Es on the Esquiline: a new hotel is intended to help revitalize one of the seedier areas of central Rome

Architectural Review, The, Jan, 2004 by Mary Godwin

The Es Hotel in Rome is up on the Esquiline Hill across the street from the southern flank of the magnificent Termini station--a quarter from which tourists normally wish to flee as soon as possible, even when they arrive by train. Yet with the new hotel, and a plan for restoring the whole area to late nineteenth-century glory, the Esquiline has begun to look up.

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The project has two halves: the hotel and a massive car park. Originally (under another architect) the plan was to put the hotel on top of underground parking. But the discovery of Classical remains under a large part of the site put a stop to that. So the building was divided vertically instead of horizontally, with a multi-storey car park to the west end of the block and the hotel to the east. The ancient ruins are under the car park, which itself is formed as a bridge above ground to allow public access, and to prevent destruction of the Classical layer by modern foundations.

One of the planning rules for the block was that, despite its radically different functions, it should be unified visually. Hence perhaps the fact that the public areas of the hotel are in curved planes that emerge from the ancient level to enclose the conference hall and lobby: the device allows you to look down on the ruins from entrance level. Similar curves are used in the roof, enclosing restaurants, bar and fitness centre (all surrounded by terraces). So all the public spaces of the building are defined by curving ceilings and glass walls. At terrace level, these give magnificent views over the city and some of the surrounding countryside, for the Esquiline is one of the highest hills in the city. Individual hotel rooms, of which there is a great variety, are arranged along double-banked corridors round a tall, rather narrow central court which is virtually open at its east end to prevent claustrophobia, and to open views to a small local park and a long disused theatre, now in the course of restoration. So all bedrooms either look outwards over the railway or the city, or inwards to the court. Some ten types of room have been made, varying from standard ones with the bathroom in a glass cubicle dividing the overall space, to double rooms with the bath in the main space to allow guests to receive visitors informally. Each of the 235 rooms has a coloured light under its window to animate the elevation and to provide a sense of individuality. Materials range from mahogany to wool and linen rugs, with foam-backed pvc somewhere in-between. Furniture is specially made in grp with slightly rubbery metallic paint. The architects were allowed to make a true Gesamtkunstwerk, so they designed everything down to light switches and lavatory brushes.

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Similar thoughtfully based playfulness informs the public spaces. A chief aim was to make each space distinctive. What at first may appear wilful (for instance the curved ceiling of the conference hall) often has practical purpose (in the hall, what the architects call the 'clouds' contain all the acoustic, ventilation and projection kit). On the top floor, the floor peels upwards to form counters, and restaurant storage walls peel away to become flexible partitions. The architects certainly had a lot of fun.

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