Often it would seem difficult for the architects who have been responsible for an
exterior to fine-tune the scale and materiality of its visual language for the most
intimate needs of its interior. Exteriors have little time to communicate with
those who pass them by and need to be assertive. Interiors have more time and
opportunity to interact with users and can be more subtly seductive with a
vocabulary of more delicate forms. This airport hotel demonstrates how an
exterior statement may be rephrased for the interior.

King Roselli Architetti were commissioned to design 50,000 square metres

(540,000 square feet) of hotel, with 436 bedrooms, perched on top of existing
strata of car parking; halfway through the project they were invited to create the
main entrance areas. They had chosen to express the exterior, including the roof,
obviously visible from aircraft, as a smooth curved skin, regularly pierced by
rectangular bridges that connect its seven wings. They brought a similar concept
to the interior, but here elements are deliberately fragmented to make a lattice
ceiling in which strategic lighting accentuates a warp and weave of gently
undulating white bands. The white bands climb through the stairwell to wrap
around floor slabs to end in the rectangular columns and beams of the top floor
‘Club Lounge’.
The continuous loop that wraps around the glazed wall of bedrooms is the defining image of the
hotel.
From within, guests are regularly reminded of the bulbous shells of the seven wings.
The lattice ceiling is reflected in the dark terrazzo lobby floor. Strips of ceiling drop behind the
wooden reception stations and sections of floor rise up and over them. Lengths of bamboo behind
backlit translucent film line the end walls.

The rectangular bridges that link the bedroom blocks end in a stripped-back expression of
structure.
In the stairwell, strips curve out from under floor slabs and travel up to mesh with the roof
structure.
In a reworking of the exterior geometries of rounded bays and square bridges, a lattice section
drops to the floor and curves back to the ceiling. From it wooden shelves emerge to screen sitting
areas, in turn made more intimate by slatted timber screens and light-washed coloured walls.
One level above the entrance, curved strips hang above the sloping balustrade to the stairwell.

The high, wide and sloping balustrade, pinched between the corner columns of the stairwell,
hovers above the floor.
The Club Lounge on the top floor, with its wood panelling and gold, purple and violet furnishings,
is a more modest space but it provides distant views of snowcapped Alps.
HYPERCUBUS, MOBILE UNIT
WG3

This mobile unit of accommodation rethinks many of the presumptions of the

conventional hotel. It offers a solution to fluctuations in tourist activity, the result
of regular seasonal peaks or unique events that do not justify investment in
permanent hotel provision. Units located in mountains for the ski season can
transfer to beaches in summer. Towns and cities without major hotel provision
can host one-off events. The energy-efficient unit sits with minimal impact,
temporarily or permanently, whether plugged into existing service infrastructures
or self-sufficient.

The canting of the facetted shell transforms it into an extraordinary object. The
thin edge profile of the steel stair, which also supports the raised end,
consolidates the impression of minimal impact. At its lower end the box rests on
a pre-fabricated concrete foundation block that may also move from site to site.
The plywood external and internal walls are fixed to a laminated timber frame.
The exterior is weather proofed by a synthetic film, which makes a seamless
monolithic block and may be coloured to suit site or client. Interior walls and
ceiling are stained to exploit the plywood grain. The floor of the high-level
terrace, the ladder to the bed platform and the floor of the wet room are pre-
formed metal. The remainder of the floor is carpeted. Kitchen carcasses are
MDF.

The unit has enough incident packed into its modest volume to make a
memorable holiday experience. Level changes and angled walls make a dramatic
internal landscape that extends visually, through the glazed timber-framed end
elevations, into contexts, urban, suburban or rural in which it is deployed.
Options for the colours of LED lights, set into the junctions of floors and walls,
the soffit of the bed platform and the ceiling above it, allow guests to tune their
own cocoon after dark and, when units are clustered on site, different choices
enrich the whole.
Canted installation allows the cuboid shell to sit lightly in its context – while presenting a
significant presence. Glazed end elevations visually extend the interior.
A single horizontal line gives little away about the practical organization of the interior.

Even when grounded the mass of the shell is broken up by angled planes and tonal variations.
A mattress sits on a plywood shelf suspended from the facetted ceiling. The angled, mirror-clad
walls around the lavatory further break up the planes and imply length and distance.
Lighting options customize the modest internal volume and enliven clusters of units at night.
Plan
1 Steel stair and structural support
2 Entrance
3 Upper level
4 Hatch to storage in floor void
5 Ladder to bed platform
6 Bed platform
7 Steps to lower level
8 Kitchen – accessed from lower level
9 Lower level
10 Lavatory
11 Basin
12 Shower
13 Entrance
14 Concrete foundation block
15 Cantilevered steel step

The only window to break the side elevations gives a view from the bed.
Three steps connect internal levels. Kitchen cupboards are set into the void beneath the upper
level. Sliding glass doors enclose the shower and basin. LED lights are set into the bed platform.
Section
1 Steel steps and structural support
2 Steel handrail
3 Window/door
4 Ladder
5 Bed platform
6 Hatch to storage
7 Storage
8 Fuel store
9 Lavatory (behind mirrored wall)
10 Basin
11 Shower
12 Window/door
13 Cantilevered steel step
14 Concrete foundation pad
ECO-RESORT, PEDRAS SALGADAS
LUÍS REBELO DE ANDRADE AND DIOGO
AGUIAR

This project does not rely on a single shell but on three units, each of which is
dedicated to particular functions and configured in response to the existing
topography of this forest site. Variations in the size and proportions of the
individual units break up the mass of each composite structure and allow
elevations to sit modestly behind mature trees or strategically placed fresh
planting. The comparatively loose organization of interior spaces gives a
flexibility in planning that allows each internal space to be orientated towards
the most desirable views.

There are three unit types, one for entrance lobby and bathroom, one for living,
eating and cooking and one for sleeping. Each is a variation on a modular
prefabricated system. The grey-green slates used for most wall cladding and
roofs draw on local building traditions and give units a monolithic simplicity that
sits well in the landscape. Separate roofs over each unit reduce the visual bulk of
the whole and allow the vertical planes of the slate walls to ease themselves into
the enveloping foliage.

Detail within the interiors makes no direct illusions to either the landscape,
which is the reason for the location of the development, or the ecological
principles that underpin its design. The white walls and geometric furniture
belong as readily in a city apartment as they do here. The connection with the
landscape relies wholly on views through the strategically placed windows. The
corner windows break up the interior boxes, eating into the right-angled
junctions of flat white walls, which aspire only to create a modest counterpoint
that enhances the colour and textures of the landscape beyond them. The ceiling
planes, which follow the gradients of the roofs, eliminate the flat lid of a
conventional ceiling and offer a reminder of the upward reaching branches of the
trees above and around them.
Plan forms of individual units and their locations are determined by the position of existing trees.
Slate cladding relates to local construction traditions, timber cladding sits easily among the trees
and stilt foundations allow the topography of the site to flow with minimal interruption.
Each dwelling incorporates the three basic units in different configurations, determined by the
position of existing trees.
1 Sitting/eating/cooking
2 Bathroom
3 Sleeping
The corner window and sloping ceiling planes break up the rectilinear volume of the rooms and
make connections to the landscape. The furniture and carpet suggest something much more
urban.
The ceiling angles and glimpses of the exterior are consistent reminders of the trees above and
around the units.
Plan – typical unit
1 Terrace
2 Sitting/eating/cooking
3 Entrance hall/bathroom
4 Sleeping
5 Existing trees
The bed seems to find refuge in the corner, hemmed in by views of the forest.
BALANCING BARN SUFFOLK, EAST ANGLIA
STUDIO MAKKINK & BEY

While the business traveller will generally settle for comfort and efficiency, the
holidaying hotel guest is also bent on recreation and pleasure. Fulfilment can be
found in the penthouse suites of city-centre hotels, which are evolving into
lavish apartments with extraordinary bathrooms and sophisticated kitchens (see
W and Okura on pages 56–59 and 118–21) and while for some they offer the
reassurance of home comforts, for most they offer vicarious luxury. Illusions of
grandeur are less easily realized in even the most seductive country hotels,
where fellow guests will intrude on fantasies of solitude. The countryside idyll
is, however, being increasingly offered by what are, in effect, hotel suites
isolated in the landscape but supported by hotel infrastructures.

Balancing Barn Suffolk – its shell designed by Dutch architects MVRDV, an

architectural statement of extreme drama – offers guests the means to fantasize.
It is located in Suffolk, a rural county of East Anglia, England, and when Studio
Makkink & Bey turned their attention to its interiors they took inspiration not
directly from the countryside, which is powerfully present through the windows,
but from the work of local artists John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough,
whose landscape paintings became source materials for the colours used in a
series of wall panels. The linear promenade through the house determines the
colour sequence. The entrance, directly in contact with the ground, is given earth
colours; the sitting room, cantilevered in the air, is given blue. The colour blocks
are prompted by, and appear to emerge from, the reproductions of painting
fragments.

Much of the furniture is Dutch, its simple lines complementing the diagrammatic
simplicity of the house’s section. Simplicity and directness characterize the
bespoke furniture by Studio Makkink & Bey, which was also influenced by the
construction of fences found in the paintings and the surrounding countryside,
and is evident in the butt-jointed, open-ended lengths of wood that make the bed.
Diagonal braces perform the same stiffening role as the plywood-clad steel
sections that cut across windows in the house’s cantilevered half, while others
suggest tree branches.
The polished stainless steel skin of this otherwise, apparently, prosaic shed projects implausibly
into thin air. Windows set into the hanging floor remind guests of their curious location.

Blue furniture pieces relate to the colour palette of the panels framing the end view. Panels on the
left advance across the floor and interlock with ground tones that break into the glass floor panel.
The glass reveals the grass below and trees beyond, to which the green sofa relates.

Images and wall panels are used to reinforce corners and, here, they also dilute the presence of
the column. The overshooting and planted timber components of the bespoke black cushioned
armchair share an aesthetic – of blocks and ragged perimeters – with the coloured panels.
The entrance/kitchen/dining area sits on solid ground. Colours here are earthy, inspired by the
fragment of painted horse and cart, and are complemented by the collection of light fittings over
the table. A second image generates greens and yellows, which turn the corner and fragment
along the corridor to complement views of the surrounding trees from the windows opposite.

The image of the original painting has been manipulated and its colours sampled to establish wall
panel hues.
The butt-jointed wood construction of the bed has an agricultural simplicity. Diagonal pieces,
whether structural or decorative, mimic the plywood-clad bracing struts that cut across windows.
BROCH LOCH, DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY
LWD

The idea of using prefabricated elements in the construction of hotels, whether

as plumbed and finished bathrooms or completed rooms, is widespread and well
tested, representing a rationalization of traditional processes, evolved to
streamline the assembly of large numbers – often several hundreds – of identical
units. This project, however, evolved from an investigation of the potential of
prefabricated units, constructed with sustainable materials and self-sufficient in
energy, that might be easily transported from factory to site, all at a cost
comparable to that of a static caravan. In their simplest form they easily meet the
requirements of garden sheds and home offices. When asked to design a series of
free-standing hotel rooms or, more accurately, self-contained suites, LWD saw
the opportunity to test the system’s capacity for multi-functional, complex
aggregation. Concept and construction principles mean that the interconnection
between interior and exterior details creates a spare, shared visual language.

Each ‘suite’ comprises four basic modules, each 3 metres square (32 square feet)
and 3 metres (10 feet) to the internal apex of the pyramidal roof, these being the
maximum width and height restrictions for objects that may normally be
transported on public roads in the UK. Since the structures sit above ground on
jacks that absorb changes in site levels, they are classified as ‘temporary’
structures, and subject to less rigorous planning controls. Spruce plywood is
used externally and internally. Its porous structure allows it to ‘breathe’,
preventing damp and rot, and makes it light and easier to handle. Photovoltaic
panels mounted on the sloping backs of rooflights generate electricity, and
batteries store five days’ supply. Cooking and auxiliary water heating are by
liquid gas.

Interior walls are one or two thicknesses of 25mm (1-inch) spruce plywood,
slotted into floor and ceiling junctions for top and bottom fixings. Sections of
wall are painted with single coats of white claybased paint (chosen for its
superior ecological credentials), which allows the grain of the plywood to remain
visible. These white areas help to define internal spaces and, because they touch
neither floor nor ceiling, their length-to-height proportion perceptually stretches
wall surfaces. Bespoke kitchen furniture conforms to the materials palette.
Shelves are cantilevered off wall panels during prefabrication. Front edges may
be deepened to conceal wiring, although most of it is inserted in external wall
panels during production.

