Roomers - Frankfurt

I wanted to create a sexy magnetism to the hotel that would appeal to both men and women,” says interior designer, Romanian-born Oana Rosen of her designs for Roomers hotel in Frankfurt. “Something strong but also with a cosy and cocooning warmth.” The lobby combines both hard surfaces – the mirror-finished metal reception desk and low tables from Megaron of Turkey – with softer elements such as smoky silk drapes, luxurious hide upholstery and a long purple velvet banquette of Rosen’s own design. Enclosing swan-shaped chairs in silver-sheen velvet by decadent Italian designer Cavalli sit beneath suspended crystal chandeliers, also by Cavalli. In the restaurant, pleated lampshades decorate the chandeliers by JNL of France, highly decorative detailing surrounds Venetian mirrors and the suspended pendulum chairs at the entrance are examples of her feminine touch.

Adjacent to an open fireplace in the lobby, there are padded wall panels upholstered in a high-sheen burnished gold fabric. The patterning and gold are repeated in corridor lampshades, the guestroom headboards and divan bases. The intertwined pattern of the hotel’s logo, inspired by a broach Rosen bought in Ibiza, is lit by the lobby fireplace. This pattern is also repeated in the sheet of marble recessed in the shallow basins in the suites. The reinforced sheet, made by Ströffmann, lifts out for easy cleaning but makes washing possible only using a running tap. Regular rooms have black glass bowl basins. The guestrooms’ dark maroon walls and black casegoods are matched by dark stone bathrooms – the marble floor slab in the separate showers has been etched in a series of ever lower concentric steps that provide a fabulous non-slip surface.

Sanitaryware is from Ross Lovegrove’s Istanbul collection for Vitra, whose curvaceous forms are continued with the Rosen-designed chaise longue in front of the curved window of the corner suites that arcs up to become the desk. Rosen’s furniture and the casework, including swivelling TVs incorporated into the dividing screens of some rooms, was produced locally by Kansy Objekt Design. Use of the Zumtobel guestroom lighting system is intuitive.

“Roomers has 117 rooms and so I had the chance to include everything in the hotel,” explains Rosen, relishing the opportunity to do a bigger hotel project than her previous work on The Pure (Sleeper Spring 2006) and Gerbermühle (Sleeper May/June 2009). Her work includes a fabulous bar and separate restaurant that both access the large, open rear courtyard. The courtyard includes a lengthy sweep of concrete bench that incorporates planters, a double water feature in zinc by Rita Jordens of Belgium, boxy Barcode furniture from Bangkok-based Ken Koon, and other Thai-sourced steel seating.

In the restaurant Rosen dealt with the low ceiling of this former retail bank by incorporating indirectly lit recessed ceiling artworks by Carsten Witte, one of which runs the length of an intricately carved high-level communal table from DK Home. Stools, also from DK Home, were adapted with longer legs to match the table height. Warm beige and grey velvet banquettes and regular seating provide ample alternatives.
In the 24Hours Bar, mixologists take centre stage in an island comprising levels of glossy black bands topped by a counter and two glowing boxes of crushed ice for the display of champagne bottles.
In the ceiling surrounding the bar, a ring of dangling black Perspex strips diffuse the indirect lighting reflected from a gold recess.Flush-mounted floor LEDs highlight the form of the bar. A wall of curved banquettes finished in high-sheen burnished gold studded upholstery are lit by the dripping black polyurethane forms of ‘Hot Kroon’ chandeliers by Dutch designer Piet Boon. “The windows of the bar are right at the pavement, so to hide this view I added a series of shutter panels with grey mirror that also swivel to allow for some discrete bar ‘espionage’,” adds Rosen.

The Biorhythm Spa on the new top floor of this office block was designed by Nik Schweiger of Biorhythm 3deluxe, in collaboration with sauna and spa experts Klafs. This floor also includes two meeting rooms and a screening room of ramped seating, more suitable for presentations than movies. All have chunky, almost immovable, boxy white leather and wood chairs. In spite of being in the heart of a very business-focused city there is no business centre per se. “With people constantly connected I felt there was no need for a business centre,” explains Rosen.

Furniture similar to that of the meeting rooms is found in the lobby space of the spa, except here the chairs have curved forms that can be combined in a variety of patterns. The high and light volume of this space is filled with an ethereal dome-like structure of horizontally arranged netting frames. These horizontal planes are repeated throughout the spa from the exterior shading vanes to the inside of the sauna. All the walls of the spa are lined with dark wood “shelves” that look stunning. Running from floor to ceiling they are mighty dust trap. The spa includes two types of relaxation beds: Medyjet waterbeds with self-programmable controls that increase the intensity and location of water jets beneath a rubber sheet to provide a no nonsense massage; and sunken beds, almost coffin-like, of warmed glass beads. Above each are thoughtful ceiling decorations. The randomly glowing points of light at the end of the dangling fibre optic cables are a wonder reminiscent of the tentacles of a jellyfish.

Converting a former office block into an alluring and sexy hotel has taken Rosen’s hospitality work to a new level. Given the space and opportunity to create a bigger hotel picture she has delivered whilst Nik Schweiger’s Biorhythm spa is of an equally exciting dimension.

Roomers
Gutleutstrasse 85,
60329 Frankfurt, Germany
Tel: +49 69 2713 420
Web: www.roomers.eu

Rooms 117 guestrooms
Dining Restaurant
Drinking 24Hours Bar
Leisure Biorhythm Spa
Facilities 2 meeting rooms / screening room