A well-known architecture studio from England Foster&Partners has recently finished their project of wine-cellars Faustino in the city of Castilla y Leon, Spain. The city that is located about 159km north from Madrid, in the Ribere del Duero region, is one of the best wine regions in Spain. They started to work on the project in 2007, since then a long period of designing and constructing have been in progress. The final design reflects the natural topography of the parcel and energy-saving construction, as well as its visual appearance matching with surrounding nature. The entire concrete construction is covered by Corten. The triangle layout is obvious at first sight, it connects three long parts, while in each of them a different production process takes place: fermentation in steel barrels, mellow process in oak barrels and maturing in bottles. The form conforms to the function, which in this case means that the complex processes were rationalized and optimal conditions for the wine production have been created. The building has been designed to take advantage of the steep parcel and its gravity force that helps the raisins to move, to achieve maximal effectiveness and minimal amount of damages. The production capacity of Faustino Wine-cellars is up to 1 million bottles per year produced on a surface of 12 500 square meters.

Against this competitive backdrop, differentiation through design plays an important part in positioning these properties. A measured approach towards interior design is taken at the Hotel Louis in Munich and the boutique restaurant-with-rooms of Ketschauer Hof in the heart of the Riesling vineyards of south west Germany. Hild und K and Bost Berlin, respectively, have taken a curated tack in developing subtle stories of world travel and oenological analogies at these two hotels to give their designs a narrative thread.

At the other end of the spectrum, both Roomers in Frankfurt and the Kameha Grand Hotel in Bonn have taken bold but wildly differing routes. Interior designer Oana Rosen brings a feminine touch to the masculine interiors of Roomers where the bar and spa provide a very different focus from the city’s usual corporate hotels. In Bonn, the expressive talents of Marcel Wanders have been used in a newbuild property that is as dramatic in its vast interiors as it is bold with its sustainability programming. The appointment of Marcel Wanders at the Kameha Grand Hotel is the only non-German architectural and design appointment in the hotels we review. The result? A radical design for a hotel strongly orientated towards meetings business.

15 on orange-cape town.

The design hotel revolution was a long time coming to Cape Town, not from a local lack of interest in contemporary design, far from it, local mid-market and upscale hotel groups were simply allowed the liberty of a prolonged period of recalibration with global standards once apartheid came to a close. Occupying a total area of 20,000m2 in a verdant corner of the Gardens district, equidistant from Table Mountain and the Central Business District, the hotel’s original building was constructed by the Dutch Reform Church in 1897. To today’s outside observers evidence of this colonial history is scarce, although certain key elements of the original façade were indeed incorporated into the re-design.

dock house - cape town

Perched on a promontory overlooking Cape Town’s harbour and the adjacent Victoria & Alfred Waterfront shopping area, Dock House is a petite six-key offering with six-star pretensions.

Alila Villas Soori -Bali

SCDA Architects have created a sustainable resort on the rugged west coast of Bali for emerging Asian brand Alila Hotels & Resorts.

As some of Bali’s fabled beach towns start to resemble the wrong end of Ibiza in peak season, so developers have begun the search for virgin territory with the requisite infrastructure and cultural appeal.

When Singapore-based architect Chan Soo Khian bought a six-hectare plot on Bali’s rugged west coast five years ago, his intention was simply to build himself a private villa. Just an hour from the airport yet pleasantly isolated from the island’s booming tourist industry, this was ‘authentic’ Bali, where entire villages still dedicate themselves to cultivating rice, carving wood and sculpting stone rather than tourism.

Michelberger Hotel - Berlin

Designer Werner Aisslinger, working with stylists Anja Knauer and Sibylle Oellerich, has created rough-around-the-edges spaces with a funky, communal atmosphere in an East Berlin factory for first-time hotelier Tom Michelberger.

There’s an air of organised chaos as Sleeper arrives late at the Michelberger Hotel. A band are holding an impromptu rehearsal in the bar. Owner Tom Michelberger is checking guests in behind reception, glass of red wine in hand. The hotel’s resident dog is roaming around. Laptop bags, guitar cases, and backpacks are piled up in the lobby. The Big Lebowski is playing on a TV screen in the corner.