Basic module.

Basic module with terrace.

Pyramidal roof allows reorientation of the rooflight.

Photovoltaic panels sit on the rooflight structure.

Alternative module configurations.

The four conjoined units and terrace sit on jacks, which absorb uneven ground levels. The exterior
skin of larch slats protects a waterproof membrane. Photovoltaic panels, on the reverse sides of
rooflights, generate electricity.

The pyramidal ceilings make the interior appear generous, and clearly define activity zones. The
horizontal strip between ceilings and walls provides accommodation for energy-efficient LED
lighting and determines zones for storage. The terrace visually extends the interior floor area.
Plan
1 Entrance
2 Sliding glass doors
3 Junction of pyramid ceiling
4 Rooflight
5 Sitting area
6 Stove
7 Dining area
8 Kitchen
9 Bedroom
10 Wardrobe
11 Clothes hanging
12 Shelving
13 Shower room
14 Externally accessed battery and gas cylinder store
15 Terrace
The sitting space occupies more than one module but the pyramidal ceiling and central rooflight
determine the location of the sofa while the stove occupies the additional area. The proportions of
white-painted wall areas further stretch the perceived space.
Bespoke kitchen furniture matches the simple detailing and materials palette of the basic
modules. Other small details, like the dowel coat hooks on the white wall, conform to the rational
detailing language that characterizes the shell. The blue-tinted wall paint in the kitchen matches
the sheet-rubber floor.
The painted wall area lends some grandeur to the bed. The shelf that drops to accommodate the
window carries electrical cables and will frame a lowered roller blind.
Typical section through two units
1 Sitting area
2 Dining
3 Kitchen
4 Stove
5 Rooflight

Detail A: perimeter shelves

1 18mm (¾in) spruce plywood inner skin
2 Sheep’s wool insulation
3 44 x 44mm (1¾ x 1¾ in) vertical batten
4 Larch open-jointed cladding
5 Breather paper
6 12v cable run in shelf void
7 12v LED reading light

Detail B: pyramidal ceiling junction

1 Untreated larch shiplap cladding
2 Austentic stainless steel nails
3 44 x 44mm (1¾ x 1¾ in) battens parallel to roof slope
4 Preformed zinc gutter
5 3mm (⅛in) galvanized steel connecting plate
6 Breather paper
7 Panel vent board
8 Sheep’s wool insulation
9 25mm (1in) spruce plywood
10 18mm (¾in) prefabricated box beam
11 12v LED downlight

Detail C: internal walls and ceilings junction

1 Preformed zinc gutter
2 Untreated larch open-jointed cladding
3 18mm (¾in) prefabricated box beam
4 18mm (¾in) prefabricated wall tray
5 12v LED downlight
Detail D: kitchen shelf
1 18mm (¾in) spruce plywood inner skin
2 44 x 44mm (1¾ x 1¾ in) vertical batten
3 Larch open-jointed cladding
4 Breather paper
5 Rubber laminate
6 3 layers of 18mm (¾in) spruce plywood shelf
7 Oil-sealed oak block worktop
8 12v DC fridge venting to back

Detail E: kitchen floor and external wall junction

1 3mm (⅛in) rubber bonded to 18mm
2 Untreated larch cladding
3 Spruce plywood box beam
4 Insulated water pipes
5 Stainless steel bar threaded through adjustable jack leg and resin anchored to concrete
foundation pad
6 Concrete pad foundation

Detail F: floor junctions

1 18mm (¾in) spruce plywood
2 Stainless steel bar and adjustable jack leg, resin anchored to foundation pad
3 Galvanized connection plate
4 Prefabricated 18mm (¾in) spruce plywood box beam
5 14mm (½in) engineered timber boards
6 Sheep’s wool insulation
7 Adjustable jack
8 Panel vent board
9 Concrete pad foundation
REFURBISHMENT

HI MATIC, PARIS, MATALI CRASSET

NOVOTEL, MANCHESTER, BLACKSHEEP
THE CLUB, SINGAPORE, MINISTRY OF DESIGN
COCOON SUITES, ANDRONIKOS, MYKONOS, KLAB
ARCHITECTURE
MOODS, PRAGUE, VLADIMIR ŽÁK WITH ROMAN VRTIŠKA
N.U.T.S., TOKYO, UPSETTERS ARCHITECTS
OKURA, AMSTERDAM, RPW DESIGN
PORTAGO URBAN, GRANADA, ILMIODESIGN
RADISSON BLU AQUA, CHICAGO, GRAVEN IMAGES
HI MATIC, PARIS
MATALI CRASSET

This collaboration between the entrepreneurs and designer responsible for DarHi
(see pages 20–21) is also tuned to a clearly defined user group. It is not,
however, intended as a refuge for escapees from digital connectivity but for
young tourists who are keen to see the recognized set pieces but at least as
enthusiastic to experience contemporary phenomena. It reflects the mores of its
guests. Its interiors demonstrate ecological concern, the breakfasts it serves are
organic but it boasts of its wifi provision. Its organization and aesthetic ensures a
self-selecting, compatible clientele and offers them, whenever necessary, a
retreat among the like-minded from the challenges of an unfamiliar city.

The exterior, with its sliding wooden shutters and eccentric signage, signals its
idiosyncratic intent and the well-considered but ostensibly ad hoc constructions
in its entrance spaces satisfy the expectation. They offer not the cosseting
upholstery of the standard tourist hotel but a collection of installations that
encourage casual social interaction, with areas for initial acclimatization to its
ethos and the communal activities that will follow, more intimate places for more
personal interaction, and structures – albeit reminiscent of a playground – on
which extroverts may draw attention to themselves.

Complex, multi-functional but informal assemblies that satisfy the aspirations of

the young for a room of one’s own, define the 42 bedrooms, designated ‘cabins’
in the hotel’s vernacular. Their austerity demonstrates no predilection for the
mainstream tourist hotel’s well-made bed and the neatly folded battery of towels
but, amid the rigour, a memory-foam mattress fulfils the fundamental obligation
of every hotel room. By day the bedding may be stored overhead and the
structure becomes more akin to a sofa, an acceptance that guests are likely to be
more inclined to sprawl than to sit. The visual complexity of the structure easily
absorbs evidence of guests’ untidiness.

Timber structures, rubber flooring, ecologically sound paints and production

techniques that minimize energy use conform to principles of sustainability.
Transparent assembly methods are comprehensible enough to engage guests’
imaginations without bluster or extravagance.

Idiosyncratic signage breaks the regularity of the façade and the green painted panels, revealed
when shutters slide closed, declare ecological sympathies.
In the restaurant, irregular fragmented ceiling grids that suggest trees are used to break up the
expanse of concrete. Green paint relieves the ubiquitous raw timber, and it often appears in
unlikely places, such as in the hollow core of the table wrapped around the column and the
internal faces of the L-shaped legs of stools.
A less lofty niche, its structural rationale clearly displayed, provides storage and an i-Pad secured
behind a plywood frame.
WC facilities are partly separated and concealed behind framed structure. During the day, bedding
is stored on the slatted shelf overhead.
An apparently casual assembly of raw lengths of timber and raw and painted plywood around the
bed provides storage and a work surface. The purple painted wall matches the colour of the
mattress and defines the daytime seating area. Electric cabling runs in surfacemounted ducts, as
it does throughout the building.
Pictographs and a few words in the lingua franca of the digitally connected traveller explain the
dual function of the bed.
Green paint on the banister connects the existing stair to new elements.
Slotted wooden blocks provide support and fixings for lighting and power flexes.
NOVOTEL, MANCHESTER
BLACKSHEEP

The ground floor of this city-centre hotel was remodelled to ensure more
efficient operation and to give it a stronger local identity within the Novotel
chain, one that draws on Manchester’s nineteenth-century industrial heritage and
its textile industry. The three functional zones, of reception/lobby, bar/lounge
and restaurant, are divided by custom-made screens of interlocking powder-
coated white metal hexagons, which create a significant visual barrier without
eroding the sense of a single coherent space. Demarcation is gently reinforced by
colour coding, with the reception area predominantly dark blue, the bar purple
and blue and the restaurant mustard and light blue.

The most dominant and obviously referential element is, however, the bar
counter. In this the front and one side panel are clad in vertical lines of bobbins,
wound with different-coloured yarns, stacked under a top of reconstructed stone
and contained by vertical and horizontal white metal framing pieces. The whole
sits on a recessed ceramic tile plinth. The tightly bunched bobbins are threaded
over metal rods fixed at the top and bottom of the counter and set in front of a
painted MDF panel. The cylinders of yarn are coated with a clear resin to give a
resilient and more easily cleaned finished surface. The lights above the counter
are inspired by the ridged profiles of wooden bobbins, and angled junctions
between sections of the mirrored wall behind the bar suggest an irregular grid of
thread stretched tightly over its surface.

A second length of irregularly gridded mirror lines one wall of the self-service
restaurant, the cranked plan of which is organized around an angled island
banquette that connects and subsumes three existing structural columns. What
was originally a single, long block reception desk has been split into separate
‘pods’, which are intended to foster a more personal relationship between staff
and guests. The three pods are discreetly echoed by a three-pronged bench that
sits on an island of carpet in the middle of the lobby.
A pair of triangular benches sits in front of three separate reception pods.
A custom-made screen of white powder-coated metal hexagons separates, and forms an
entrance to, the restaurant from reception.
A view from the restaurant back into the lobby. Another metal hexagon screen opposite this one
partially shields and divides off a lounge by the side and to the rear of the reception pods.
1 Entrance
2 Reception pods
3 Lobby
4 Hexagon screen
5 Guest computer access
6 Bar
7 Bar counter
8 Lounge
9 Restaurant banquette
10 ‘TV diners’ – individual carrel
11 Waiter station
12 Buffet servery

An individual carrel on the end of the banquette, dubbed ‘TV dining’, allows individual diners to
watch a personal television. Headphones mask peripheral sound. The blue cords in the upper
metal screen reiterate the taut thread theme.

A banquette connects and absorbs existing structural columns and organizes the angled
restaurant plan.

Individual hexagons are separated visually by black spacing pieces.

The resin coating that seals the yarnwound bobbins catches the light from the lighting strip that is
concealed in the bar downstand.
Custom-made, bobbin-inspired hanging light fittings.
Manchester’s textile heritage is reflected in the bar area, with its counter faced with coloured
yarns, light shades derived from bobbin profiles and shadow gaps (reveals) in the fragmented
mirrors suggesting taut threads.

Bar elevation
1 Mirror with 15mm (⅝in) shadow gap between panels and 2mm (1⁄12in)
2 White painted timber frame
3 White powder-coated steel shelf
4 Reconstituted stone bar top with 80mm (3⅛in) downstand
5 Clear resin-sealed bobbins in front of painted MDF panel
6 Powder-coated steel frame
7 100mm (3⅞in) ceramic tile skirting

Bar section
1 Adjustable downlighter recessed in soffit of bar structure
2 White powder-coated metal shelf
3 Low-level illumination of bottles
4 Stainless steel back bar units
5 Clear resin-sealed bobbins in front of painted MDF panel

Bar detail
1 12mm (½in) reconstructed countertop on 20mm (¾in) MDF
2 Concealed striplight
3 Stainless steel framing
4 Softwood framing
5 Clear resin-sealed bobbins in front of painted MDF panel
6 Clear resin-sealed bobbins threaded on metal rod in front of painted MDF panel
THE CLUB, SINGAPORE
MINISTRY OF DESIGN

The all-white façade of this hundred-year-old building establishes its credentials

as a significant element in the stylish Club Street conservation area. It also gives
a first taste of the rigorously restrained colour scheme that characterizes the
interior, with its white walls and ceilings, counterpointed by black furniture and
fittings. The design draws on two historical sources: the city state’s colonial past
and the experience of the Chinese economic immigrants who arrived at the
beginning of the twentieth century.

The references to the colonial heritage are ironically whimsical and are most
obvious in the larger-than-life statue of Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles,
who founded the city of Singapore at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Other colonial references are more subdued and found in witty detailing of
furniture and artefacts.

References to the immigrants, most of whom came to earn money to support

relatives back in China, are more poetic. Information graphics are inscribed on
black silhouettes of black envelopes, which might contain messages of love as
well as money, carried in the beaks of small black birds. Black drawings on
white guest-room walls and artefacts, unique to each room, were created by
Ministry of Design and realized by Wynlyn Tan, a local artist. These are
reminiscent of traditional Chinese brush painting, evoking both the landscape
and the culture. Their simple directness sits comfortably with the ingenious,
modern and minimalist bespoke practical elements.

