“In 2005 we created what is today the well-known Klaus K hotel in Helsinki, Finland. The Klaus K is based on the Finnish national epic, Kalevala. When we were offered to participate in developing a new hotel lobby, restaurant and bar atmosphere, it was agreed that there was a need to address the current consumer behaviour within these particular kinds of spaces with a new and different way of thinking. A hotel restaurant is a public place that is often consumed primarily by hotel guests, or visitors of the hotel guests. In order to address this general thought and change behavioural patterns, we needed to embrace other places where people feel the most comfortable and welcome. By creating a livingroom for the city of Helsinki, enabled us to blur the boundaries between the passing visitor and the local. Through linking a lobby, a restaurant and a bar into one and the same facility, helps to enhance the interconnection between locals and visitors alike. Our aim has been to create a space that will allow anyone to feel they can drop in and utilize these facilities. Design elements help to enhance these features by allowing the guest to freely chose whether to sit in an area that is intended to be more lively zones or in a more secluded area for the lone businessman. Anyone and everyone can find their place within the livingroom. By including the locals within this public, but also ordinarily private hotel sphere, helps bridge the gap between the visitor and the city and opens the window for possibilities of new interactions and experiences for the traveller and local alike. We strongly believe in challenging new ways of thinking about classic hotel functions, as Klaus K Livingroom demonstrates.”

__________________________________________________________________________

The Klaus K Hotel has been shortlisted for the International Design & Architecture Awards 2013