The proposal for the Boutique Hotel is one that looks for maximising the use of the space and the features of the building such as the high ceilings and provide a luxurious contemporary warm feel for the rooms.

6 Luxury rooms are provided following the locations suggested by the client in the brief, which make complete sense. The rooms are arranged around the central corridor which is illuminated by the central skylight with a small reception and service toilet (and pre-room) located at the entrance.

In luxury hotel rooms the bathroom/wardrobe area is generally substantial and can take between 40 and 50% of the total area of the room. The bathroom must feel spacious or otherwise the sense of luxury is gone. This quality can be seen in our proposals where every bathroom is different as it has been adapted to the particular conditions and proportions of the room. The only exception is on rooms 3 and 4 which are identical (but symmetrical).

Every bathroom has a bath tub and a shower, which are always adjacent to each other. The standalone bath tube is the “show piece” and in most cases they can be accessed directly from the room by folding doors with textured glass. The degree of transparency of the textured glass can be defined also. This way the user has the choice of privacy with the doors closed or the opportunity to connect the bath tube space with the room as suggested in the reference images of the brief. Great for a bubble bath with a glass of champagne !.

All the rooms comply with all the requirements of the brief (please see the drawing with the numbers):

King size bed with side tables
Wardrobe (which can have doors or be open)
Minibar/Tea-Coffe/Safe incorporated into the wardrobe
Chair and Desk (or a round table in Room 1)
A single sofa bed on 3 rooms (rooms 1,3 and 4). All the other rooms just have an armchair.
Suitcase rest

We are also proposing for rooms 1,2,3,4 and 5 a niche that is always placed in front of the bed where a TV is placed with a console (long narrow table). This is an important feature in every hotel room and not just for entertainment. Nowadays users can use the tv to play the music on their phones or to preview pictures of their holidays using the TV screen. The niche with the tv be seen in the internal renders provided.

We have been careful on Room 2 and placed the storage and bathtub/shower in the space with limited height to make sure we comply with the regulations. Please see the dimensions plan where the red dotted rectangle is.

The reception space is placed in the location suggested, at the entrance, with the service bathroom and pre-room adjacent to it. There is space for a shelf in the pre-room which can be used by the administrative staff. The reception space only uses 17m2 and has space for a small sitting area.

We have kept the stair in its current location to access the small mezzanine. We believe the stair will have to be dismantled and rebuilt again. This is to be able to properly build the room wall adjacent to it. This wall has to be built with the right acoustic (and probably fire) requirements. All the walls separating room from room or room from corridor (including doors) have to be able to provide acoustic privacy. There is space for a service storage cupboard under the stair. On the mezzanine we are providing a large shelf for linen storage and a space for the technical room which can be adapted depending on the size of the equipment.

The design of the rooms and the placement of the walls provide the opportunity to incorporate arches in the design, using them to frame the various elements on the wall: The folding doors, the tv niche and the sliding door giving access to the bathtub Please see the interior images of room 4 we have provided where these features can be seen. The very high ceiling allows for tall, elegant proportions of the arches within the space. We are also proposing a cove with indirect lighting in the ceiling, which can also be seen in the renders.

Definition of materials and furniture is beyond the scope of the competition, but the images will give you a good idea how the subtle colours and materials could be implemented and how the room could be furnished.

We had great fun designing the rooms and we hope you like them. We’d be delighted to help you successfully conclude this interesting project.

Kind regards,

The architects.