The plans of the two bedroom floors are identical but the room plans within
them are unique and complex, generated in response to the angles of the existing
building shell. Curved and thickened sections of wall relieve the angularity of
corridors and soften some potentially awkward junctions. In the bar, which is on
the top floor and surrounded by a roof terrace and event space, the changing
colours of LED lights that echo a traditional image of a flower represent the only
divergence from the black-and-white palette.
The white walls of the reception area are visible through the open door of the all-white façade.
In reception, black appears in the chequerboard flooring pattern and a reinterpretation of a
Chinese wall painting. The fabric ceiling represents clouds. The desk is moulded solid colour
acrylic.
The black-and-white palette is applied to upholstery fabric, flowers and vases.
The white statue of Raffles, head in the fabric clouds, prompts the only section of black wall.
The only real variation from the black-and-white palette in the bar is provided by the LED lights
behind a perforated metal screen.
The LEDs change colour.
Ground-floor plan
1 Entrance
2 Reception
3 Hallway
4 Luggage room
5 Lift lobby (with Raffles statue)
6 Public spaces and kitchen
7 Garden
Top-floor plan
1 Lift lobby
2 Bar
3 Bar terrace
4 Event space
5 Satellite kitchen
6 WC
7 Store
Bedroom-floor plan
1-11 Guest rooms
12 Lift lobby
13 Housekeeper’s store
In the lift the black flower motif becomes three dimensional to make a handrail. A black metal bird
decorates the ceiling.
The moulded edge and leg of the narrow table again references the colonial past. The flatscreen
television is tidily recessed into the thickened wall.
In the generous lobby on the bedroom floors, a mirror leans casually against a curved wall.
Graphic information is inscribed on black envelopes carried in the beaks of black wall-mounted
birds. The abstract grey patterned carpet is a concession to scuffing and staining.
The chequerboard tile pattern turns up the bathroom wall.
Moulding strips on bedroom doors tie together graphic information and suggest something of the
building’s colonial past.
A plinth for luggage defines the zone for practical contemporary elements: the cupboard for mini-
bar and safe, the cantilevered ‘welcome tray’ and the inverted U-shaped clothes rail that hangs
from the ceiling.
The bed sits on another low plinth. The uniform whiteness of the room is only disturbed by the
painted flower, the lamp and the highlights of concealed lighting. The profile of the pendant fitting
suggests traditional furniture moulding.
All bedrooms are different; in this one an inflated variation on traditional Chinese fretwork pattern
marks the bed space. A mirror in the central section reflects the mural and tray at the entrance.
COCOON SUITES HOTEL ANDRONIKOS,
MYKONOS
KLAB ARCHITECTURE

The population of the Greek island of Mykonos increases five fold during the
holiday season as 40,000 tourists arrive to savour its scenery and vernacular
architecture. Strong winds and intense sunlight have determined the evolution of
buildings that appear to grow from the landscape – round-edged whitewashed
cubes connected by narrow paved alleys. These characteristics have been
reinterpreted in the first phase of the redevelopment of this hotel, built in 1990.

The rectilinear shells of 13 of the original 57 rooms have been transformed into
something that connects convincingly with the local traditions. All elements
were conceived to exploit the potential of local building practice. The budget
was modest and the simple materials palette of plaster, plasterboard, glass,
mirrors, pebbles, bamboo canes, floors of concrete or painted timber, required no
extravagant machinery or techniques.

Existing walls were given an inner skin that created recesses for concealed
lighting and mirrors, which suggested small, randomly placed windows. New
walls were battered and tapered with bulky rounded edges that contributed to the
impression of an interior hewn from the solid geology of the island. New
lowered ceilings stop short of the walls, and light, concealed in the perimeter
recesses, washes across the bulges and textures of the walls. New ceiling voids
are spanned by bamboo canes; artificial light sources, set behind them, suggest
natural light shining through the branches and leaves that shade exterior terraces.
Bamboo panels also serve as window shutters and cupboard doors.

The edge of the bed platform, supported on a recessed plinth, conceals another
indirect light source that, like the others, adds to the impression of natural
lighting finding its way through the bulky fabric of a traditional dwelling.
Storage places and surfaces for display and work are integral to the wall and
contribute to the heavy modelling of the new skin. Lines of polished pebbles set
into floors and walls represent the most tangible link to the locale.
Bathroom enclosures are shaped to make organic form. Concealed perimeter lighting suggests
natural light filtering through rock fissures.
The linearity of the skeletal metal chair has some affinity with the bamboo screens placed over the
window and on the ceiling.
The bed ‘floats’ on its recessed plinth, in contradiction of other elements that appear monolithic
and heavy. The mirrored slot demonstrates the thickness of the new wall, and apparently
randomly placed lights suggest small windows. Lines of pebbles set in the concrete floors and
plaster walls hint at paths and horizons.
Floor plan
1 Bed
2 New inner wall
3 Recessed lights
4 Table
5 Television
6 Pebbles set in floor
7 Clothes storage
8 Basin
9 WC
10 Shower
11 Terrace

Ceiling plan
1 Bamboo screen
2 Lowered area
3 Perimeter lighting recess

Different bathroom enclosures, different ceiling forms, different ‘windows’ punched in the wall
behind the bed offer variations on the organic theme.
Table and seat are integrated into and help imply the solidity of the wall. The bamboo ceiling
section, which resembles the screens that shade exterior terraces, suggests that the light source
behind it is natural. The wall-mounted television is made less obtrusive by being mounted on the
mirror.
Light filtering through the bamboo ceiling screen adds roughness to wall surfaces. A square-sided
box may be pulled out for easier access.
MOODS, PRAGUE
VLADIMIR ŽÁK & ROMAN VRTIŠKA

This project uses many of the familiar elements of the existing shell as a foil for
a battery of gestures that exploit the potential of quirky, but economical,
detailing and graphic devices. The diversity of creative thinking is immediately
obvious in the eclectic collection of forms and finishes that awaits guests in the
entrance area. A mosscovered wall confronts a screen of hollow bamboo sections
behind the reception desk. A bespoke modular upholstered bench makes a
necklace for the chrome-clad column that occupies the middle of the space. A
wall, papered with a tight, repetitive pattern, like the dense whorls of moss and
bamboo, leads into the bar, where another backlit bamboo screen sits behind the
bar counter. Crumpled white paper, held within the projecting timber-veneered
countertop and sides and protected by a sheet of clear glass, suggests stone.

In the conference room, standard stacking chairs are rejected in favour of a

bespoke modular unit, upholstered in a variety of colours and a pattern similar to
that of the bar’s papered wall. The modules may be arranged formally or
informally. When not needed they interlock and stack decoratively against a
wall. A row of drawer fronts at floor level are finished to match the chair
profiles. All sit beneath a suspended ceiling of bespoke translucent lighting
discs.

The three stairwells are treated differently. The handrail of the original stair is
supported on vertical tension cables anchored to the concrete string (stringer).
They form a cage, which contains lights hung at varying heights. Super-sized
painted numbers announce floor levels, ignoring three-dimensional irregularities
and trespassing on to doors and radiators. A new stair of folded steel plate has
balustrades of stretched elasticated cord threaded irregularly through regularly
drilled holes in the top and bottom to form a safety web. A third stairwell, to
conference room and spa, is lined with white text on a black background, partly
reflected in mirrored side walls.

The bedrooms are modest, except for an expensively comfortable bed and a
white lacquered, extravagantly cantilevered table. Colours are muted, apart from
a padded bedhead that conceals a coloured light source.

The bamboo section behind the bar counter is backlit. The counter front consists of thick crumpled
paper, top lit and behind glass.
The ‘crumpled’ fabric of the large hanging light fitting anticipates the paper on the front of the
adjacent bar counter.
The concrete floor and plastered walls of the lobby are counterpointed, at one extreme, by the
organic insertions of the moss- and bamboo-covered walls and, at the other, by the chrome-clad
column and illuminated signage. The wallpaper pattern on the bar wall shares the visual texture of
the moss and bamboo.
Reception bench: modular components
1 Plan
2 Side elevation
3 Segment 3 (12 modules)
4 Segment 2 (8 modules)
5 Segment 1 (32 modules)
The reception desk sits in front of the wall section clad in hollow cross sections of bamboo.
Modular construction allows the unbroken ring of the upholstered bench to surround the existing
column.
An existing stair is upgraded with painted numerals. The super-sized numerals identify floors.
Additional floor identification numerals at landing levels ‘ignore’ and visually dominate untidy
existing elements.
Elasticated cords threaded through holes drilled in the angle section of the balustrade framing
provide a safety web.
The minimal profile of the new folded steel staircase contrasts with the bulk of the concrete
original.
Tensioned cables support handrails and also form a cage for pendant light fittings of various
lengths.
Wall text, a bespoke storage/table unit and an expensively comfortable bed distinguish the
otherwise modest bedrooms.

Bedroom table/storage. The extravagant cantilever is supported off the wall.

1 Work surface
2 Drawer
3 Possible loose furniture storage
4 Luggage shelf

Text on the walls of the stairwell to the basement conference room and spa is reflected in mirrors
and further breaks up wall planes.
Chairs may be unstacked and arranged appropriately for different events. The translucent light
discs that also perform as a suspended ceiling are custom made. When the seats are removed
they reveal a mirrored wall above the drawers.
In the conference room the patterns of drawer fronts on the lowest level match those of the
stacked chairs above them.

Conference room chair and drawer storage

1 Drawer unit carcass
2 Drawer
3 Stacked interlocking chairs
N.U.T.S., TOKYO
UPSETTERS ARCHITECTS

This upgrading of a single floor of a small hotel in the central Shinjuku district
of Tokyo provides a ‘universal’ room, which offers two conventional beds and
wheelchair access, and three rooms with three, four and five traditional Japanese
‘tatami’ sleeping mats, which can accommodate more occupants and, because
they offer flexibility of layout, are particularly suitable for families or groups of
young travellers. While the tatami rooms have obvious appeal for overseas
visitors, the detailing of the universal room offers a distinctly Japanese
reinterpretation of the more conventional solution.

Each room has a different plan but in each the exposed concrete surfaces of
external walls and those separating units are set against smooth new painted
partitions. Construction instructions, written on the concrete surfaces, are left to
underline their rawness. The green textured weave of the hemmed mats provides
a counterpoint to the light grey vinyl floor on which they sit and their
desaturated colour connects smooth floor and rough concrete. While the exposed
concrete implies crudeness, the precision of construction allows walls and floors
to meet without the need for a skirting board to mask their junction. In the
universal room a gloss-black floor further lowers the level of natural daylight,
which filters through a floor-level window slot, while concealed artificial
sources intensify concrete textures. In other rooms, window and door openings
are trimmed with timber linings, which sit slightly proud of the faces of plastered
walls. All four edges of door openings are also lined with rectangular sectioned
timbers. Linings to window reveals are separated, with a substantial shadow gap,
from the uneven edges of the openings cut into existing concrete walls. Their
precision further underlines the visual and physical textures of the concrete.

A timber-trimmed opening marks the boundary between the existing hotel,

represented by the lift lobby, and the new corridor, the dimly lit length of which
is punctuated by downlighters mounted low by the side of each timber-veneered
bedroom door and focused on the handle and identifying letter. The veneered
ceiling strip, with a decorative motif derived from traditional Japanese
representations of trees, is picked out over each door by uplighters.
Lighting within the corridor is focused on the doors and decorative motifs, to create a dark space
as a prelude to the lightfilled tatami rooms.
The universal room remains comparatively dark. A screen wall masks light from the existing
window and creates a void into which is set a recessed shelf. Uplighting accentuates the textures
of the concrete wall and an extant plumbing pipe is the only other discordant note among the new
smooth planes. Pebbles in the window trough suggest a traditional Japanese garden beyond the
window.
Plan
1 Lift
2 Lift lobby
3 Corridor
4 Universal room
5 Five-mat room
6 Four-mat room
7 Three-mat room
8 Bathroom
9 Lobby/sitting space
10 Conventional bed
11 Tatami mat
12 Screen wall
An entrance space to the four-mat room also provides a defined social space. The trim to the door
opening becomes a threshold and echoes the continuity of the rectangular section of the window
frames.
In the tatami rooms, the colour and texture of the mats and the patched concrete of existing walls,
with extant scribbled notes to the builders to further emphasize their rawness, contrast with the
extreme smoothness and restrained colour palette of new planes.
Timber window frames appear to sit loosely in the concrete walls, while plaster finishes stop
against them. Furniture is made with the same rational simplicity and is stacked away to be
freshly deployed by each new group of occupants. The sleeping area is slightly raised to define a
social area within the room.
The hemmed edge of the mats makes a precise line on the vinyl sheet floor and the seemingly
rough concrete wall is well enough made to eliminate the need for a skirting to cover an uneven
junction.
OKURA, AMSTERDAM
RPW DESIGN

Suites provide discrete spaces for the discrete activities of home, a grander
alternative to the standard bedroom; self-contained, essentially domestic,
environments, they have evolved in line with the new patterns of living. Formal
rooms have been replaced by spaces that flow together more fluently and, in
hotels that cater primarily for business travellers, they are fine-tuned to the
priorities of the guest who wants to entertain and have formal meetings on their
own terms in their own territory.

