Simply harmonious
A design studio embraces the quirkiness of a boutique hotel that has a variety of room types and ties them all together with the use of natural materials.
PURO is a 22-room boutique hotel located in the heart of La Lonja, the historical centre of Palma, a resort city and capital of the Spanish island of Mallorca.
Because it had to adapt itself to existing historical buildings, the hotel has an irregular configuration. The refurbishment project by Spanish architectural studio Ohlab takes advantage of that complexity to generate unexpected and unique spaces, creating a hotel where each room is different – every single room has individualised and unique layouts and solutions.
The selection of natural and local materials emphasising a Mediterranean essence is very important. Another important focus has been the conception of the bathrooms as spaces for pleasure, spacious and integrated with the bedrooms, with generous, sculptural and freestanding bathtubs placed in the bedrooms as just another piece of furniture.
Spanish artist Pedro Oliver worked closely with Ohlab to produce a series of unique, custom-made mural paintings that are strategically placed in each room.
Puro defines itself as an urban oasis, cosmopolitan and contemporary but with local roots that make it unique. To draw that out in the design, a simple palette of natural materials is a constant throughout the space: oak wood, cement sinks and bathroom walls, and recovered mares stone walls (mares stone is a type of limestone used in traditional Majorcan architecture).
For the details, materials used include natural hemp ropes, stainless steel switches and fittings, aged leather, linen and cotton fabrics designed by Ohlab and produced on ancient Majorcan looms for upholstery, raffia carpets, and wicker baskets produced locally. Also, the solid wooden mandala doors, hallmark of the hotel since its origins, were recovered.
The majority of the furniture was designed by Ohlab for the hotel. Whether it is the beds, headboards or benches, they are all designed with pure and simple lines to create a relaxed and lounge atmosphere. Special mention must be made of a
series of aged bred bronze pieces inspired by the traditional metal carts that bellboys used in decades past for carrying luggage; these pieces replace the old cabinets, desks, mini bars and support furniture.
The new max maxi bar cart in this series works like a fragment of a real bar and holds all the tools required to make the best cocktails inside the room.
About Ohlab
Ohlab is an award-winning office devoted to urban analysis and cultural research of contemporary society
through design, architectural practice and urban strategy. The studio’s founders have been described by the prestigious Chicago Atheneum design museum as being among “Europe’s most important and emerging young architects of 2014”.
The office, directed by Paloma Hernaiz and Jaime Oliver, was originally established in Shanghai before it was moved to Madrid; currently, its main office in Palma de Mallorca has a team of 10 architects and interior designers working on projects in Spain as well as in the United States, in the cities of New York, Los Angeles and Miami.