Interior Design : Sarah Vollmer & Silke Lorenzen

When people think of caravans, they invariably conjure up childhood memories of cold, damp holidays with older relatives in rather non-glamorous destinations. Invariably in Britain.

But Silke Lorenzen and Sarah Vollmer have changed all that for ever with their unique and funky hotel Hüttenpalast in Berlin. It actually features accommodation options that include caravans and cabins, but indoors.

Hüttenpalast, or Huts at the Palace, is a small hotel in the Neukölln neighbourhood of south Berlin. It came about after the two owners could no longer fit all their friends into their living room, so went on the hunt for a space that would be perfect for entertaining, they say. After falling in love with a former vacuum-cleaner factory with an outdoor courtyard, they decided it would be perfect for transforming into a comfortable little hotel.

With a desire to maintain the architecture of the factory, Lorenzen and Vollmer decided that creating separate spaces for guest rooms would destroy the impressive expanse, and they wanted to use the 200sq m main area as a meeting space, not just a place for guests to collect a key from reception before disappearing into their rooms.

The room-in-room concept originally saw just wooden cabins in the design, but after considering that their hotel was supposed to be a place of constant change, what better option than huts on wheels – caravans?

All are designed and built by local artists, and they sit among indoor gardens with mismatched, vintage outdoor and indoor furniture, where guests are encouraged to socialise with fellow guests.

Each accommodation option is different, but all are modest and kitsch in design. One particular cabin, somewhat reminiscent of Dr Who’s Tardis, looks as though it has been styled using bits found in the Steptoe and Son’s yard.

Vintage lamps, sofas and tea trollies sit outside, while the inside is simply a bed and space to undress in and get ready for a night’s sleep. One caravan, made of stainless steel, again features just a bed, but this time bold lighting lines the headboard and reflects off the shiny ceiling, creating a soft glow throughout the ‘van’.

The inside of another caravan is lined with sanded lightwood blocks, slotted neatly together beside brown leaf-patterned curtains and pure white bed linen. The sunroof has been transformed using a cover, painted soft yellow, which features a selection of cut-out shapes.

For those less inclined to a spot of camping –indoors or out – the hotel has six real guest rooms with en-suite bathrooms and the original high-ceilinged, tall-windowed factory architecture, each as modest in design as the caravans and cabins, with white walls and bed linen, and little else in the way of decoration.

The cafe and courtyard at the Hüttenpalast are designed with sociability in mind. The courtyard is overgrown with greenery and houses plenty more mismatched furniture including deckchairs, benches and hammocks. In the cafe, darkwood chairs and tables with inset herb pots sit below stylish pendant lights, and the beige and white walls are covered with quirky artwork.

A large bar of backlit glass tiles and varnished wood bring a modern, stylized touch to this kitsch and unusual hotel.

Did the Hüttenpalast really start out as just a place for entertaining your friends?
Hüttenpalast was never supposed to be just a place for our friends. At the beginning our friends were there a lot to help us with all the work, and now they come for visits whenever they find the time. We always wanted to create a place where people from the neighbourhood and from all over the world can meet.

Where did the inspiration come from to have the caravans and cabins?
When we saw the architecture of the old factory hall, we fell in love with the high ceiling and the huge windows. We didn’t want to destroy this big space by building rooms into the hall. So we started to think about a room-in-room concept. Furthermore, we always wanted to design a place that invites people to meet easily.

This is your first hotel, so why did you decide to design it yourselves as opposed to bringing in an experienced designer?
Neither of us is experienced in the hotel business, but when we thought about what we could do in our neighbourhood, it felt like a hotel was really missing in Neukölln. Sarah, who is the creative heart of Hüttenpalast, studied fashion design and always knows exactly which way to go design-wise, so there was no need to look for someone more ‘experienced’.

How did you set about designing the interiors for these unique guest spaces?
We worked together with some great designers and creatives to get the cabins built and the caravans renovated and their interiors designed. Each caravan is designed differently. It was very important for us that each caravan/cabin has a big, comfortable bed, so we took everything out of the caravans that wasn’t needed and focused on creating specific details.

