CASE STUDY
Following the re-engineering and reinforcement of the deteriorating structure , guidance issued by the Sovrintendenza dictated that the palazzo ’ s walls could not be altered to incorporate the mechanical and electrical services required for the hotel ’ s bedrooms , restaurants , and other guest amenities . To enable the highest standards of guest accommodation in the 21st century , a second skin has been meticulously crafted for each of the hotel ’ s interiors , creating a thin cavity between the existing structure and the interior walls of the hotel to house the services for each room . While only a few centimeters in width , this cavity extends centuries in time , continuing the palazzo ’ s 500 years of reinvention . During early excavations to create the hotel ’ s garden , the discovery of a Roman wall halted works on site . Detailed archaeological surveys and excavation by hand under the supervision of the Soprintendenza revealed a previously undocumented bottega ( workshop ) with an opus reticulatum — a diamond-shaped stone facing applied Roman architecture approximately 2,000 years ago giving
concrete walls an intricate patterning and detail . A 90 sq . m gallery was carefully carved into the ground approximately four meters beneath the hotel ’ s garden to protect the newly discovered Bottega . With its glazed ceiling also serving as the glass floor of the hotel ’ s swimming pool , this gallery enables the hotel ’ s guests and visitors to experience and appreciate another layer of the Eternal City ’ s history . Guests and visitors to this gallery will also recognize the scrupulous attention to detail and composition of materials within the 2,000-year-old opus reticulatum is echoed in the rich ensemble of immaculately worked stones , woods , and metals within the hotel ’ s interiors .
Architects : Zaha Hadid Architects - www . zaha-hadid . com Photographs : Chris Dalton , Jacopo Spilimbergo
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