design et al are delighted to announce that STUDIOS Architecture has been shortlisted for Hotel Over 200 Rooms – Europe Award in The International Hotel & Property Awards 2019.
A former high-rise office tower built in the late 60s, the Tour Paris Lyon has been radically transformed by STUDIOS into a 4* Courtyard by Marriott hotel that has set new design standards for the brand.
The Tour Paris Lyon has been given a new life following an extensive two-year renovation by STUDIOS Architecture. This tower, previously used for offices, is now a slim and sophisticated hotel, and the irony of history is that it was originally planned, but never served, as a hotel. Inspired by the original architecture, the lines of the façade were streamlined to give the building a more fluid and timeless appearance and to ensure its insertion into the multifaceted metropolitan environment.
The new façade is a combination of fibre-reinforced concrete and glass, with luminous LED rails running up its full length to echo the nearby railways. The lobby is an invitation to discovery and was designed to visually eliminate the frontier between the busy life of the neighbourhood and the calm ambience of the hotel. The exterior rails blend into the entrance canopy and then into the lobby. Imagined as a Parisian workshop, the bar stands beneath a newly designed glass roof echoing the industrial nature of the neighbourhood, a nod to the early light manufacturing history of this area and the highly colourful rue Crémieux a few streets away.
Combining yellow and transparent glass plates, the glass roof filters the natural light and creates a genuinely dazzling “sunkissed” effect, bringing softness to the raw natural materials (metal, glass and wood) of these spaces. In a continuation of this effect and through the interplay of materials, a broad yellow strip traverses the restaurant from floor to ceiling, creating gentle punctuation to the space.
STUDIOS worked with Marriott to imagine a future-orientated conference centre that embraces evolving societal needs. Designed around the glass roof and patio, STUDIOS drew inspiration from innovations in the workplace for its design: shared flexible spaces, a common room with dining facilities, and a variety of technical installations. Offering breath-taking and unusual views of Paris and the Seine river, the guest rooms comply with the functional standards of Courtyard by Marriott while the design has been reimagined to correspond to the building’s exceptional location and to the bright, airy and warm design of the Tower. All of these elements were custom designed, from the millwork in the bedrooms through to the footrests and carpets.