The Radisson Blu Hotel Marrakech has just officially opened its doors. Xavier Guerrand Hermes and the investment fund Actif Invest invited Atelier Pod to design the accommodation of their new Marrakech property operated by the Carlson Rezidor hotel chain.
The main design challenge was to create a contemporary and innovative aesthetic recalling the essence of the red city. The hotel is located in Gueliz, and is part of a mixed-use property including apartments and a shopping center called “Carre Eden”. The design team had a tailored approach of extending the urban dynamic of the city to provide a relaxing, atypical atmosphere.
Atelier Pod focused on the design layout before looking for the aesthetic DNA. The purpose was to repeal the separation between the bathroom and the bedroom, and make a typical object of the eastern Arab language: the mousharabieh screen, the design highlight of the room.
The sliding screen cuts a white monolithic bloc, creating an elegant separation between the bathroom and bedroom, showing on one side a vanity counter and on the other, a dressing table. The elegance is in the use of the mousharabieh, and the extension of its perspective behind a mirror which provides a visual connection between the bedroom and the bathroom. The dressing is the second master piece of the room, designed as a multifunctional carved monolithic bloc, used as bathroom storage with a corner minibar column.
The holistic design idea of the room is the harmonious blend between ethnic patterns and classical Arabian Geometrics. The distortion of patterns and their large glossy effect is what creates full and empty spaces incarnating the closet and contrasting the primitive ethnic patterns on the wallpaper.
The Deluxe room however, has a different orientation than the standard room. It has more width than length, which allows a position of the bed facing the view, whereas the desk is placed right behind the bed. The bathroom faces the view as well, making the entire space bathe in natural day light; the effect is enhanced as the deluxe bathroom is designed as a wet room, with the same mineral material covering the space. The rain shower cubicle is isolated into the bathroom space with a thick glass screen.
The Space and material blend characterizes a contemporary understanding of the importance of a functions balance and the interpretation of the Moroccan heritage, all harmoniously merged in one space and making it personal to Radisson Marrakech.