This proposal is designed for international business and leisure travellers in

search of luxury. Its organization is complex, developed over two floors with the
lower given over to business accommodation and the upper containing what are
in effect two conventional suites that may be interconnected. There are a number
of permutations. Self-contained zones may be isolated by doors that slide into
wall pockets so that, when the suite operates as an entity, evidence of subdivision
is eliminated. The suite and its constituent parts are entered from the corridors
that serve the standard guest rooms, and the two separate entrance points on each
floor are enough to cope with the various configurations.

Accommodation at both levels is structured around a double-height space, in

which a bulky chandelier hangs above a table for 14 covers. The overall
footprint is smaller at lower level, with a section equivalent in area to one of the
upper suites, relinquished to standard guest rooms. These may, however, be
connected to the dining area and two suite options if required. The options for
subdivision mean that the two levels of the dining area can relate to either one of
the separated suites or be isolated to serve the business provision.

The dominant element at the lower level is a spiral staircase, a grand gesture of
illuminated glass treads and sweeping stainless steel strings and glass
balustrades. Lifts for internal circulation are conveniently close but shared with
other hotel users.
Together the stair and double-height dining area make up the dramatic core of the suite.
With sliding doors open and the chandelier hanging between levels, the two floors cohere.
The suite’s distinctive palette of dark woods and sweeping curves has now been carried into
subsequent refurbishments.
Stainless steel sleeves connect the triplelaminated glass treads to the strings.
Upper-level plan
1 Entrance
2 Stair to lower level
3 Sliding/dividing doors
4 Void
5 Chandelier
6 Sitting
7 Washroom
8 Sleeping
9 Dressing
10 Wardrobe
11 WC
12 Washbasins
13 Bath
14 Shower
Lower-level plan
1 Entrance
2 Staff entrance
3 Sliding/dividing doors
4 Stair to upper level
5 Dining
6 Void above
7 Finishing kitchen
8 Viewing room
9 Cloakroom
10 Auxiliary spaces
11 Standard guest room with potential connection to suite
Illuminated treads reflected in polished steel strings and the glass balustrade.
Spiral stair elevation
1 Stainless steel string
2 Glass balustrade
3 Glass tread
4 Stainless steel handrail
5 Edge of upper floor
From below, the treads float against the strings, which reflect darker wall finishes.
Stair plan
1 Glass tread
2 Stainless steel handrail
3 Glass balustrade panel – stair panels meet at tread centres
4 Void
5 Duct
Detailed stair section
1 Mirror-finish stainless steel handrail
2 Stainless steel bracket fixed through glass balustrade
3 Compressed rubber gasket shaped to fit curved panels
4 34 x 6mm (1⅜ x ¼in) stainless steel clamping disc
5 15mm (⅝in) toughened clear safety glass
6 Mirror-finish polished stainless steel string
7 Neoprene expansion gasket
8 Mirror-finish polished stainless steel spacer
9 Mirror-finish polished stainless steel tread support
10 3 layers of toughened glass treads
11 Neoprene gasket
Balustrade to void section
1 Mirror-finish polished stainless steel handrail
2 Stainless steel bracket fixed through glass balustrade
3 Compressed rubber gasket
4 34 x 6mm (1⅜ x ¼in) stainless steel clamping disc
5 18mm (¾in) toughened clear safety glass
6 Stainless steel channel with fixing nuts fixed to floor plate
7 Compressed gasket
8 Tile
9 Bonding cement
10 Levelling screed
11 Plasterboard fascia
12 Plasterboard soffit - both not marked

Stair tread section

1 Stainless steel tread spacer behind
2 Mirror-finish polished stainless steel string
3 3 layers of 10mm (⅜in) toughened clear safety glass
4 Mirror-finish polished stainless steel tread support
5 Neoprene gasket
PORTAGO URBAN, GRANADA
ILMIODESIGN

In the centre of the city, in an area of traditional architecture and in an old

building that had already served as a hotel, this refurbishment concentrated as
much on creating a distinctive character for the interior as on upgrading practical
provisions. Two bedrooms share the ground floor with the reception, coffee bar
and breakfast room, the last sitting at the foot of a glazed atrium that rises
through the three upper bedroom floors to a roof terrace. The conversion was not
expensive but the boisterous good humour of a few recurring set pieces
establishes an identity that would be diluted by more extravagant finishes and
fittings. While some of the new decorative devices are evolved from motifs
particular to the city, the most numerous and assertive draw, wryly and
surprisingly, on the stereotypical perception of a ‘typical’ English gentleman
and, perhaps by extrapolation, the English language is used for largescaled
textual greetings and exhortations throughout the building.

Walls, ceilings and almost every three-dimensional object, including the

monolithic curved Corian block of the bar counter, are white. Only the different
colourways of a proprietary carpet range and a few furniture details provide
colour and pattern. Walls and ceilings are the flat planes that throw into relief
white ‘bowler hats’ that hang from the ceiling of the coffee bar and reception,
and the headboards for beds, which are set slightly proud of the wall so that the
concealed light sources behind them can wash through cut-out texts. Given that
headboards are seen as opportunities to indulge in materials and upholstery as
expressions of real or assumed status, this maverick interpretation breaks the
mould and confirms the intention to amuse. It is only with the timber-framed
glazing around the atrium in the breakfast room and in the circulation spaces on
each floor that a more familiar hotel aesthetic appears.

The pervasive frivolity is underpinned by the comparatively few artefacts that do

not conform to the rule of white. Black ‘hats’ perform as pendant lampshades,
although bulky, bespoke and strongly coloured cylindrical lampshades are used
in the nonconformist breakfast room. An eclectic selection of chairs includes
some of the quirkier Eames pieces, while a stack of traditional leather suitcases,
some painted white, make a backdrop for the reception desk.

The breakfast room, at the bottom of the atrium, has a more conventional palette. The illuminated
wall patterns have local affinities. The cylindrical light fittings are bespoke.
White ‘bowler hats’ float at ceiling height above the coffee bar/entrance lobby. Black ‘hats’ are light
fittings. The back wall of the bar introduces the backlit text that will recur in each bedroom.
Circular mirrors mimic the hat shapes and transfer them to the wall plane.
Stacked suitcases make a backdrop for the Corian reception desk. Lettering, which provides
factual information, is here stuck on the wall in low relief.
Ground-floor plan
1 Entrance
2 Coffee bar
3 Reception
4 Breakfast room (atrium above)
5 Kitchen
6 Bedroom
7 Lightwell
8 Stair
9 Lift

Typical bedroom-floor plan

1 Bedroom
2 Atrium
3 Lightwell
4 Stair
5 Lift

Illuminated message/headboards provide ambient light. Black motifs balance the black light
fittings.
Where the plan requires it, the message board is redeployed.

Bedroom elevation
1 Headboard
2 Bed
3 ‘Hat’ pendant light
4 Switch
5 Table/cupboard

Headboard section
1 Existing wall
2 Headboard
3 Warm white LED strip
4 4mm (1⁄6in) metal sleeve
5 Softwood frame

Bedroom plan
1 Bed
2 Headboard
3 LED strip
4 ‘Hat’ pendant light
5 Table/cupboard
Motifs and messages are permutated.
The ‘hat’ as a light fitting.
Headboard elevation.
RADISSON BLU AQUA, CHICAGO
GRAVEN IMAGES

The designers, whose projects for Radisson have redefined the chain’s aesthetic,
were asked to upgrade the reception and lobby areas of its Chicago branch. The
reception area is located, somewhat obscurely, to the left of the entrance. A
double line of pendant light fittings runs from the immediate left of the door
through the length of the reception and its associated waiting space, both
drawing attention to and leading into it. What would normally be a monolithic
mass of a reception desk is disassembled into four separate ‘pods’, one for each
of three receptionists and a concierge. The fragmentation strategy follows one
established by the designers in their first interior for the group, in Dublin, in
2007. However here, to increase the presence of the individual elements, the
front and sides of each pod are faced with backlit white translucent glass panels,
which sit on top of a stainless steel ‘C’ channel. The mirrored glass top has a
clear section that allows the receptionist to see the monitor screen positioned
below it. Behind the pods, angled strips of LED light orientate guests back
toward the stairs, the lifts and the lobby.

The lobby, in counterpoint to the fragmentation of the reception desk, is

characterized by a single long ‘fire’, said to be the longest in the U.S. This is a
series of gas flames recessed within a brass-clad wall, replacing the more
conventional solution of several individual fires distributed along the length of a
room. The stainless steel lining of the recess accentuates the visual impact of the
flames. The drama of the wall is further increased by a cladding of brass panels,
the lower level of which are suspended loosely from hooks to allow them to
move and shimmer in the updraught of hot air from the fire. The bottom section
also hangs freely, to be agitated by the wafts of air generated by the movement
of guests. The visual texture of the brass panels is sympathetic to that of the
brick structures that separate the principal lounge area from the parallel
circulation zone, with its more modestly scaled sitting area.
The stainless steel cladding of the ‘fire’ recess reflects and magnifies the visual impact of the gas
jets. The brass matches the colour of the flames.
Fireplace section
1 Recessed ceiling junction to house T-bar section supporting brass panels
2 Brass panel
3 Open gas-jet ‘fire’ in recess, with base, sides and top of precast concrete panels

Fireplace detail
1 Softwood framing to take T-bar support for hanging brass panels
2 Plasterboard with taped and filled joints
3 Recessed ceiling head
4 Hanging brass panel
5 Existing wall
6 New hook for holding panels
7 Hook located above fireplace
8 New ‘fireplace’
9 Hook to hold panels in position
10 Hook located above skirting
11 Skirting

Section through reception

Section through lobby

Section through lobby

1 Entrance to reception
2 Luggage store
3 Staff stair
4 Back-painted glass panels fixed to existing wall
5 New suspended plasterboard ceiling, joints taped and filled, finished with skim plaster coat for
painting
6 Open gas-jet ‘fire’ in recess with base, sides and top formed from precast concrete panels
7 Brass wall cladding hung in front of mirror panels fixed to existing structure
8 New open-grille folding lift doors
9 Mirror panels fixed to existing wall
Plan
1 Entrance
2 Reception area
3 Receptionist pod
4 Concierge pod
5 Lobby
6 Lifts
7 ‘Fire’ wall
8 Stair
Each receptionist works at an individual backlit, mirror-topped pod. The angled LED lights set into
the back wall have an with the pods’ plan form.

