The World of Hospitality Issue 18 2016 | Page 6

6 the World Of Hospitality Atelier Pod Atelier Pod designed the guest rooms of the new Radisson Blu in Marrakech The Radisson Blu Hotel Marrakech has just officially opened its doors. Xavier Guerrand Hermes and the investment fund Actif Invest invited Atelier Pod to design the accommodation of their new Marrakech property operated by the Carlson Rezidor hotel chain. The main design challenge was to create a contemporary and innovative aesthetic recalling the essence of the red city. The hotel is located in Gueliz, and is part of a mixed-use property including apartments and a shopping center called “Carre Eden”. The design team had a tailored approach of extending the urban dynamic of the city to provide a relaxing, atypical atmosphere. Atelier Pod focused on the design layout before looking for the aesthetic DNA. The purpose was to repeal the separation between the bathroom and the bedroom, and make a typical object of the eastern Arab language: the mousharabieh screen, the design highlight of the room. The sliding screen cuts a white monolithic bloc, creating an elegant separation between the bathroom and bedroom, showing on one side a vanity counter and on the other, a dressing table. The elegance is in the use of the mousharabieh, and the extension of its perspective behind a mirror which provides a visual connection between the bedroom and the bathroom. The dressing is the second master piece of the room, designed as a multifunctional carved monolithic bloc, used as bathroom storage with a corner minibar column.