The Vudafieri-Saverino Partners architecture studio redesigns rooms and functions to define a new concept of urban hotel that becomes a reference point for travellers and an open, multifunctional space for the city. Concreta, interior contractor, among the protagonists of the Urban Hive Milano project. Concreta, an interior contractor specialising in the design, production and supply of customised furnishings for hospitality facilities, has designed Urban Hive Milano, a recently opened 4-star hotel designed as a cosmopolitan destination for an audience of international travellers, based on a project by the architectural studio Vudafieri-Saverino Partners.
A new home away from home. The contemporary evolution of the concept of hospitality changes the way of thinking and designing hotels. No longer stand-alone spaces, but hybrid, multifunctional environments in which to enjoy experiences. Comfortable places, where you feel at home, that contaminate themselves with the city and know how to respond to new needs: combining business and leisure, coworking areas and proposals for fitness and relaxation.
An expression of Milan’s dynamism and eclectic, functional design, Urban Hive offers all this. Located along the iconic Corso Garibaldi, in the district with the bohemian charm of Brera, a mix of art, fashion, flair and creativity, the new Born out of the restyling of the historic Carlyle Brera hotel, the redevelopment project – which involved the concept, common areas and 97 rooms and suites spread over 7 floors – was entrusted to the Vudafieri-Saverino Partners architecture studio, based in Milan and also in Shanghai for the past ten years. The realisation of the furnishings for the entire structure was commissioned to Concreta, a long-established collaboration between Concreta and the Vudafieri-Saverino Partners architecture studio. Tiziano Vudafieri and Claudio Saverino’s concept has created a place with an informal mood, full of colour and personality, in which the symbols of the past and the modern soul of Milan coexist. The choices for the interior design and soft decoration reinterpret the tradition of ‘Milanese-style’ design in a contemporary key, citing the elegant, timeless modernity of the works of the post-war masters, as well as the myths and symbols of the city, from the Madonnina to the Bar Basso.
Urban Hive has in fact been conceived to transform itself into a social hub, in a continuous exchange between guests and citizens thanks to the numerous services that are open to the public: from multifunctional coworking areas to meeting rooms, from cultural events to business lunches and aperitifs offered at the Portico84 Cafè&Bar, with tables also positioned under the Corso Garibaldi arcades.
Through its management staff, each within their own area of expertise, CONCRETA ensured the entire intervention process, from the initial briefing to the engineering of the products, up to the realisation and installation with the utmost flexibility and competence. Each piece of furniture was custom-made to the design of the Vudafieri-Saverino Partners studio.
Concreta was responsible for the realisation of the furnishings for the 97 rooms and suites. Particularly striking and of great conceptual depth was Vudafieri-Saverino Partners‘ work on the redesign of the hotel’s 97 rooms and suites with their sophisticated atmosphere. The careful study of colour resulted in the choice of three different palettes alternating on the room floors – terracotta pink, mint green and sky blue – and contrasting in the rooms with Prussian blue, Persia orange and Amber yellow curtains respectively. The furnishings were designed by the architects: from the beds to the wooden headboards with metal inserts, from the bedside tables to the bookcases and shelving. The references to the most iconic symbols of Milan, the geometric patchwork carpeting with vintage charm along the corridors, the dialogue between surfaces and coverings, reflect a tailor-made interior design choice reflecting a project that, also through the declinations of the design of the rooms, reflects the two souls of contemporary Milanese life: the world of business and that of creativity, of which the Brera district is the symbol par excellence.
Concreta’s intervention was also developed in the common areas. On the ground floor, the Vudafieri-Saverino Partners studio opted for comfortable coloured sofas on a light oak parquet floor, soft lighting, wooden bookcases, pop objects, graphics and illustrations make the environment warm and welcoming, creating an elegant and relaxed atmosphere. Intense and of great aesthetic impact is the tone of Peacock blue chosen for all the common areas, such as the lobby, transformed into a meeting point for guests and citizens: for a business appointment, a cocktail or a coffee at the bar, where the semi-circular counter in Canaletto walnut stands out, with a marble top and brass finishes, designed by the architects with geometric lozenge motifs that recall the chromatic nuance of the walls. The reception area is no longer the hub of the hall, but part of it, combining functions such as lounge bar and event space. While, to train body and mind, floor – 1 is dedicated to the fitness area.
One of the key concepts of Vudafieri-Saverino Partners ‘ intervention is the way the co-working spaces have been designed. The hotel has adopted a circular vision of the use of the common areas, in order to enhance the surface to give different uses throughout the day. The objective of Vudafieri-Saverino Partners was to create a lifestyle structure, integrated with the context, to define a new outlook in the heart of Milan that could offer experiences and in which, through architecture and design, travellers could feel part of a local community. Research, development, technology and customised service to the client have enabled CONCRETA to continue to guarantee quality realisation, respecting time and budget for total client satisfaction, the basis of the company’s mission. vudafierisaverino.it