Receptionist pods plans

1 Telephone
2 Keyboard
3 Clear glass section above monitor
4 Predrilled holes in mirrored top to receive 12mm (½in) lamp stem
Receptionist pods elevations
1 Lamps of different-height stems
2 ½ silver mirrored and polished edges
3 12mm (½in)-thick backlit glass
4 Stainless steel ‘C’ channel plinth
5 MDF panel with high-gloss
6 stainless steel pull handles
7 Recess for monitor
8 22mm (⅞in) MDF top and sides with high-gloss white lacquer
9 19mm (¾in) MDF angled shelf with high-gloss white lacquer

Pod detail
1 Glass bonded to MDF carcass
2 ‘Invisible’ tape at butt joint between top and front glass panels
3 12mm (½in)-thick toughened glass with silver mirrored finish with polished edges
4 MDF carcass
5 LED ribbon light recessed into top
6 Stainless steel sheet wrapped around all visible surfaces within lighting recess
Pod plan and section
1 MDF panel with high gloss finish
2 Line of plinth below
3 12mm (½in)-thick backlit glass
4 Recess for cable management
5 Recess for lighting
6 ‘Invisible’ tape at butt joint between top and front glass panels
7 LED light source
8 12mm (½in)-thick toughened glass with silver mirrored finish with polished edges
9 Clear glass section above mirror
10 22mm (⅞in) MDF to top and sides with high-gloss white lacquer finish
11 Recess for lighting
12 Recess for printer
13 12mm (½in)-thick backlit toughened translucent glass with polished edges set into channel
formed in ‘C’ channel plinth
14 Stainless steel ‘C’ channel plinth
15 Power outlet
CONVERSION

25 HOURS HAFENCITY HAMBURG, HAMBURG, STEPHEN WILLIAMS

ASSOCIATES
ANDEL’S, LODZ, JESTICO + WHILES
CARO, VALENCIA, FRANCESC RIFÉ STUDIO
CONSERVATORIUM, AMSTERDAM, LISSONI ASSOCIATI
DANIEL, VIENNA, ATELIER HEISS
MINO, MIGLIARINO, ANTONIO RAVALLI ARCHITETTI
NOBIS, STOCKHOLM, CLAESSON KOIVISTO RUNE
QUALITY HOTEL EXPO, OSLO, HAPTIC
TOWN HALL, LONDON, RARE
THE WATERHOUSE AT SOUTH BUND, SHANGHAI, NERI & HU
25 HOURS HAFENCITY HAMBURG, HAMBURG
STEPHEN WILLIAMS

‘HafenCity’ is a developing quarter set to become Hamburg’s social hub, and the
25 Hours HafenCity Hamburg hotel is conceived as the client, worked to
develop the brief. The aesthetic refers to the harbour and seafaring, traditional
elements that have defined Hamburg. Guests are seen as occasional travellers
and are described as ‘urban nomads’, with an affinity with the perpetually
travelling sailors, or ‘maritime nomads’. Semi-fictionalized seafaring characters,
port, provided detailed narrative themes for each of the bedrooms.

The usual public spaces of lobby, restaurant, bar and shop are treated as distinct
territories but share a detailing language, of salvaged objects and ostensibly
expedient construction that is intended to elements, which bring with them their
own textures and patinas, sit comfortably against the raw concrete walls of the
original building shell. A complex, ostensibly ad hoc, composition of sitting
spaces, display and storage boxes, all supported on an irregular tubular-steel grid
structure, make a screen between the street and ground-floor public spaces.
There are no self-consciously formal set pieces, apart perhaps from the shipping
container that serves as a conference room and an overspill area from the
restaurant for larger groups. It is distinguished by the sidewall that is hoisted to
the ceiling to allow access. Windows cut between pairs of corrugations combat
claustrophobia when the wall is lowered. A second modified container houses
the rooftop sauna.

Guests’ bedrooms share the ad hoc aesthetic but make explicit wall drawings and
a ‘log book’ that is stored in the ‘travel trunk’, which acts as storage unit, drinks
cabinet and contains electrical power and digital connection points. The
whimsical reinterpretation is clear in the ‘radio room’, which is acknowledged to
be a business centre, but one catering for what is described as a new breed of
business traveller.
The reception area, with its industrial iconography and material palette, its elements assembled
with apparent expediency, establishes the hotel’s aesthetic principles.
‘Industrial’ floor markings give order to the table layout in the restaurant area.
Typical bedroom-floor plan
1 Entrance
2 Bed
3 Shower room
4 ‘Trunk’ desk and storage
5 Chair
6 Duct
7 Optional connecting door

Ground-floor elevation
1 Entrance door
2 Steel structure
3 Open display box
4 Shelf
5 Closed display box
6 ‘Container’ light fitting suspended on steel track
7 Floor level sitting area
8 Raised sitting area
9 Restricted-access sitting area
10 Secure luggage storage

‘Container’ room elevation

1 Width of rising wall section
2 Height of rising wall section
3 New window
4 Corrugated steel panels
5 Steel framing
6 Lifting motor
7 Pulley
8 Lifting cable
9 Steel guide channel
Container room section
1 Steel hollow section structure
2 Fixed corrugated steel panel
3 Rising/falling corrugated steel panel with window insert
4 Steel hollow section framing
5 Steel guide channel
6 Existing structure
One side of the standard shipping container may be raised to provide additional restaurant space
or lowered to make a private area.
Typical bedhead plan and elevation
1 Board on timber framing painted to match wall
2 Adjustable recessed light fittings
3 Dark matt stained solid timber edge strip
4 Dark matt stained veneer headboard
5 Dark matt stained veneered panels to bed plinth
6 Solid timber shelving in recess
7 Double switch
8 Double socket
9 Telephone socket
10 Cable distribution point
Each room has bespoke wallpaper, with motifs inspired by an individual sailor’s stories, and all
share other elements – the seaman’s trunk as desk and storage, the rope ladder as shelving, the
metal bucket as waste bin and the projecting down stand over the bedhead that conceals lighting
and shelving.

As escape routes, corridors on the bedroom floors are necessarily kept uncluttered but signage
and the internal finishes to the lift walls make connections to the public spaces. The carpeted
skirting provides a buffer against luggage trolleys and anticipates the domesticity of the bedrooms.
Photographs are of the sailors who inspired the bedrooms.
A second container provides the shell for the sauna in the rooftop gymnasium. Bespoke exercise
benches conform to detailing principles.
ANDEL’S, LODZ
JESTICO + WHILES

This Polish hotel sits within the steel-framed, brick-clad shell of restaurant are
located at one end of the ground floor and a business centre at the other; 180
bedrooms and 80 studio apartments are arranged on the four upper floors. At
roof level a new steel and glass box, containing function rooms, sits discreetly
behind one of the towers on the front elevation but cantilevers dramatically over
the rear façade. The plan is long and thin and the layouts on each floor respond
to the rows of steel columns, painted a uniform matt black, along its length. On
each floor the depth of the plan prompts which, for half its length, borrows
natural light through elliptical voids cut into each floor level.

Throughout the building the rougher textures and muted colours of the
refurbished original elements – columns, beams and brickwork – are
counterpointed section are backlit but it is the voids that dominate the public
spaces, particularly at night when the solid balustrade walls to each are
illuminated by sequences of changing coloured lights. Their importance is
underlined by the areas of blue carpet that sit directly beneath them in a central
area that is empty of furniture, apart from a few tables and chairs that cluster
tentatively around the periphery of one. This empty core is surrounded by café
and restaurant areas in which brick walls, which carry the marks of plaster and
patches and are less pristine than the vaults overhead, become the principle
decorative element.

Finishes in the remainder of the ground floor, which is devoted to the business
centre, are more restrained. The need to separate it from the corridors above
eliminates the top-lit voids, and the open central core is artificially lit, with the
vaults plastered and painted white to a patchwork of patterns and colours on the
bedhead counterpoint areas of original brickwork.
In the entrance lobby, carpeted circles mark the footprints of voids cut into the bedroom corridors
above.
Illuminated ceiling panels and white walls replace light wells and existing brickwork in the
business area.
A few chairs and tables are allowed to intrude on the carpet that extends beyond the central
column bay. The bar and reception counters are in the background.

Entrance area plan

1 Hotel entrance
2 Café entrance
3 Group entrance
4 Reception
5 Lifts
6 Line of carpet colour change
7 Line of void above
8 Sitting area below void
9 Café
10 Bar counter
11 Bar display
12 Store
13 Office
14 Door to stairs, restaurant and business centre
Bedroom plan
1 Corridor – edge of void
2 Corridor – column
3 Duct
4 Entrance
5 Bathroom
6 Bed
7 Television
8 Desk
9 Storage

Studio apartment plan

1 Entrance
2 Bathroom
3 Kitchen
4 Bed
5 Storage
6 Television
7 Desk
8 Sitting
9 Column

In bedrooms patchwork patterns share tonal values with the brickwork and introduce something
more domestic
Views of balustrades through voids and behind columns make complex patterns.
The curves of voids and carpets are reflected in the backlit bar counter and bulging back display.
Traces of existing finishes and simple furniture and fittings have affinities with the building’s
industrial past.
CARO, VALENCIA
FRANCESC RIFÉ STUDIO

Except when required to occupy bland new structures, interiors take inspiration
from and frequently incorporate surviving elements of the buildings they occupy.
Even those shells that once fulfilled the most utilitarian functions acquire patinas
of wear and nostalgia that offer evidence of a more romantic past. In some
projects the existence of surviving elements will be obvious from the outset and
may be a crucial factor in the decision to occupy a particular shell. In others,
evidence will emerge during the course of the work, by accident or as the result
of shrewd speculation. All are likely to require restoration but, if treated expertly,
will possess the credibility of age and will thwart any attempts to match them
with pastiche.

Caro, a conversion of the former palace of the Marquis of Caro in the historical
centre of Valencia, has retained, behind its nineteenth-century façade, remnants
of both delicate craft skills and much more rugged older structural stone walls.
The designers have accepted and restored these relics and for the new elements –
necessary not only to provide the basic amenities of a hotel but a level of luxury
appropriate to the building’s reinstated grandeur – have evolved a vocabulary of
materials and simple forms, which, though shared throughout the public areas
and the 26 bedrooms, allows thematic variations to be worked in each space.

The ground floor, in both bedrooms and public areas, features strategically
revealed lengths of stone wall with integrated brick and tile arches. Bedrooms on
the piano nobile sit beneath painted ceilings that are framed by intricately carved
cornices. On the upper floor, heavy, roughly wrought wooden beams, joists and
ceiling boards slope low over bed and bathroom areas. Sections of new, smooth
plastered walls that sit in front of the exposed stonework, and the cladding
panels of vertical timber boards that intermittently sit on or in front of the
existing smooth walls, define the dedicated areas for bed, bathrooms and sitting
areas within the overscaled original rooms. The smooth plaster is quite the
opposite of the rough stone but the colour and grain of the timber boards sits a
little closer to the tone and visual texture of the ceiling and cornice.
The painted ceilings on the piano nobile may be seen from the street.
Three salvaged sections of column make the backdrop for the bar counter.
Smooth and glossy new surfaces contrast with the bricks and tiles of the original structure.
Fragments of salvaged material add some texture to pristine new walls.
Ground-floor plan
1 Entrance
2 Lobby
3 Reception
4 Stair to upper floor
5 Lifts
6 Bar
7 Stairs down to restaurant
8 Office
9 Bedroom
9a Bedroom accessed from lower level
10 Terrace
11 Fragments of original stone wall
Fragments of existing wall perform as a decorative partition in the restaurant.
The colours of the original masonry sit between those of new elements – the white bathroom
furniture, carpet and timber-veneered woodwork.
Dark wooden panelling harmonizes with colours in the cornice.
A lighter wall colour and furniture sit better beneath lighter ceilings.
The bedhead is integrated into the vertically panelled partition.
Heavy, rough beams prompt lighter finishes on the upper floor.
CONSERVATORIUM, AMSTERDAM
LISSONI ASSOCIATI

The hotel occupies the shell and external spaces of a former music conservatory
in the city centre, near the fashionable shopping area and opposite the Stedelijk
Museum. The designers recognized the significance and quality of the existing
structure and were happy to accept strictures imposed by preservation
legislation.

The original building now contains 129 bedrooms, which range in area from 30
to 170 square metres (320 to 1,830 square feet). Due to the generous existing
floor-to-ceiling and window heights, almost half are organized as duplexes. The
width of rooms is determined by the existing windows, the location of brick
piers and truncated lengths of wall that belong to the building’s earlier
incarnation. The solidity of the brickwork offers good sound insulation, and
double skins of insulated partitions also contribute significantly to sound
reduction. Bed areas are on the upper level, with a shower room with basin and
WC arranged as a narrow strip that runs the width of the room. On the lower
level a second enclosure, with polished white stone walls, also contains a bath
and forms a buffer between the entrance door and the double-height slot in front
of the window.

The public spaces are accommodated in what was formerly a courtyard, grouped
within a steel and glass structure. The floor and new walls are lined with pale
green Italian Lithoverde stone. The space is subdivided by a low enclosure – an
indoor garden – with structural glass walls, the cellular construction of which
doubles as display shelving. The areas on either side of it are dominated by
black, metal-clad elements. Asymmetrically configured flights of stairs, with
solid black balustrades and soffits, cluster around the lifts, located opposite the
black reception desks. On the other side an irregular grid of heavy black beams
is suspended above the brasserie. Occasional bright green chairs interrupt the
otherwise somber colour palette. The black front of the bar counter sits in line
with the reception desks.

Much brighter, more intense colour is used in the basement, with its pool,
gymnasium and meditation and treatment rooms. Artificial light washes the
walls and is reflected in the water and mirrored, translucent and transparent
partitions.

Exterior; the entrance is on the right.

