A leisurely pace
Having time for leisure did not first become something people cherished with digitization. Back at the beginning of the 19th century, dolce far niente was considered a sign of prosperity. Anyone who could afford to let their thoughts roam took great delight in demonstrating just that. For example, by going out for a walk with a tortoise on a lead – the latter’s leisurely pace transformed strolling along one of the boulevards in Hamburg or Paris into a truly prolonged pleasure. And it was these aspects, namely luxury, leisure, France and the tortoise that have influenced the design of “Tortue”, a boutique hotel set in a chic part of Hamburg on Stadthausbrücke. Once the seat of the city’s administration, the building dating back to 1899 boasts magnificent dimensions: Guests entering it will be taken by the ceilings, which are up to four meters high, spacious surfaces clad in marble, and long corridors – all of which indicate that here the emphasis is entirely on providing a highly sophisticated level of relaxation. The hotel has a total of 126 rooms on five floors and the modernization concept was devised by David Chipperfield while architectural offices Kuehn Malvezzi, Stephen Williams Associates and Agn Leusmann were responsible for the implementation.
British designer Kate Hume worked with contrasts in the rooms themselves: Velvet and strikingly patterned wallpaper on the one hand, white marble and white bathroom fitting, on the other. Guests residing in one of the larger suites can enjoy relaxing in the free-standing bathtub BetteLux Oval Silhouette courtesy of Tesseraux + Partner. Thanks to the tub’s soft, organic lines, it seems very much at harmony with its setting even though it stands at the center of the room. Similarly, in the other room categories the products by Bette all symbolize a remarkably pleasurable stay: The Bette Ocean combined bathtub and shower and the fitted Bette Lux bathtubs impress with their spacious depths and delicate outer edges. The specialist for bathroom fittings gave the titanium steel a sophisticated glaze that makes for sturdy, easy-to-maintain surfaces. For the shower trays, Kate Hume chose the “BetteUltra” series of glazed enameled steel. Installed as a virtually floor-level shower, the BetteUltra not only enhance the visual harmony but also makes the showers easier to use. And doing so clears the head for a relaxed stroll in the Hanseatic city – with or without a tortoise. (am)
