Uma Suites is a boutique hotel in the heart of Barcelona. The aim of the project was to create a peaceful environment sheltered from the city’s clatter, a place that provides the comfort and luxury of a temporary home.
A hotel calls for a meditative quality, a space to reset body, soul, and mind. Our approach is an instinctive sort of minimalism. A reduction of clutter that does not eliminate the essential quality.
The treatment of the windows was inspired by the traditional Japanese Noren fabric dividers, The Noren curtain arose not only as a window covering but rather as an indicator of spatial transitions. This is understandable when one looks at the Japanese approach towards windows, for neither the opaque shoji screen nor the circular view framing window requires the shelter of a curtain. Thus Noren curtain arose to mark a doorway or a change of space. Where in a doorframe the fabric is often cut vertically, we have layered the fabric cuts on a horizontal plane. There is an elegance to the simple geometry that maintains a sense of humility. The subtle layering creates a translucent boundary, maintaining the privacy of the space without losing the connection to the city.
The simplicity of wood and textiles creates a warm atmosphere with an understated elegance. Leaving the visitor to be enveloped by the subtleties of light and shadow. A tactile experience washed with natural light.