Reception desks stand opposite the entrance. The lounge area is defined by carpets.
1 Lower level entrance
2 Stair to mezzanine
3 Smoked American oak flooring
4 Carpet
5 Sofa
6 Desk
7 Pendant light
8 Television
9 Curtain
10 Secondary glazing
11 Clothes storage
12 WC
13 Vanity unit
14 Bath
15 Shower
16 Duct
17 Polished white stone wall
18 New sound-insulating partitions

1 Stair to lower level

2 Void
3 Glass balustrade
4 Curtain
5 Secondary glazing
6 Smoked American oak flooring
7 Carpet
8 Bed
9 Television
10 Table
11 Shower
12 Vanity unit
13 WC
14 Duct
15 New sound-insulating partitions

The sofa sits beneath the projecting mezzanine floor, in front of the polished stone wall to the
bathroom. The stair is behind the edge-lit wall rising through the void.
1 Existing floor structure
2 Existing load-bearing brickwork
3 New painted plaster ceiling
4 Existing sliding sash window
5 New secondary glazing
6 Curtain
7 Glass balustrade
8 Television
9 Bed
10 WC
11 New steel-framed mezzanine floor structure
12 Light
13 Desk
14 Sofa
15 Polished white stone wall
16 Vanity unit
17 Bath
18 Mirror
19 Corridor
The irregular suspended grid of lighting beams hangs over the brasserie, with a circular
chandelier above the round table. Green chairs add spots of bright colour.
The open-topped planted area is enclosed within glass walls braced laterally by glass ribs.
Horizontal cross bracing doubles as display shelving.
Lobby plan
1 New external glazed wall
2 Entrance lobby
3 Reception desks
4 Stair
5 Lifts
6 Lounge
7 Garden
8 Brasserie
9 Overhead grid
10 Bar counter
11 External terrace

Like other new elements in the lobby, the stairs are solidly black. The stone is Italian Lithoverde.
Transparent, translucent and mirrored partitions, concealed lighting and fire constitute the
materials palette in the meditation and treatment areas.

In the basement, concealed light sources wash the walls around the 18m (60ft) lap pool.
DANIEL, VIENNA
ATELIER HEISS

Although the official decision to list the aluminium-framed façade and original
stairway of this early sixties office block was made during the design phase of
the project, the architects were already committed to preserving both. A new
escape stair provides the necessary escape route and structural bracing.

The dimensions of the existing structural and cladding grids presented problems
in the planning of bedroom floors. The four window bays between columns were
too many, given the depth of the plan, to devote to one bedroom, and a plan two-
bays wide did not give the length necessary to accommodate a bed. The solution
was to crank every second dividing wall to provide rooms on both sides with
extra length at the bed location. On one side of each cranked partition the bed is
closer to the view; on the other it is the shower and washstand. Bedrooms on the
ends of the building can accommodate the bed without the crank since the
columns, which otherwise determine partition centres, sit in from the external
wall. The two bedrooms that surround the new stairwell, located within the full
width of a structural bay, each have an external wall of four window bays with a
centralized column that helps demarcate the bed space.

The recess formed for the bedhead in cranked walls is lined with walnut-
veneered plywood and this device is also used as a freestanding element against
straight walls. Otherwise the rooms are kept simple. Apart from the frameless
glass shower enclosure, they are reduced to essentials, which include a television
set but exclude wardrobes and mini-bars. The concrete soffit of the floor slab
above is left as found, with visible evidence of old partitions and fixings. Light
shades are familiar industrial fittings and cables, which carry power from within
the new partitions and hang from ceiling hooks with redundant lengths casually
gathered in tied loops.

The reductive aesthetic for the bedrooms is introduced at entrance level, where a
casual mix of reception, various sitting areas and a shop, all beneath a ceiling
festooned with services and lighting gantries, clearly signal and encourage a
rejection of familiar corporate formalities.
The recess in the cranked wall allows for circulation space at the foot of the bed. The walnut-
veneered plywood panel, the upholstered bedhead and trio of lights provide the only gestures
toward conventional hotel bedroom decoration.

Ground-floor plan
1 Entrance
2 Existing stair
3 Lifts
4 New stair
5 Reception
6 Shop
7 Servery
8 Lounge/café
9 Outdoor terrace

Bedroom-floor plan
1 Existing stair
2 Lifts
3 New stair
4 Bedroom type 1
5 Bedroom type 2
6 Bedroom type 3
7 Bedroom type 4
Façade elevation

The entrance features new oak flooring and a shuttered concrete ceiling. The reception desk is a
recycled shop-display unit and the shop to its left displays products on stacked wooden pallets
and miscellaneous found objects.
The ceiling is painted white above the sitting areas but the random deployment of pipes, the
exposed end of a truncated wall and a medley of furniture pieces reinforce the sense of the
reinterpretation.

Bedrooms on the end walls have windows on two sides. The free-standing walnut panel remains
but the shower now borrows natural light. Fabric hung from existing ceiling fixings provides a
seating option.
The glazed shower enclosure, raised to accommodate drainage, allows natural light to penetrate
the depth of the room. The basin is open to the room, with the WC in a separate cubicle.
Bedroom plans
1 Entrance
2 Bed
3 Basin
4 Shower
5 WC
6 Flatscreen television
7 Column
A free-standing walnut-veneered panel defines the bed position in rooms next to the new stairwell.
MINO, MIGLIARINO
ANTONIO RAVALLI ARCHITETTI

This hostel occupies part of an old hemp factory in northeast Italy. Its ground-
level reception is extended into a new black painted box. The greater area of the
first floor is occupied by seven tensile structures, which, appropriately for a
facility intended to house summer visitors to the natural phenomena of the Delta
Po River Park, offer accommodation that has more affinity with tents than
conventional hotel rooms. They transform the existing volume into an organic
landscape that provides visitors with a spectacular interior environment and
allows them to flirt with the idea of camping. WC and washing facilities are
appropriately communal but above them and accessed through the ‘tented’ area
are four conventional rooms, each for two or three people, with ensuite WC and
shower. These are tightly planned and tucked away at the rear but better able to
deal with the smaller numbers of winter visitors.

The windows, which are restricted to half the length of the north wall, prompted
the idea of a number of free-standing units that could share the limited access to
light and air they offered. While the communal washrooms and bedrooms are
ventilated conventionally through the rear wall and roof, the tented area is served
by a passive ventilation system created by the flow of air between the windows
and two new ventilating towers on the roof. The raised floor conceals service
distribution and auxiliary equipment.

The elliptical shape of the tents is established by a 6mm (1⁄4-inch)-diameter and

12,650mm (500-inch)-long steel tube that runs through a sleeve in their upper
edge and which is suspended from the existing roof structure by woven metal
cables. The base is fixed and tensioned by an elasticated cord, threaded through
eyelets in the stretched membrane and circular metal anchors screwed to the
raised timber floor. This provides a more even surface than the existing concrete
slab and a more secure fixing for the anchors. The open tops of the tents create
an updraft that draws fresh air from the windows through the gap between the
bottom edge of the fabric and the floor and up and through the enclosure. The
fabric is thin enough to allow natural light to enter the interior. The raised floor
provides an informal perimeter seating level.
A new black box marks the entrance.
Axonometric view of the first floor.
The first floor is dominated by the seven tensile tents, their top edges supported by cables from
the existing structure and their bottom edges tied back to the raised timber floor.

Section
1 Entrance.
2 Reception
3 Stair
4 Pods
5 WCs and washrooms
6 Conventional ensuite rooms

First-floor plan
1 Stair from reception
2 Lift from reception
3 Edge of raised floor
4 Steps
5 Tent
6 Column light
7 Bed
8 Storage
9 Ramp up from original floor level
10 Stair to bedrooms
11 Communal washing and WCs
12 Disabled washing and WCs
13 Store

Ground-floor plan
1 Entrance
2 Reception
3 Lift to first floor
4 Stair to first floor
Pod contents
1 Storage
2 Light
3 Bed
The sealed natural plywood block of the reception desk floats on its toe recess. The black-stained
plywood wall panels relate to the painted extension.
By day diffused light and images from the windows enlivens the tent interiors.
Internal lighting glows through the stretched fabric.
Pod structure
Stretch fabric fixing details
1 Woven metal cable
2 Clamped cable loop
3 Turnbuckle
4 6mm (1⁄4in)-diameter steel tube
5 250–300g (9–101⁄2oz) polyester fabric
6 Elasticated cord
7 Eyelet
8 Metal anchor
9 Larch flooring
10 Levelling jack
11 Existing floor slab

Spaces between the structures make a spectacular internal landscape, which is also shared with
the guests in the conventional rooms.

The door is a zipped flap.

Fixings for the rigid tube in the top edge of the fabric cylinder.
Looking toward the open top of the tent, with the ceiling tiles beyond. The light ‘wand’ on the left
illuminates the interior
NOBIS, STOCKHOLM
CLAESSON KOIVISTO RUNE

This project, designed primarily for business travellers, deliberately avoids both
the repetitive expression of corporate identity and the overblown gesture
asserting the bijou and the boutique. Its designers, who describe business travel
as an imposition rather than a pleasure, wanted the interiors to be particular but
not strident. This contemporary reinterpretation of the ambiance of a traditional
grand hotel eschews gilt, velvet and deep-piled carpets, offering in their place
subtly diverse and complementary details.

The existing shell – two buildings with two distinctive elevations on a major city
square – provided generous floor-to-ceiling heights and internal courtyards that
maximized the number of bedrooms on each of the upper floors. Few changes
were necessary to the fabric of the building, other than the removal of timber
floors, which were later additions, to reclaim the full height of the courtyards,
and the making of connections between the entrance, the lobby, the bar and the
lounge to ease the flow of visitors around the building.

The colour scheme and lighting are warm and subdued throughout, inspired by
the softer light of the Scandinavian winter; the palette is described as
‘Scandinavian Dark Blond’. They have created patterns, frequently derived from
their own technical drawings, that are primarily monochromatic and
undetectable from a distance. In all they produced 20 original textile, furniture
and lighting pieces, and another 70 that are variations on some of their earlier
pieces. In both bedrooms and communal spaces they aimed to make interiors
like those in a private home, assembled over time. They have selected from the
work of a range of designers and manufacturers to avoid any hint of corporate
branding. They rejected, however, the idea that all bedrooms should be distinctly
different. They argue that the regular business traveller has a well-defined set of
needs and preferences and that all rooms should meet these with a minimum of
fuss; minor variations in the artefacts that dress the bare functional bones are
enough to give a sense of the particularities of a home.
Entrance-level plan
1 Entrance
2 Stair and lift lobby
3 Lobby
4 Reception
5 Bistro
6 Lounge
7 Bar
8 South building: gym, sauna and business suites

Gold-tinted mirrors, salvaged from a German storeroom, clad the walls and ceiling in the bar and
link back to the entrance canopy and bistro.
Gold glass in the original entrance canopy presages the detail changes within.
A 6m (20ft) bespoke sofa in the lobby is upholstered in three different textures of the same
coloured leather; 25 variations of the spherical lampshades represent global designers and
manufacturers.
In the 24/7 Bistro the skeletal metal rods of the ‘chandelier’ radiate from an apparently
conventional pendant lampshade. The bar front and back wall are mirrored and the shelves are
tinted glass. The custom-made tables are zinc.
A backlit fabric ceiling compensates for lack of natural light in the basement restaurant. The
natural linen tablecloths complement its colour and texture.
The ceiling pattern in the lounge is a pixelation of a photograph of the sky, taken from within a
grove of trees.
In corridors, where a muted colour scheme makes a transition zone between public and private
spaces, the room numbers and signage are made of porcelain, manufactured in Portugal using a
custom-designed font.
An eclectic collection of furniture, light fittings and carpets create four distinctive areas within the
lounge. The crystal chandelier from the original interior was left in place throughout the work.
The relative darkness of the bedroom contrasts with the lighter sitting room, reflected in the mirror.
The trompe l’oeil carpet beneath the bed responds to the pattern of the parquet flooring.
In standard rooms, the lower half of the square bedhead is dark brown leather; the upper is
brown-tinted glass.
The bespoke lamp, inspired by pastry and made in four sizes, each with the same proportions,
incorporates colour filters.
Wardrobe doors were hand-crafted in Botswana using local Panga Panga wood, which is also
used for the meeting table in the business suite. The knobs on them are porcelain.
Carrera marble and glass are used throughout private bathrooms and public saunas, including
ceilings.
The traditional regular chequerboard pattern is rejected in marble floors.
QUALITY HOTEL EXPO, OSLO
HAPTIC

There is a financial symbiosis between a hotel’s bedroom provision and its

capacity to host conferences, which can either be minor components in income
streams or the operational bedrock that fills bedrooms. The latter strategy will
prompt variations in general operating principles; conference delegates will have
common interests and be keen to network. Public spaces should stimulate
interaction. Bedrooms should be egalitarianly unostentatious, reflecting serious
intent. The designers of Expo set out to make sense of an ill-defined set of
interconnecting spaces, aiming to provide places to accommodate the complete
delegate cohort, as well as others in which smaller groups and individuals could
congregate.