Are there any plans for more Huttenpalast hotels, and where would you put them if you could go anywhere in the world?
We just opened Hüttenpalast this year. I think it’s too early to be thinking abut openinganother. For now, we are happy we opened up and can share Berlin with our guests.

Where did you find the caravans and cabins that you now have in the Hüttenpalast? Do your guests have a preference for a cabin or a caravan? Which one would you choose to stay in?
We started looking for caravans in Berlin, but didn’t really find the models we were looking for. Then we expanded our search to include Leipzig, Coswig and Dresden where we discovered the three different caravan characters, which are now standing in the hall. Don’t ask me whether I prefer one of the cabins or caravans because I love all of them! They all have such different designs and different characters, so guests who come here choose very differently. I guess we have a fit for everyone.

The cafe plays a big part in the hotel and has become a separate business, with it being a meeting hub for non-residents. Was that always the plan, or has it just evolved that way?
It was always the idea to create a space not only for tourists, but also for the people from the neighborhood who fancy a good vegetarian lunch and homemade cakes. Opening the cafe was actually the first step we made before the hotel.

It was always the idea of letting the guests get in contact with locals and vice versa. I personally really hate these ‘breakfast rooms’ in hotels and mostly rush off to the nearest local cafe.

Interior design: Denizen Contracts; Carroll Design

The luxury Hotel Indigo with its Marco Pierre White restaurant has opened in the heart of Liverpool’s commercial district. This £15m, 151-bedroom hotel is just minutes from the city’s World Heritage Site.

The design of Hotel Indigo took the local area’s heritage as its theme, reflecting the city’s cotton trade history in the decor of its guest rooms and the use of artwork depicting its location, including images of St Nicholas Church, Edmund Street, the Cotton Exchange and the Liver Birds.    

With a design concept created by Denizen Contracts in conjunction with owner Intercontinental Hotels Group, and put in place in collaboration with Manchester-based interior design practice Carroll Design, Hotel Indigo set out with the design brief to make it welcoming, colourful, vibrant and with an intriguing story that reflects the local area.

This starts immediately, with the building’s facade faced by rainbow-coloured glazing. A pavement cafe leads indoors to the Cotton Lounge, where colourful sofas and cosy armchairs are mixed with tables and chairs on a white oak floor, and on into the lobby.

Here a bespoke reception desk created out of timber and fibreglass with a shiny gel coating is located. Behind the desk is commissioned wall graphic of multicoloured strands of cotton, a theme repeated in various guises throughout the hotel.

Lighting in the public areas is in the form eggshaped Gregg Media and Gregg Grande pendant lamps, designed in Italy by Roberto & Ludovica Palomba for Foscarini.

Beyond the lobby and down an open staircase is the bar and Pierre Marco White restaurant. The bar is discreetly screened from the dining area and features a counter topped with Corian. Its bright yellow glass front continues the hotel’s yellow colour and repeats the cotton-swirl theme.

The bright yellow colour palette is carried on into the restaurant, where the challenge was to integrate the sensitivities of a signature restaurant and the Indigo’s colourful personality. MPW stamps his authority on the space with huge black and white art portrait photographs taken by Dave Bentley, one of MPW’s main photographers, featured on the walls and on window blinds.
Dining chairs are upholstered in yellow faux leather, there are banquettes in brown leather, and in addition to the Gregg pendants overhead the space features Delight, a unique wall light draped
with (fire-retardant) cloth.

All guest rooms have been individually designed, yet retain the colourful, welcoming vibe already established in the public spaces with colour themes of teal, yellow, orange or blue. Black walnut flooring is used in these spaces, topped by bespoke rugs and custom-made furniture, and each has a feature wall behind the leather headboard filled with a cotton-theme graphic.

The cotton theme even makes it into the bathroom, carried on the glazed shower screen, and there is a vertical band of colour behind the freestanding basin. Lighting is hidden, except for a pendant light that can be pulled down over the vanity unit.

