Small is Beautiful!

By Team IAnD

Photography: Courtesy the architect

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Drawing inspiration from the Rubik’s cube, renowned Italian architect and interior designer, Teresa Sapey explores the co-existence of functionality and design in developing Room Mate, a hotel in a 15 sq. m. container...

Given the fact that hospitality has been nurtured to give a guest more in terms of an emotional connect that goes much beyond mere comfort, Ar. Teresa Sapey’s design for Room Mate, a hotel in a container is an out-of-box (literally!) approach that completely turns the tables on the guest-hotel equation.

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Working on the principles of the Rubik’s cube, Teresa says that her design revolves around the fulcrum - a central axis in the form of a neutral space. Once inside it, the various integrated functions that dress-up the neutral space are found and established through the integration of easily removable modules that need to be configured accordingly: a reception, a master bedroom and dressing room, a dining room, a bathroom, a bar and, finally, a gym and a resting area.

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Accessed through an equally unconventional opening - a large panel of apples is set to unveil a hallway, which leads into the neutral space; this epic centre is aesthetically clad in warm wood tones that are offset by the varying modules that come in bright hues – symbolically colour coded: fluorine red of the gym is meant to provide energy and strength; dark blue tonalities in the bedroom seeks to convey a sense of tranquility, etc. etc.

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Consequently, the modules are assembled according to the customers’ needs, independently or collectively, and the mere 15 sq. m. space is easily able to accommodate multiple rooms – the configuration being tuned into the needs of the individual customers. “Such a space is endowed with soul and personality, surprise and colour; an “empathetic space” constantly connected and related to the host’s psyche and feelings”, Teresa concludes.

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Considered to be the smallest hotel in the world, Teresa will soon set to work on the next offering – another compact Room Mate in Rotterdam, complete with her signature love for colours, quirky graphics and pulsating joie de vivre!