August 16, 2018

Studio Modijefsky Discovers the Power of Three in Rotterdam’s CityHub Hotel

Rotterdam’s Witte de Withstraat is two neighborhoods in one: by day, it’s a bustling art district, while after dark it’s a neon-lit nightlife destination. The new CityHub does one better, combining the interiors of three Withstraat buildings into a single hotel, courtesy of the vision and hard work of Amsterdam’s Studio Modijefsky.

“The difference in levels, floor- and ceiling heights, and connecting [them all] without turning the hotel into a labyrinth was quite a design challenge,” says founder Esther Stam. One answer was separate color schemes for each building, with tones that gradually darkened from floor to floor as the natural light increases. Another is a custom linear chandelier that guides guests up the new staircase and along each hallway. And just as the hotel embraces a modern DIY ethos (guests check themselves in and can pour themselves a bar in reception) Stam and her team custom designed almost all its furnishings, including the sink, cabinets, and fittings in shared bathrooms decorated in tones of pink of blue that correspond to the buildings they’re in, not the gender of guests.

A double-height glass and steel storefront system creates street presence. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
A hangout area near reception includes vintage barstools reupholstered in Kvadrat fabric. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
Downstairs from reception, Normann Copenhagen chairs and poufs, and custom banquettes in covered in multiple shades of leather, offer a place to relax. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
Custom pendants are made of perforated sheet steel, powdercoated to a metallic sheen. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
Flooring includes multiple styles of terrazzo tiles. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
A custom, linear chandelier serves as a wayfinder as it curves around and up the new staircase. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
A hallway connected the hub and sanitary spaces was walls of galvanized steel and floors of Bolon PVC. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
The linear chandelier continues across the fourth floor, with perforated steel diffusers. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
In the middle building, each ceiling is yellow, with wall colors in different mixes of yellow and grey which grow darker on higher floors. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
The left building has a palette of pinks, with Bolon vinyl flooring. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
Ceilings in the left building are the same shade of pink, with walls in varying mixtures of pink and gray which grow darker as you ascend from floor to floor. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
Women’s bathrooms in the left building are covered in different shades of pink tiles, with custom fixtures. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
The men’s bathrooms in the right-hand building are done in an ombré of blues. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.
The women’s bathrooms in the right-hand building are also blue, following the overall palette of the building, not traditional gender color schemes. Photography by Maarten Willernstein.

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