It’s cotton pickin’ everywhere!

Interior design: Yabu Pushelberg

Guests staying at the Viceroy Maldives Resort will not only marvel at the tropical scenery but also at the interiors. Awardwinning design company Yabu Pushelberg used its innovative talent to transform this resort into one of the most spacious in the Maldives.

The 61villas of this island resort follow the design by New York-based design firm Yabu Pushelberg to provide laid-back luxury to a design-savvy clientele. Carefully crafted interior spaces frame a moment in time to provide an environment of comfort and ease in which, it is promised, one can rejuvenate, rekindle, and reflect. 

Yabu Pushelberg’s design concept veers away from overly complex detailing and formal  furniture pieces while maintaining a high-level of luxury and excitement through the unexpected use of natural materials and textures. Each space evokes the nostalgia of a sailing ship cast ashore during a voyage in a desert island paradise. Throughout the resort, nautical references are made with rope, raw wood, leather and canvas, used as unexpected detailing in furniture pieces, sculptural divisions of space and textural wall coverings.

Naturally rustic materials – a signature of Yabu Pushelberg – allow the spaces to be sophisticated without being stuffy, casual without being careless. For this particular project, Yabu Pushelberg (it also has designed interiors for Viceroy Miami, Viceroy Snowmass, Colorado and Viceroy Anguilla, in the Caribbean) offers a twist on the proverbial beach resort by incorporating concepts of romance, intrigue and internal reflection into an abundance of experiential spaces. The story weaves its way throughout the interiors, from the open-air lobby and reception space to the overwater spa, yoga and fitness bungalows.

The intimately sized open-air resort offers beachfront villas and water villas, both decorated in the nautical motif with crisp white and blue fabrics. Viceroy Maldives offers some of the most spacious rooms on the islands, with the smallest villa measuring 120 sq m while the larger ones measure 280 sq m or more.

The rustic timber water-view villas sit over the turquoise water, a perfect location to watch the sunset from. Flickering candles in glass holders are dotted through each villa, making them one of more romantic settings in the resort. An outdoor lounge furnished with beach furniture offers space to mingle, as does an oceanside pool.

One unique feature is the ‘tree house’ Zanzibar Lounge, an intimate and whimsical Moroccaninspired setting with oversized furniture overlooking the ocean. Accessible by a swinging wooden bridge and covered by a thatched roof, the tree house offers unparallel views. Under the tree house is a courtyard perfect for relaxing in. Here low daybeds decorated in richly coloured fabrics sit among tropical plants, as do dark wood rustic sculptures and hookah pipes.

The pool area overlooks the ocean and contains a contemporary styled bar in dark wood, which contrasts the light wood of the lounge chairs and cabanas, while basket-like candle holders reference the surrounding natural environment.

Architecture and interior Design: Sebastian Sas

The open bathroom areas feature rounded marble sinks with Daniel Rubinetterie taps, which adhere to the simple style applied to the hotel’s interiors, and freestanding semi-sunken hot tubs sit in the corner of every suite next to black canvas or cow-hide print chairs, allowing the occupant to make the most of the views of the beautiful surroundings while drying themselves.

As a nod to the region’s rich history, elaborate, rustic-looking patinated walls decorated with lines of poetry by contemporary Latin American poets are a feature of the suites. Shades of white and pale grey are highlighted with theatrical lighting, including the acrylic base of the bed and hot tub. And amid the rustic simplicity, technology plays its part, with flat-screen TVs, iPod docks and free wireless internet access all offered as standard.

As well as the guest rooms, the spacious public areas of Be Playa also feature materials such as fairfaced concrete and marble, accentuated by simple lines to continue the simple style of the hotel.

On the roof, the softly lit ‘hang-out’ area features modern, white plastic chairs and sturdy looking tables in light wood and white marble, and day beds are positioned around the edge of the area.

