The Student Hotel Transforms a Florentine Palazzo into a Kaleidoscopic Campus

2019-04-15 17:23

Great design is priceless, especially when it can be accessible to everyone. This was probably on the mind of Charlie MacGregor, the Scottish entrepreneur who had stayed in a fair number of basic, almost grim student hotels in his life, before he decided, in 2012, to found The Student Hotel (TSH). His Dutch-based hospitality start-up offers practicality in impeccable settings, perfectly mirroring Frank Lloyd Wright’s philosophy of Democratic Design: To offer everyone the opportunity to live and grow in nourishing environments. After nestling in popular student destinations like Barcelona or Amsterdam, the eleventh hotel/campus created by McGregor is set right in the heart of Florence’s historic center. Designed in collaboration with Bologna-based practice Rizoma Architetture, The Student Hotel Firenze Lavagnini opened in July 2018, the first of nine to be launched in Italy, with a total of 41 projects expected to open in several countries by 2021.

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

The Student Hotel is a hybrid hospitality concept, catering to students who can stay here for a maximum of two years, as well as tourists, professionals on the go, globetrotters, and neo-wanderers who are invited to stay from two nights to twelve months. Identifying itself as a creative hub, TSH also offers shared working spaces and extended social meeting points. “With the barriers between work and play progressively breaking down, a logical next step for our already hybrid accommodation model is properties that combine living with leisure and work facilities”, says MacGregor, whose aim is to form a Complete Connected Community for millennials, where communal existence, casual comfort, and forward looking design caters to this new generation of international citizens who have been raised on globalization, and for whom sharing is a societal state of mind.

学生酒店是一个混合的接待概念，为可以在这里逗留最多两年的学生以及游客、正在旅行的专业人员、环球旅行者和新流浪者提供服务，他们被邀请在这里住两个晚上到十二个月。作为一个创意中心，TSH还提供共享的工作空间和扩展的社交聚会点。麦格雷戈说：“随着工作和娱乐之间的障碍逐步消除，我们已经混合的住宿模式的下一步是将生活与休闲和工作设施结合起来的房产。”他的目标是为千禧一代建立一个完整的互联社区，在那里，公共存在、休闲舒适和前瞻性设计迎合了在全球化背景下成长起来的新一代国际公民，对谁来说，分享是一种社会心态。

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

Conveniently located in the heart of the Tuscan capital, the impressive 20,000 square metre campus occupies the historic Palazzo del Sonno, a.k.a. the “Sleepy Palace”, once the home of railway men. The TSH team, together with Rizoma Architecture have transformed this piece of Italian history into 390 contemporary rooms, more than half of which are dedicated to students that call the cradle of the renaissance their temporary home. Need a desk? It’s right here, in the 600 square metre area named Collab, a shared working space that TSH sees as a hotbed where ideas and professions meet. There are also classrooms, auditoriums, Ted Talk booths and a library, restaurants and cafés, recreational areas including a fully equipped gym, a hairdressers, and a bike shop. There’s even a sound studio to play and record music in. Why not join a Bed Talk? TSH’s trademark event hosts talks in a large bedroom, where speakers are invited to interact and maybe join forces. Literally topping everything off is the rooftop swimming pool which enjoys stunning views over Santa Maria del Fiore and the beautiful Tuscan hills.

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

Photo by Sal Marston.

照片作者：Sal Marston。

But, how do you gently transform a classic Italian palazzo into a modern creative hub? By preserving and illuminating the building's architectural heritage details like its original marble floors, dramatic staircases and frescoes, all the while infusing it with shots of contemporary design inspired by the Memphis movement and Architecture Radicale. At the entrance, the two arched passageways are highlighted by pink neon and long swings hanging from the ceiling, the internal courtyard is filled with modern art and supersized graffiti, and at the reception, the traditional material “terrazzo” is used as a countertop for the check-in stations. While the lounge areas are furnished with Danish style vintage finds, the rooms are equipped with custom furniture by Modus and the TSH design team. Cork dividers join metallic perforated partitions in the common spaces, while the use of corten steel and glass creates simple and organic modern touches. Exposed metallic air tubes, all sorts of grids and shelving installations and a plethora of bright green plants washed in natural, free-flowing light, create the homely feeling of community and comfort, where design is paired with convenience. The Z generation can easily feel right at home here, especially since hashtag-like mottos are everywhere, from the “Truly, Madly, Deeply” declaration at the front desk, the “Right here waiting for you” slogan over the beds, to “The beach is boring” on the rooftop swimming pool. But perhaps the slogan that best embodies TSH’s sensibility is “May the student in you live forever”, words to live by.

但是，你如何轻轻地将一座经典的意大利宫殿转变成一个现代的创意中心呢？通过保存和照亮建筑物的建筑遗产细节，比如原来的大理石地板、戏剧性的楼梯和壁画，同时注入了受孟菲斯运动和建筑激进思想启发的当代设计的镜头。在入口处，两个拱形通道的亮点是粉色霓虹灯和天花板上的长秋千，内部庭院充满了现代艺术和超大的涂鸦，在接待处，传统材料“水磨石”被用作登机站的台面。虽然休息区配备丹麦风格的古董发现，房间配备定制家具由Modus和TSH设计团队。科克隔板连接金属穿孔隔板在公共空间，而使用corten钢和玻璃创造简单和有机的现代触感。暴露的金属空气管，各种各样的栅格和架子装置，以及大量明亮的绿色植物在自然、自由流动的光线中洗涤，创造了社区和舒适的家庭感觉，在这里，设计与方便结合在一起。Z代人在这里很容易就能感觉到宾至如归，尤其是在到处都是像标签一样的格言，从前台的“真正的，疯狂的，深深的”宣言，床上的“就在这里等你”口号，到屋顶游泳池上的“海滩是无聊的”。但也许最能体现TSH情感的口号是“愿你的学生永垂不朽”，这句话是值得信赖的。