HOTEL REVIEW
A variety of designers – including German architects Axthelm-Rolvien, Spanish firm LVG Arquitectura and celebrated designer Patricia Urquiola – have been involved in the conversion of Berlin’s former Danish embassy to a luxury hotel.
Das Stue Berlin Words: Guy Dittrich Photography:
www.noshe.de H
otel interior design projects are often organised around a central idea that holds the whole concept together. Das
Stue, an 80-room hotel in resurgent western Berlin adjacent to the city’s world-renowned zoo, succeeds for the most part in overcoming the lack of such a single concept. Nevertheless the work of many different hands is evident in distinct areas of the hotel. Firstly, take the involvement of Potsdam- based architects Axthelm-Rolvien who were originally appointed to complete all the architectural work and the interior design. This included dealing with the complicated permissions required to renovate the curving arc of the historic element of the former Danish Embassy, designed by Emil Schaudt in 1938. Columns had to be strengthened to accept the additional load of two new floors of guestrooms. The repair of the damage to the travertine-clad staircase either side of the
entrance required careful matching. A notable success in the heritage battle was the insertion of a cut-through into the entrance hall wall to connect it with the grander staircase behind. More striking however is the cubic geometry of their modern insertion embraced by the curved arms of the old building. “It was our intention to contradict the old architecture, so our addition had to be strong,” explains partner Hanner Rolvien. Linked to the historic building by a single- floor extension housing the majority of the hotel’s public spaces, their sculptural trapezoidal tower includes a remarkable cantilevered section. The cantilever “preserved the view of the zoo from the historic building behind,” continues Rolvien, also allowing for the maximisation of the square metres permitted on the plot. Part of this new volume is occupied by the angular yet calming whiteness of a spa with three treatment rooms. A walkway across the small pool leads to
084 MARCH / APRIL 2013
WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM
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