Throughout the three-storey building and roof terrace a colour palette consisting of the same white and pale grey tones as seen in the guest rooms allows bold furniture to stand out, including stylish purple, plastic chairs. A much-talked about feature of the hotel is its infinity pool, with a vintage metal table and chairs positioned right at its centre.

The hotel’s stylish and simple sophistication in the public areas make it easy to see why the hotel has been described as ‘one of the classiest hangouts in town’, while its design makes it a natural member of Design Hotels.

Architecture and Interior Design: Aukett Fitzroy Robinson Architects
Guest room Interior Design: Christian Lundwall

It might seem somewhat incongruous to chose an airport hotel as a favourite, but the Radisson Blu at Stansted ticks the boxes on several fronts.

Not only is it VERY convenient for me in respect of those VERY inconvenient early morning flights out (it’s just a few minutes walk under cover to the airport terminal), but it has been designed to be so much more.

I didn’t expect that as an airport hotel it would have a personality, but it certainly does. There was sculpture in reception, the impossible-to-miss wine tower in the atrium, and unexpected features in the guest room, such as the opaque-glass wardrobe doors and the freestanding bedside lamps, allgenerous design gestures for what could be viewed as a captive audience.

So many airport hotels seem to adopt bare-minimum attitude, but that was not in evidence at all here. The check-in/check-out too was very personal and personable. Obviously a hotel with   rapid churn in guests, it nevertheless treated us like individuals, not part of a great mass of travellers.

Attention to detail was superb at all scales, from the mesh sculptures behind the reception, commissioned from artist David Begbie, to the vast and soaring atrium lobby, where all the public spaces (including three restaurants) are centred, to the individual check-in/check-out booths and to the design touches featured in the guest rooms.

The atrium is the location of bar and restaurant, but most noticeably of the unique Wine Tower, a 4,000 wine-bottle silo complete with ‘Angels’ (the hotel’s term, not mine) zipping up and down on theatre fly-wires, doing elegant somersaults and pirouettes as they go. They are no doubt accountable for several spilt drinks among openmouthed onlookers.

In my room, along with the other guest rooms designed by one of Sweden’s leading designers Christian Lundwall (who has created several guest-room concepts for The Rezidor Hotel Group, owner of the Radisson Blu brand) I was particularly taken with the rich warm deep red colour scheme, the contemporary furniture pieces, the rectangular, freestanding bedside lamps (not screwed down), and the wardrobe’s doors of opaque glass. Everything was more thoughtful, more than the basic requirements.

I liked that the check-in desk was divided into individual sections by low-rise privacy screens. I thought it might be a scrum checking out in the morning but it was smoothly efficient without anyone (ie me) getting in a state. I was almost sad to be leaving, but I was on my way to Croatia to see another design hotel.

Architecture: Grigoryev and Partners
Interior Design: Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel Partners

When Italian design company Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel Partners took on the task of designing a hotel in St Petersburg for W – a lifestyle brand with 41 hotels and retreats including 14 W-branded residences – it decided that there was no better inspiration for the hotel than what was all around.

The man behind the design concept, Antonio Citterio, spoke of being inspired by the architectural ancestry of the city and jewel tones of the famous Fabergé egg, first seen in 1885. ‘St Petersburg is a fantastic city, the dream of every architect and designer. Everything is monumental, the colours are amazing and the nature, light and panoramas are unique,’ Citterio states.

The facade of the 137-room hotel is created out of two types of stone – German Jura marble and limestone, and it sits neatly among the city’s many historic buildings, including the St Isaac Cathedral and the lavish Winter Palace.

Inside, an array of jewel tones inspired by the work of royal court favourite Fabergé are used to give the public spaces a feeling of aristocratic glamour, which sits well in a city that for centuries has been known for playing host to the social elite. Rich reds, luxurious golds and opulent greens fill the open space through plush and contemporary upholstered chairs, low, tall, semi-enclosed sofas and chaise longues, which are scattered with velvet and satin cushions, and sit among shining side tables of stainless steel.

Above the grand furniture are over-sized, jewelled pendant lights in shades of copper. Other lighting includes partly concealed strip lighting and floor lamps in beige and brown.