In many ways, the Michelberger Hotel reflects contemporary Berlin – a city which is, as the hotel team describe it, “raw, creative, rebellious and constantly recreating itself.”

Brooklands Hotel -Surrey

Carey Jones Architects and Trevillion Interiors have incorporated the automotive history of the world’s first purpose-built motorsport venue with design influences from the track’s heyday in Hilwood’s latest venture.

It’s rare that the historic surroundings of a newbuild hotel influence its design so significantly that they can be traced to its foundations – literally. But this is the case with the new Brooklands Hotel in Weybridge, Surrey, where the finishing strait of the legendary Brooklands racetrack is demarcated through the centre of the site. Running from the landscaped terrace through the lobby, the track provides the most obvious link to the past amongst a wealth of references to reveal a narrative more apparent as the journey continues.

From the outset, planning consent for the hotel endeavoured to retain the nature of the site – once host to the British Grand Prix – now home to Mercedes-Benz World test track, an aviation and motoring-themed museum, and a range of major corporate offices.

Rfayel on the left bank - london

Property developer Iqbal Latif and architectural designers Latis collaborate with Philips on an environmentally conscious five-star hotel to create what they hope will become a blueprint for the future.

At a time when being ‘green’ is high on the agenda of the design world, labelling yourself “London’s first eco-luxury hotel” is bound to attract some attention. It is a rather bold claim, after all. But this is no marketing ploy, as Iqbal Latif, the mastermind behind Rafayel on the Left Bank is keen to show.

On a tour of the recently-opened property, located on the south bank of the Thames, Latif explained the concept of the hotel and some of the practices he has employed in order to achieve this eco-luxury model. His ultimate aim is to slash the average hotel guest’s carbon footprint of 70kg per night, to just 17kg. All the while providing the five-star luxury guests have come to expect. “The guest really wants to be energy conscious,” says Latif. “But when it comes down to any compromise, that’s a very tall order.”

Ten Manchester Street- London

The Frederick Gibberd Partnership have completed a new boutique hotel using a wealth of Christopher Guy furnishings for Bespoke Hotels’ latest property.

The past couple of years have seen Marylebone emerge as one of London’s more fashionable neighbourhoods. Its village-like feel and the relative lack of homogenised chains on its high street have encouraged a proliferation of boutique shops and art galleries. Its restaurant scene has thrived with the arrival of Galvin Bistro de Luxe, Providores and L’Autre Pied. As you’d expect, the neighbourhood’s hotel scene is beginning to catch up, with smaller boutique properties such as The Mandeville, and The Doyle Collection’s Marylebone Hotel opening up to complement historic grande dames The Landmark and The Langham. The latest hotel to join this growing enclave is Ten Manchester Street – the debut hotel launched by Arab Investments Ltd’s newly formed City & Country Hotels subsidiary, and operated by Bespoke Hotels.

Architects and interior designers The Frederick Gibberd Partnership have completed a refurbishment and extension of an existing hostel in central London to create a luxury hotel comprising 45 guestrooms over five floors, with the top floor becoming a VIP master suite.

Ames- Boston

Rockwell Group have collaborated with Morgans Hotel Group’s design team to create a blend of tradition and modernity in a 19th century building in the heart of downtown Boston.

Designed by Rockwell Group in collaboration with Morgans’ design team, Ames is a rich blend of historical ingenuity and innovative modernism.
The Romanesque structure which houses the hotel originally operated as the corporate headquarters for the Ames family’s agricultural tool company, a history that Rockwell Group and Morgans’ design team have adopted and interpreted through a modern lens. “I cannot imagine a better opportunity to design and restore our first hotel in Boston than working with Morgans Hotel Group on the transformation of the historic, 19th century Ames building into a hotel,” says David Rockwell, CEO and founder of Rockwell Group. “We really wanted our design to reflect a contrast of eras, where the historical context and Ames family history would merge with a modern framework to bring a fresh, new experience to the hospitality market in Boston.”

Boston’s status as a historical destination served as a key inspiration for the design team, who have preserved many of the building’s original features such as the grand staircase, vaulted mosaic ceiling and robust exterior.