The challenge
Conveniently located in Czech Republic’s second largest city Brno, the Orea Congress Hotel offers overnight accommodation with 369 rooms and a conference centre that caters for up to one thousand guests across nine halls.
When the owners were looking to renovate and update its business events offering, they turned to Prague based architects and designers ZOAA to devise an impactful and engaging interior that would complement the existing contemporary hotel design and attract a modern business audience.
Client: Orea Congress Hotel Brno
Sector: Hospitality and Leisure
Area: 542m2
Products: Walnut | Torcello
Specification: Barkotex
Architectonic studio: ZOAA
The solution
The hotel features an open reception area that facilitates a natural flow into other areas of the centre, visually guiding guests into catering, accommodation and conferencing areas as required. Continuing the elegant softly geometric design of the ground floor space, the designers at ZOAA have created an architectural statement with three entrance tubes which provide a visible and attractive entrance to the conference centre.
Balancing the cool grey palette and biophilic elements of the reception area, the corridors balance form and function beautifully and can effortlessly cope with the high operational footfall of a bustling conference centre
Results
Projecting into the reception area, the architectural starkness of the eye-catching curved corridors is visually enhanced by the uniformity of materials used on all surfaces*. LED strip lighting serves to highlight the authentic wood effect of Torcello flooring from the Palio Gluedown Plus range, creates an element of intrigue and shapes a regular geometric rhythm which encourages the efficient progression of guests into the conference space.
The mid-tone oak hues and characterful linear grain details of Torcello flooring harmonises with the existing ceramic tiles in the reception area and adds a welcoming organic ambiance. With a durable 0,55mm wear layer, the Palio Gluedown Plus range additionally provides a hard wearing floor that can easily withstand heavy footfall and regular movement of heavy items such as furniture and catering trolleys.
The conference centre’s restaurant has also been updated with a calming neutral brown colour palette and statement lighting, complemented by flooring in Walnut from the Van Gogh range with its rich warm tones and textures of aged timber flooring.
Tomáš Lisec of Barkotex explained: “This design required a high performing floor with a realistic wood look. Designflooring was the ideal choice as it offers the natural look and interesting handcrafted texture our client was looking for while it is also hygienic, easy to maintain and is durable enough for such a busy commercial application.”