Focus is drawn to a seemingly floating sculpture of a school on fish, created by Italian artist Jacopo Foggini and made using melted acrylic. Here too is a modern fireplace with surrounding shelves covered with stylish trinkets, bold vases and imagination-fuelling books.

The MiXup bar is located on the eighth floor and offers impressive views of St Isaac’s Cathedral, which can be viewed through floor-to-ceiling windows. The dark wooden floor and black leather furniture complement the red walls and feature lighting, again by Jocopo Foggini, in melted acrylic. Glass panels decorated with a leaf pattern in gold are used to create smaller spaces in the room while adding some lightness to the otherwise darkly decorated room.

Guest rooms are more understated in their colour palette than the public areas, with a beige and soft gold being used, but jewel tones are nevertheless utilised, with magenta upholstered chaise longues and cushions as a standout features.

Patterned curtains and headboards, and bold lighting, which can be seen reflecting off the mirrored pelmet, create grandeur in an otherwise understated and neutral spaces.

You said you took inspiration for the design of W St Petersburg from the city itself. What specifically about the city inspired you?
Our project took inspiration from the local environment, its spirit and architecture.

You have said that ‘working in St Petersburg is the dream of every architect’. What sets it apart from other major cities for them?
St Petersburg is a fantastic city – the dream indeed. It has been newly built with a clear brief of the 18th-century idea of it being the capital of the largest country in the world. Everything is monumental, space is the concept, the colours are amazing, the nature, the light and panoramas are unique.

What is the most important thing to consider when you are designing a hotel?
Comfort is what everyone wishes to experience in a luxury hotel. Comfort is the basis of a correct project. There is no luxury without comfort. Comfort drives all our projects. Comfort is not only a physical sensation but also an atmosphere; this is what we always want to create, a perfect atmosphere for each moment of the day. Comfort means correct lighting, beautiful colours, proper proportions, a sensation of being in the right place, the desire of staying there.

What is your favourite thing about the hotel?
I love the natural light that grazes the building facade for many hours each day, especially the light in the morning and the evening. Grazing light enhances textures and details, revealing unexpected atmospheres.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not designing hotels?
I enjoy lecturing at the Accademia di Architettura dell’Universitá della Svizzera Italiana.

Interior Design: Russell Sage

The Zetter Townhouse is located just across the cobbles of St John’s Square from the original Zetter hotel in Clerkenwell, London. The 13-bedroom Georgian townhouse features sumptuous interiors by Russell Sage, whose previous work includes the design of The Goring Hotel and numerous Gordon Ramsay restaurants.

Owners Mark Sainsbury and Michael Benyan went to Sage with their vision of what the Zetter Townhouse should encapsulate – ‘A Zetter, 200 years ago’. They wanted a completely different look from The Zetter hotel across the road, but one that nevertheless shared its relaxed feel as well as its sense of quirky humour.

Each of The Zetter Townhouse’s two suites and 11 guest rooms is unique, featuring a variety of bold shades of heritage colours and eclectic antique furniture pieces. Sage continued the quintessentially English use of textile that The Zetter is known for, but this time used Gainsborough fabrics reworked exclusively for The Zetter Townhouse in contemporary shades.

One guest room uses a colour palette of, well, almost everything! Turquoise-blue walls, a red feature fireplace with yellow fireguard, antique upholstered seating in grey and purple, and cerise and gold. Old-fashioned sideboards, trinkets and lighting tie the eccentric decor together.

Another guest room has a soft, but understated English feel to it, with walls of mushroom grey and a varnished antique bed. A model ship and Victorian paintings of elephants grace the wall. Decadent bathrooms with walls of golden mosaic and black marble baths complete the sumptuous offer.

Sage’s exuberance is equally evident in the public areas. Stuffed full of oddities and curios, an informal sitting room is equally suited to afternoon tea and cakes as it is to a night of uproarious revelry. Featuring an open fire, the space would make a good set for a film centred around opium-smoking Victorian toffs – think Miss Havisham meets Jack the Ripper. Over a glass or 10 of absinth.