The Norwegian landscape inspired a palette of natural materials. The major set
pieces are the reception desk and the coffee bar, both characterized by their
monumental front elevations. The original intention was that they should be
made from solid oak logs but the humidity of the wood, the lack of suitably sized
drying ovens and the likelihood of warping prompted the substitution of hollow
composites, which had the advantage of reducing the weight of the ‘logs’
suspended from the ceiling. The ragged profile of the stacked logs perhaps
suggests Norway’s eroded coastline, while the suspended white translucent light
fittings, which share the dimensions and configuration of the logs, might suggest
drifting ice floes.

Four long communal tables occupy the middle of the lobby opposite the coffee
bar. A varied collection of chairs provides informal seating for 90 guests and a
line of floor-to-ceiling ‘tree trunks’ separates the lobby from two more formal
dining areas. Smaller social spaces hug the lobby’s perimeter walls, all defined
by structures that share a vocabulary of materials: solid oak framing at 600-mm
(24-inch) centres and plywood infill panels. A bar sits across from the reception
desk and is separated by a long, low gas-fuelled fire from an area described as a
‘library’ and intended for more sedate recreation. The space terminates with a
‘green’ wall of Norwegian flora, one of two that mark boundaries between social
areas and auditoria, meeting rooms and bedrooms. Bedrooms are pared down,
with bespoke furniture modestly and wittily detailed. Signage, created by BOB
Design, has a compatible elegant clarity.

The stacked ‘logs’ forming both the coffee bar counter on the left and the reception make the first
reference to the Norwegian landscape.
Recessed corner stacking and the fissured end pieces imply solidity for both the walls and
individual logs.
Light fittings float between the logs, and mimic their shape and configuration.

‘Log’ assembly. All edges are cut with a 45-degree mitre and glued.
1 35mm (13⁄8in) solid oak plank
2 5mm (1⁄5in) end grain oak veneer
3 30mm (11⁄8in) plywood
Communal tables sit under the rooflight and opposite the coffee counter. Assorted chairs embody
informality. The vertical timber strips behind, symbolizing forest, separate the restaurant area.
Oak posts, apparently supporting oak joists, separate the formal dining area from the open
kitchen beyond.
The oak-framed and panelled front of the Corian bar countertop and side panel conforms to the
600mm (24in) centreto-centre module that determines the dimensions of the built-in seating and
storage elements that line partition walls. The back bar structure demonstrates variations on the
theme.
The gas-fuelled fireplace occupies the centre of the library area.

Firewall section and elevation

1 Plasterboard
2 Original ceiling level
3 Glass support
4 Lowered ceiling at 3m (10ft)
5 Oak joist
6 Metal frame
7 Clear glass
8 Gas fire jets
9 Oak-veneered fire-retardant MDF plinth
10 Air intake

One of two ‘green’ walls borders the area outside a bank of meeting rooms.
The clear glass of graphic symbols on translucent doors gives glimpses into meeting rooms.
The angled cantilever of the oak-veneered bedside table gives it some of the visual independence
of the stacked logs of the reception desk and coffee bar counter.
Signage is elegantly spare.
‘Forest’ wall
‘Forest’ wall detail plan
1 34mm (13⁄8in) solid oak cladding
2 Glass
3 300mm (12in) gap
4 Variable dimensions
5 75 x 75mm (3 x 3in) softwood framing
TOWN HALL, LONDON
RARE

This former local-government building, completed in 1910, was, until its closure
in 1993, the victim of a succession of expedient and unsympathetic
modifications. Despite its degeneration, both its exterior and interior were given
mandatory preservation orders and, while its conversion to a hotel involved the
addition of a new wing and top floor, these were conceived as an abstract
backdrop for the original structure, with the new perforated cladding contrasting
with the solidity of the original neoclassical stonework. The pattern for the
exterior skin – inspired by an art deco feature from the original council chamber
– is also used extensively in many of the new elements created for the interior.
Art deco provided a particularly apt source from which to evolve a means of
reconciling the stripped geometry of the new and the visual extravagance of the
original.

Preservation of the existing structure and decorative details means that each of
the 98 bedrooms retains its own dimensions, planning idiosyncrasies and
decorative features. The designers responded by creating bespoke installations,
which they call ‘spatial furniture’, for each room. These are complex, multi-
functional, free-standing objects and, while they incorporate all the practical
necessities of any luxury hotel room, they also enhance the status of preserved
elements, which are given distinction by juxtaposition with the new. Original
materials and decorative elements were resuscitated by specialist restorers.

Each piece of ‘spatial furniture’ shares a generic configuration and a detailing

vocabulary but its final manifestation is fine-tuned in response to the
particularities of the room in which it sits. Each individual solution incorporates
provision for sleeping, washing and storage. Some add a small kitchen. All are
visually distinct from the fabric of the original room, raised on a plinth that
accommodates the circulation of plumbing and mechanical services, minimizing
interference with the existing fabric. Each conforms to a simple geometric
aesthetic realized in an extensive palette of materials, which includes marble,
glass, oak, Corian, CNC-milled MDF and specially commissioned light fittings.
Unoccupied floor space, furnished more conventionally with sofas, chairs and
tables, caters for social activities.

A typical piece of ‘spatial furniture’: the hard white components of a good hotel bedroom are set
on a wooden skirting with stainless steel grille that allows them to ‘float’ visually above the original
floor. Curtains are drawn back into the space between the new structure and the original external
wall.
A pattern based on an art deco motif in the original council chamber.

Elevation of spatial furniture in the Edwardian Suite.

1 Lacquered finish on all exposed face panels, including top, on 20mm (3⁄4in) engineered wood
carcass
2 Safety glass screen to bed area capped with 25mm (1in) stainless steel angle
3 White Corian flooring to stairs and platform area
4 18mm (3⁄4in) Corian benchtop
5 Safety glass screen secured to raised floor structure with clamp fixings through steel channel
6 Drawers within void beneath raised floor, finished with lacquered timber
7 Bath inset into raised floor
8 Stainless steel support angle to base of glass panel fixed to raised floor structure
9 Slotted stainless steel air conditioning grille set in timber skirting

The Edwardian Suite: the footprint of the ‘spatial furniture’ piece is defined by the space between
two existing heavy wooden doors. The kitchen, which is accessed at the original floor level, is
serviced from the void under the plinth.
A view of the same suite from the kitchen, looking toward the raised bed area.
The De Montfort Suite: the ‘spatial furniture’ expands upward to fill the space available. The multi-
level installation remains visually separate from the protected and preserved original building
fabric.
The Edwardian Suite: the white ‘spatial furniture’ is the polar opposite of the wooden doors and
fireplace. The white painted plaster mouldings and door surrounds make a link between the two.
In the De Montfort Suite, a variation on the pattern derived from the original in the council
chamber provides modesty screening and has some of the detailed intensity of the existing
plaster mouldings.
An internal view of the laser-cut aluminium skin to the new extension.
In the De Montfort Suite, the uppermost level brings guests close to the mouldings of the barrel-
vaulted ceiling.
BUND, SHANGHAI
NERI & HU

This 19-bedroom hotel occupies, and adds to, the three storeys of a 1930s
concrete shell on the South Bund, by the Huangpu River. Once the headquarters
of the Japanese army of occupation, the carefully preserved dilapidation of its
façades preserves memories of that unhappy interlude while also offering a
dramatic contrast to the gleaming modern towers on the opposite bank of the
river.

The precision of self-rusting Cor-Ten steel – intended as an acknowledgement of

the area’s industrial past – clads the new fourth floor and clearly identifies it as
an addition. The internal courtyard, excavated from the core of the original
building, is treated as a new element and its walls are plastered smooth and
painted white. Those windows that do not require privacy screening are set flush
and frameless with the surface of the wall. Others have the protection of stained
timber shutters that make some connection to the worn original façades. The
project represents a determined step away from the appetite for the flamboyantly
new that has characterized the architecture of the new China.

The distinction between old and new elements is deployed with equal rigour in
the interior. In the entrance lobby, the reception desk’s precision is matched by
that of the new door and windows cut into the stained and pockmarked surfaces
of the original walls, and by the white painted balustrade of the bridge above the
door. Pools of light and red timbers, recalling the rusted steel of the exterior,
strategically relieve the prevailing greyness. The brick floor of the restaurant
matches that of the courtyard and the continuation is clearly visible through the
frameless windows. Enough existing structure and fabric is visible to make and
elaborate the link to the original building.

Within the bedrooms on the lower floors, areas of existing materials are exposed
but the rooms – partly because they have the greatest concentration of new
elements – are the epitome of international domestic minimalism, with hard and
hard-edged surfaces and dramatic installations of frameless glass screens.
Polished concrete walls link to the old as they do on the entirely new upper floor.
The rusted steel of the rooftop addition empathizes with the dilapidated concrete of the original
façade.
The smooth crafted precision of the new sits alongside the expedient practicalities of the original
fabric.
Internally, the simple precision of form and detail that characterizes new elements complements
the stripped-back decay of the original concrete shell.
Within the perfection of the internal courtyard, only the rough timber shutters have an affinity with
the original building fabric.
Internally meticulous window reveals make a bridge between the rough original brickwork and the
perfect white planes of the courtyard and steel-clad roof addition.
On the upper floor a tinted glass screen marks the edge of the sunken bath and shower and
aligns with the edge of the raised ceiling area in front of the stretched window.

The bath and shower, drained through a slatted wooden floor, are contained within a tinted glass
box that separates the bed space from the dressing area.

The tabletops make a textural link between the brick floor and the smooth timber ceiling. The
curvilinear forms of the chairs have something of the courtyard’s perfection. The red tags on them
project like the shutters.
Entrance-level plan
1 Public entrance
2 Lobby
3 Reception desk
4 Chandelier
5 Lifts
6 Lounge
7 Courtyard
8 Corridor
9 Restaurant
10 Private dining room
11 Kitchen
12 Store
13 WCs
CONTACT DETAILS
Antonio Ravalli Architetti
Via del Gorgo 79
44124 Ferrara
Italy
T/F: +39 0532 61641
E: info@antonioravalli.it
MiNO

Atelier Heiss Architects

Atelier Heiss ZT GmbH
Schleifmuhlgasse 1a/14
1040 Wien
Austria
T: +43 1 585 38 55-0
E: office@atelier-heiss.at
www.atelier-heiss.at
Hotel Daniel

Blacksheep
13-19 Vine Hill
London EC1R 5DW
UK
T: 0207 713 7413
E: lambert@blacksheep.uk.com
www.blacksheep.uk.com
Novotel, Puro

Claesson Koivisto Rune

Östgötagatan 50
11664 Stockholm
Sweden
www.ckr.se
Nobis

Concrete
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 78a
1012 DR Amsterdam
The Netherlands
T: +31 (0)20 5200200
E: info@concreteamsterdam.nl
www.concreteamsterdam.nl
W and citizenM
Francesc Rifé Studio
C/Escoles Pies 25
08017 Barcelona
Spain
T: +34 93 414 12 88
F: +34 93 241 28 14
www.rife-design.com
Caro and Sana

Graven Images
175 Albion Street
Glasgow G1 1 RU
UK
T: +44 141 552 6626
E: wn@graven.co.uk (William A. Nolan Design Director)
www.graven.co.uk
Hotel Missoni and Radisson Blu Aqua

Haptic Architects
UK office
77 White Lion Street
London N1 9PF
T:+44 207 0992933
E: studio@hapticarchitects.co.uk
www.hapticarchitects.co.uk

Norway office
Sorkedalsveien 6
Boks 7057
Majorstuen
0306 Oslo
T: +47 2293 0900
E: studio@hapticarchitects.co.uk
www.hapticarchitects.co.uk
Quality Hotel Expo

Ilmiodesign
Michele Corbani, Andrea Spada
Madrid: Calle Sanchez Barcaiztegui
34 28007
Pamplona: Calle Sanguesa
4–4D –31003
Milano: Via Sant’Abbondio 2A
20142
T: +39 948 290 674
E: studio@ilmiodesign.com
www.ilmiodesign.com
Portago Urban
Jestico + Whiles
1 Cobourg Street
London NW1 2HP
UK
T: +44 207 3800382
www.jestico
Andel’s

