Citadines, in contrast to regular hotel operators, offer serviced apartments for business and leisure travellers in cities across the world. The brand aims to ‘ensure ease of access’ into these overseas locations by creating a home-like atmosphere and spaces for travellers to call their own.
Recognising that Citadines prides itself on giving guests a more bespoke, less anonymous experience than a conventional hotel, we have now worked with the organisation on a series of projects across Europe, each time seeking to reflect something of the location, and the character of the existing building, in our design language.
Set in the Gloucester Road conservation area, Citadines Kensington has a boutique feel. Our refurbishment and remodelling of the property introduced a palette of materials that complement the South Kensington location, creating 92 studio and duplex apartments.
On the Champs-Élysées in Paris, for example, we worked within a 1907 Haussman building later converted to a hotel by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill. We designed the suites with a nod to the character of both the original building and the Bofill design, with bespoke lighting, rugs and joinery.
At the nearby Louvre, we worked with another remarkable early twentieth-century building with a beautiful outlook over a square and fountain. Here, many of the historic details were still intact, so we remodelled the 51 rooms to give the feel of a luxurious Parisian residence.