Polished oak, deep red wallpaper, velvet couches, sumptuous cushions and tasselled lampshades all add to the well-heeled charm. Plus – but probably not for animal lovers or the faint-hearted – some impressive examples of taxidermy can be seen on display throughout the public areas, while an apothecary-style counter takes the place of a modern bar in the cocktail lounge.

A trip to the basement games room will soon bring guests back to the 21st century though. Here a 3D television, Wii console and a full-size table tennis table can be found.

The Zetter Townhouse is less like the sister of The Zetter hotel, and more like the eccentric old aunt whose unwritten house rule is ‘if there’s a surface, put something on it.’

Where did your inspiration for the design of The Zetter Townhouse come from?
We were hugely inspired by [owners] Michael and Mark, who were wonderfully brilliant and encouraging hosts with a great eye for humour and detail. We said early on that we needed to imagine The Zetter Townhouse as the eccentric long-lost aunt of The Zetter hotel. This led to exploring the work of cartoonists such as Gilray and Hogarth, and from there we started to imagine the venue as a bonkers aunt who had to sell her big country estate and move with far too much furniture to a smaller venue, where she partied away her twilight years!

You were a fashion designer before you went into interior design. To what extent has your fashion background influenced your interiors?
I have a great love of textiles through my work as creative director of Royal Warrant holder Gainsborough Silk. This is coupled with a love of antique fabrics and archives. Interiors move as quickly as fashion now; it’s our job to make sure we don’t do things that are too fashionable, which date too quickly.

The guest rooms of The Zetter Townhouse are all unique, so completely different in character. Which would be your favourite room to stay in, and overall what is your favourite part of the hotel?
Favorite part of the hotel: the basement bathrooms, which use recycled marble, from things like specimen tables, for the floors. I also like the stairs because they’re covered in antique newspaper. We wanted to bring every corner to life with eccentricity, and it’s wonderful to be at The Zetter Townhouse sometimes and find someone reading the walls or floors!

Favorite bedroom: I love Room 1, with the four-poster bed. It has a slightly shaded natural light, which we used to our advantage to make it a wonderfully cosy, relaxing room. With red walls, silver-grey antique curtains and the four-poster drapes in raspberry, it’s kind of bonkers but it all adds up to something rather special.

Looking back, is there anything that you would have done differently?
It was a great project as there were quite a lot of major things to do to the building, such as strip it down to the slab. This allowed us plenty of time to think about everything. I can honestly say I wouldn’t change a thing!

With such dark public spaces, how did you use lighting to make the space seem welcoming?
The ground floor has fantastic daytime sunshine, which is lovely, but in the evening we use plenty of mixed sources of light, including low-level spots, lamps and candlelight to make the room calm and seductive.

If you had to sum up the interior design of The Zetter Townhouse in just one sentence, what would it be?
Passionately wonderfully crazily eccentric!

We’ve read that your favourite building is London is The Shard. How does your admiration for such a hard, ultra-contemporary building sit with your ‘very English’ style when it comes to interiors?
I believe all buildings in London have to make a contribution, and The Shard is incredibly
iconic and much loved, and they haven’t even finished building it yet. So often clients
think we are just about old-fashioned English style, when actually our love is for brave, characteristic buildings, old or new.

Stapleford House Hotel in Leicestershire, which you did in 2008, was a huge project. The Zetter Townhouse is very boutique, tiny in comparison. Does the scale of a project drive the approach you take to the interiors? Which do you prefer, grand or boutique?
Again, we love everything! I feel so fortunate to be contributing interiors to buildings that have a permanence. The scale for me is always fun as we believe every corner, right down to the inside of drawers and cupboards, need to have a five-star treatment.

If you could design a hotel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Always London! What an incredibly inspiring and amazing city. I’m so proud to add to the amazing histories of hotels such as The Goring and The Savoy. I couldn’t want for more!