GROW HOTEL || A Modern and Sustainable Stay Designed for Solo Business Travellers
How does one reimagine a business hotel tailored for weary business travellers?
Note Design Studio was tasked with this challenge for Grow Hotel, Stockholm’s new business hotel in the expansive Solna Strand area just northwest of central Stockholm. The interior is created by award-winning design office Note Design Studio, whereas the exterior is designed by Copenhagen-based 3XN Architects.
Modular panels transform the building from day to night.
TRANSFORMATIONAL ARCHITECTURE
Modular panels with angled elements transform throughout the day and year with depending on the mood of the sun and light. The irregular pattern cleverly hides the layout of the identical hotel floors, stacked on top of one another.
The site was redefined to make it more welcoming to bikes and pedestrians, weaving an existing neighbourhood together with a new park and shortcuts, along with a much-needed attractive public outdoor space.
The design concept was based on the hotel's focus on business travellers – hotel guests that, more often than not, travel alone.
NOROBATA | Nordic Take on Japanese Robatayaki
The lobby and restaurant serves as an inviting living room. Norobata is a brand-new restaurant concept created exclusively for Grow Hotel. It is a Nordic take on the Japanese cooking method robatayaki, where the ingredients are cooked in high temperatures over charcoal produced of Japanese white oak. A large outdoor terrace with charcoal grill opens in the Spring of 2019 in the courtyard. There will also be a vegetable garden with small-scale farming for the hotel's own use.
Part of the transparent entrance floor that makes Grow Hotel stand out, the first floor houses Norobata, along with the lobby, lounge and bar. Note Design Group’s response to this challenge was a tight layout void of clear boundaries between the various features, creating a dynamic living room setting where the long guest will feel like a natural participant in the vibrant social setting.
Inside the entrance, the red marble of the reception desk extends seamlessly into a cooking station where guests can cook together with the restaurant’s chefs. Behind it, the restaurant seating area continues into the open kitchen, where seats at the bar give grill nerds and guests eating alone opportunity to chat with the chefs. The Norobata restaurant is a Nordic charcoal grill with Japanese influences, created by David Berggren, founder of the Aveqia Group, which operates the restaurant. Head chef is Kasper Kananen, formerly at Miss Voon.
Norobata.
“We have wanted to design hotels for a long time. To us it’s interesting that there are many different environments that must work together. A hotel stay is like life in miniature – you hang out, eat, work and sleep”
Unique lighting fixtures add to the punchy, vibrant interiors of the Norobata restaurant.
USING COLOUR TO SET THE MOOD
Different parts of the hotel have been given different colour schemes based on their function. The communal areas of the entrance floor are characterized by warm, powerful colours, tactile natural materials and a lot of greenery. In the hotel rooms, a brighter and lighter colour scheme gives a more contemplative atmosphere.
Muted blush tones and navy create a contemporary look in the guest room corridors.
“We imagined the weary business traveler, on the road for 150 days a year, getting out of a taxi from Arlanda with his or her carry-on case on a rainy night in November. This hotel shouldn’t feel cool or luxurious, it should make the guest feel taken care of.”
THE ROOMS
Grow Hotel offers 176 well-planned rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows. 24 of them are long-stay, equipped with their own mini-kitchens. A number of these also have capacity wall beds for up to four guests.
The colour and furniture in the rooms showcase a more neutral colour palette, inviting guests to relax and unwind after a day of business meetings. Views overlook the cityscape and armchairs invite you to pull up a seat and stare off into the horizon to enjoy some time off.
A clean, minimal aesthetic is evident from the bed headboard to the storage options, along with the bedside lamp that is decidedly slim and modern.
Modern and minimal design.
Whereas business hotels are often stereotyped as being void of comfort and amenities, Grow Hotel offers a sophisticated dining experience as well as a spacious gym with sauna for guests to exercise and relax. The interiors are designed with a modern and intentionally minimal look and feel. The colour palettes and environments are tailored for when you want to enjoy personal, private time (in the rooms), and when you are looking for an injection of energy (from dining at the robatayaki bar).
It is time for business hotels to level up on their hospitality experience, and we are glad to see Grow Hotel take the lead in Stockholm.