Kengo Kuma & Associates

2-24-8 By-Cube 2F Minamiaoyama
Minato-ku
Tokyo 107-0062
Japan
T: +81 3 3401 7721
F: +81 3 3401 7728
E: kuma@ba2.so-net.ne.jp
www.kkaa.co.jp
The Opposite House

King Roselli Architetti

Largo dei Ginnasi 2
00186 Rome
Italy
T: +39 06 88812163
F: +39 06 69301742
E: mail@roselliking.com
www.kingroselli.com
Sheraton Malpensa

KLab Architecture
2 Achalou str.
Kolonaki
106-75 Athens
Greece
T: +30-210 3211139
F: +30-210 321155
E: info@klab.gr
Cocoon Suites

Lagranja Design
Pamplona 96-104
Local 12
08018 Barcelona
Spain
www.lagranjadesign.com
Madera

Lissoni Associati
Via Gioto 9
20121 Milan
Italy
T: +39 02 6571942
M: +39 3355437154
F: +39 02 6571918
E: press@lissoniassociati.it
www.lissoniassociati.com
Conservatorium

Luis Rebelo de Andrade

Architectural & Design Studio
Av. Joao Crisostomo 18 - 1º Esq
1000 - 149 Lisboa
Portugal
T: +351 914 391 122
+351 213 562 286
E: info@rebelodeandrade.com
www.rebelodeandrade.com
www.facebook.com/rebelodeandrade
Eco-Resort Pedras Salgadas

LWD Design
Kilquhanity
Castle Douglas
Dumfries and Galloway
DG7 3DB, UK
T: +44 1556 650140
M: +44 7769 687035
E: sam@lwddesign.co.uk
Broch Loch

Marcel Wanders Studio

Westerstraat 187
1015 MA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
T: +31 (0)20 422 13 39
F: +31 (0)20 68 150 56
E: joy@marcelwanders.com
E press: pr@marcelwanders.com
Kameha Grand

Matali Crasset Productions

26 Rue du Buisson
Saint Louis, 75010 Paris
France
T: +33 1 42 40 99 89
E: matali.crasset@wanadoo.fr
www.matali crasset.com
Dar Hi and Hi Matic

Ministry of Design
20 Cross Street
03-01 China Court
Singapore 048422
T: +656222 5780
F: +65 6222 5781
E: studio@modonline.com
www.modonline.com
The Club

Neri & Hu Design and Research Office

88 Yu Qing Road
Shanghai, China 200030
T: +86 21 6082 3777
F: +86 21 6082 3778
E: info@nhdro.com
www.nhdro.com
The Waterhouse at South Bund

Pedra Líquida
Rua Alvares Cabral 44
4050 040 Porto, Portugal
T: +351 22 201 11 77
E: info@pedraliquida.com
www.pedraliquida.com
Casa do Conto

RARE Architecture
Studio 110
10 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3BQ
UK
E: contact@r-are.net
www.r-are.net
Town Hall

Redgen Mathieson Pty Ltd

102/16-28 Foster Street
Surrey Hills
NSW 2010
Australia
www.redgenmathieson.com
Burbury

Rockwell Group
5 Union Square West
8th Floor
New York NY 10003
USA
T: +1 212 463 0334
www.rockwellgroup.com
Yotel

RPW Design
124 Aldersgate Street
London EC1A 4JQ
UK
www.rpwdesign.co.uk
Okura

Softroom Ltd
341 Oxford Street
London W1C 2JE
UK
T: +44 (0)20 7408 0864
www.softroom.com
Yotel

Stephen Williams Associates

Admiralitätstrasse 71
20459
Hamburg, Germany
T: +49 40 87933400
www.stephenwilliams.com
25 Hours Hafencity Hamburg

Studio Makkink & Bey BV

P.O. Box 909
3000 AX Rotterdam
The Netherlands
www.studiomakkinkbey.nl
Balancing Barn Suffolk

Upsetters Architects
5A 3-2-11 Nishiazabu
Minatoku
Tokyo
Japan
106-0031
E: info@upsetters.jp
N.U.T.S.

Vrtiška Žák
Na Zderaze 3
120 00
Prague 2
Czech Republic
www.vrtiskazak.com
Moods

WG3
DI Matthias Gumhalter and DI Christian
Griesgasse 18
8020 Graz
Austria
T: +43 664 88 46 9671
E: studio@wg3.at
www.wg3.at
www.hypercubus.at
Hypercubus
ABOUT THE CD
The attached CD can be read on both Windows and Macintosh computers. All the material on the
CD is copyright protected and is for private use only. The CD includes files for all of the drawings
included in the book where available. The drawings for each building are contained in a folder
labelled with the project name. They are supplied in two versions: the files with the suffix ‘.eps’ are
‘vector’ Illustrator EPS files but can be opened using other graphics programs such as Photoshop;
all the files with the suffix ‘.dwg’ are generic CAD format files and can be opened in a variety of
CAD programs.

Each image file is numbered according to its original location within the book and within a project,
reading from left to right and top to bottom of the page, followed by the scale. Hence,
‘01_01_200.eps’ would be the eps version of the first drawing of the first project in the book and
has a scale of 1:200.

The generic ‘.dwg’ file format does not support ‘solid fill’ utilized by many architectural CAD
programs. All the information is embedded within the file and can be reinstated within supporting
CAD programs. Select the polygon required and change the ‘Attributes’ to ‘Solid’, and the colour
information should be automatically retrieved. To reinstate the ‘Walls’; select all objects within the
‘Walls’ layer/class and amend their ‘Attributes’ to ‘Solid’.
CREDITS
Images are supplied courtesy of the architects and designers. In all cases every effort has been
made to credit the copyright holders, but should there be any omissions or errors the publisher will
be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgment in any subsequent editions of the book.

25 Hours HafenCity Hamburg

Building Architects: Böge Lindner Architects
Interior Architects: Stephen Williams Assoc.
Creative Team and Design direction: Stephen Williams Associates with Fabian Tank, Connie Kotte
and Markus Stoll
Illustrator: Jindrich Novotny
Photography: Stefan Lemke

Andel’s
Jestico + Whiles
Photography: Ales Jungmann
Client: Warimpex, UBX

Balancing Barn Suffolk

Studio Makkink & Bey BV
Images courtesy Studio Makkink & Bey BV and Living Architecture

Broch Loch
LWD Design
Photography: Ewan Adamson Photographic

Burbury
Redgen Mathieson Pty Ltd
Base Building Architect: Colin Stewart Architects
Photography: Romello Peirera

Caro
Furniture and lighting: Francesc Rifé Studio
Photography: Fernando Alda

Casa do Conto
Pedra Liquida
Coordination: Alexandra Grande, Joana Couceiro
Team: Alexandra Grande, Nuno Grande, Daniela Coutinho, Joana Couceiro, Jaoa Crisostomo,
Luis Sobral, Gerson Rei, Rui Balthazar, Ivo Lapa
Graphic Design: R2 Design
Consultants: AB Projectos, Gatengel, GET, Alfa Engenharia Client: Casa do Conto
Photography: FG+SG Architectural Photography

citizenM
Architects: Concrete
Project team: Rob Wagemans, Erikjan Vermeulen, Michael Woodford, Jurjen van Hulzen, Sander
Vredeveld, Marc Brummelhuis, Menno Baas
Graphic design: KesselsKramer, Amsterdam
Styling cabinets: Bricks, Amsterdam
Interior artwork: AVAF
Executive architect: Axis Architects
Structural engineer: Ramboll’s
Mechanical and Electrical engineer: Battle McCarthy
Technical lighting: MBLD
Room engineering; citizenM with Futureform
Structural engineering room module: Peter Dan Associates
Photography: Richard Powers

Coccoon Suites
KLab
Principal architect: Konstantinos Labrinopoulos
Client: Andronikos Hotel
Photographers: Nikos Vandoros and Akis Paraskevopoulos

Daniel
Atelier Heiss Architects
Photographer: Peter Burgstaller
Art: Erwin Wurm

Conservatorium
Architecture and interior design team: Piero Lissoni
Lissoni Associati coordination architects: Davide Cerini and David L. Quincoces with Fabrizia
Bazzana, Stefano Castelli, Chiara Rizzarda, Giovanni Giorgi, Michele Bertolini, Graph.x
Photography: Amit Geron

Dar Hi
Matali Crasset Productions
Light fitting and textiles produced by Palm
Lab. Available from Made In Design.

Eco-Resort Pedras Salgadas

Luis Rebelo de Andrade & Diogo Agular
Collaborators: Madalena Rebelo de Andrade, Raquel Jorge, Joao Jesus
Client: UNICER
Photography: FG + SG

Hi Matic
Matali Crasset Productions
Images courtesy of the architect

Quality Hotel Expo

Haptic Architects
Photographs by Trine Thorsen
Graphic Design by BOB Design

Kameha Grand
Design: Marcel Wanders Studio
Photography: Concept and art direction: Marcel Wanders

Madera
Lagranja Design
Client: Hip Shing Hong Group
Photography: Andrew J. Loiterton

Hotel Missoni
Interior Design: Graven Images
Conceptual Interior Design: Rosita Missoni
Initial Concept Interior design: Matteo Thun & Partners with Rosita Missoni
Symphony Complex architect: Dino Georgiou & Partners
Owner/Developer: KSCC Al-Tijaria, Commercial Real Estate CO.
Operating company: The Rezidor Hotel Group
Photography: copyright Missoni

MiNO
Antonio Ravalli Architetti
Antonio Ravalli, Simone Pelliconi, Valentina Milani, Lorenzo Masini, Guiseppe Crispino
Structure: Mezzadringegneria
Heating, ventilating, air conditioning: Studio Zambonini
Electrical GF Studio Associato
Client: Commune di Migliarino
Photography: Antonio Ravelli Architetti

Moods
Vrtiška Žák
Photography: Filip Slapal

Nobis
Claesson Koivisto Rune
Photography: Ate E:sson Lindman

Portago Urban
Ilmiodesign
Photography: Alfonso Acedo

Hypercubus
Studio WG3
Photography: Lupi Spuma photography, Karin Lernbeiß

Sheraton Malpensa
King Roselli Architetti
Partner in charge of architecture and interior design: Riccardo Roselli
Project architect, architecture: Arianna Nobile
Project architect, interior design of lobby spaces: Daniele Del Prete
Photography: Santi Caleca and King Roselli Architetti

Radisson Blu Aqua

Graven Images
Owner/Developer: Joint development between Carlson Rezidor and Magellan
Development Group Operating company: Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group
Interior Designers: Graven Images (public areas) LLdP Inc (guestrooms)
Architects: Studio Gang Architects (Aqua Tower) Loewenberg Architects LLC (Hotel)
Photography: copyright Carlson Rezidor

Novotel
Blacksheep
Photography: Gareth Gardner

N.U.T.S.
Upsetters Architects
Photography: Yusuke Wakabayashi

Okura
RPW Design
Designers: Jan Wilson and Matthew Seal
Client: Marcel Van Aelst
Client Representative: Harmen Dubbelaar
Architect and project manager: Patrick Diederiks

The Opposite House

Kengo Kuma & Associates
Photographs courtesy of The Opposite House, photographed by Michael Weber

Puro
Blacksheep
Photography: Gareth Gardner

The Club
Ministry of Design
Images courtesy of the architect

Sana
Francesc Rifé Studio
Photography: Fernando Alda

Town Hall
RARE Architecture
Photography: Edmund Sumner

W
Concrete Architects
Project team: Rob Wagemans, Jeroen Vester, Ulrike lehner, Erik van Dillen, Melanie Knuwer, Jari
van Lieshout, Sonja Wirl, Nina Schweitzer
Project architect: Jeroen vester
Building architect: Jestico + Whiles
Developer and contractor: McLeer & Rushe Group
Lighting consultant: Maurice Brill Lighting Design
Photography: Ewout Huibers

The Waterhouse at South Bund

Neri & Hu Design and Research Office
Project team: Lyndon Neri, Rosanna Hu, Debby Heapers, Cai Chun Yan, Markus Stoecklein, Jane
Wang
Structural consultants: China Jingye Engineering Technology Company
Mechanical Consultants: Far East Consulting Engineers Limited
Client: Cameron Holdings Hotel Management Limited
Photography: Pedro Pegenaute

Yotel
Rockwell Group in collaboration with Softroom
Photography: Nikolas Koenig

The authors would like to thank Francesca Adduci, Rachel Burns, Lorna Mangan, Usio Akio and
Zhang Yifan for their help in sourcing and translating material.