Home / News / Architecture e Design /
Irreverent, smart, authentic and always with design that starts with a compelling story: the 25Hours Hotel chain makes its debut in Italy with a hotel of over 170 rooms in the heart of Florence.
The structure will open in the beginning of summer 2020, when it will reveal the bold interiors of Paola Navone and the architecture of GLA – Genius Loci Architecture.
The hotel occupies the area of the disused property of Monte di Pietà ( ex monastery San Paolino), about 10,750 sqm unused for over a decade. The GLA studio was entrusted to re-design the three existing buildings by integrating them into a single complex, a redevelopment project designed to mend the relationship with the surrounding urban environment.
One of the most interesting features of the project was the controlled demolition of over 4,500 m2 of decaying areas, a delicate intervention to be managed in a UNESCO heritage area such as the historical centre of Florence.
25hours hotel, in what we can define a sequel of the Bikini Hotel in Berlin, recovers and renovates one of the largest urban voids in the Tuscan capital.
HELL AND HEAVEN, THE 25HOURS HOTEL FLORENCE BY PAOLA NAVONE
Paola Navone, with her always different but unmistakable style, will give life to the project from the inside with a “fresh” version of the history. In her aesthetic storytelling, in fact, she will celebrate the peregrinations of the poet Dante Alighieri in his most famous opera, The Divine Comedy.
The ground floor will be accessible to everyone, customers and passers-by will be able to give in to the culinary temptations of I Golosi – an obvious reference to Dante’s circle – which, in its enogastronomic journey, will condemn anyone for eternity.
After having walked through the corridors of Purgatory instead, only the guests of the 25hours hotels in Florence will finally be able to open the doors of Paradise…or Hell!
LITERATURE, DESIGN AND NESITE FLOORS
With 25hours hotel Firenze we have once again overcome the barrier of common and bordering thought regarding the use of the raised floor.
We asked the arch. Niccolò Falleri of the GLA studio who, in the short interview that follows, explains the reason for the choice.
Hi Niccolò, have you used the raised floor in the past?
Yes, we have already used raised floors in numerous projects but, perhaps, this is the first time in such an important restoration.
For 25hours hotels Firenze opted for the Tetris Floor system, why?
The reasons were linked to the desire to maintain the existing vaults of the complex and therefore we needed to create a lightweight cavity where the hotel’s drains could be distributed without altering the heights and loads.
What type of finish did you choose and why?
The interior design had the need to use a particular resin as flooring for the rooms on this floor and, having already used it in the past, we proposed the Tetris system, which is one of the few products to guarantee the seal.
In which area of the hotel will the Tetris Floor be installed?
In the area called Piano Nobile of the oldest part of the complex.
In conclusion, what is the most important advantage of the raised system in your opinion?
Its reversibility.
Megiston