Hotel Nomad

In the project for the Hotel Nomad, Buchner Bründler Architecten’s design makes for a structurally and atmospherically powerful basis.   

The 50s apartment house on Brunngässlein has been carefully renovated in connection with the historic preservation of the building, with the room structures adjusted to meet the needs of the hotel. In the courtyard, a contemporary architectural concrete new build (with loft-like open floorplans and a minimalist conceptual shell design) forms an antithesis to the playful small sections of the front building. Roughly formed, and from the functionality of the construction process, the static, divided components of the original stone material show all its structural strength.

The interior designs of the completely different room types in the two parts of the house respond to their particular architecture. To bring the fascinating sculptural radicalism of massive in-situ concrete on an equal footing, it requires resources of similar sensuous identity, strength and directness to create a thread throughout the entire project, while also being able to generate the comforts of a four star hotel with soft textured, homelike elements.

The furniture, and several lamps for the Nomad have been designed in close collaboration with various specialists and tailor-made for the hotel. The Swiss designer This Weber worked closely with the Italian manufacturer, and contract specialists, Very Wood (part of the Gervasoni Group). Taking in ideas from GREGO and in joint development, a complete, varied collection of Nomad furniture, consisting of seats, wooden chairs, upholstered chairs and even outdoor seating for the boulevard lounge, were created. The other wooden furniture (tables, benches, cabinets, serving trolleys) are designs from the pen of GREGO and in turn react to the idiosyncrasies of the different hotel room characters found across the two houses.

With their extensive experience and skill in the processing of different materials, ranging from wood to leather, through to metal and ceramic, the joiners of Very Wood proved to be an ideal partner for the implementation of the complex furniture series, supporting the project with great enthusiasm and openness. This functional aspects of the high demands brought about by hotel use have been as well considered and thought through as the creative guiding principle “Carpet Concept” was: in the outfitting of the rear building the kilim carpet is three-dimensional and dresses the upholstered furniture and the bed headboards, while in the front building the pieces of furniture use casters instead of feet to protect the kilim to flooring.

The kilims at the hotel were designed for an exclusive Nomad project collection by GREGO and were produced in limited numbers in India. The designs of the Nomad collection are, both in their motives, graphic proportions and colour, a contemporary interpretation of the ancient handcraft tradition, which finds its inspiration, not in the middle or far east, but in our own local culture. With their extensive know-how in textile design and extensive experience with production in the traditional Indian handcraft workshops, Kinnasand / Kvadrat came on board as a partner for the production of the 1,500 square metres of carpets.

Hotel Nomad, Basel
Architect: Buchner Bründler Architekten
Interior design: (furniture, carpets) GREGO – Jasmin Grego & Stephanie Kühnle Architektur
Project management: Nadine Tschudi
Furniture design: This Weber
Furniture production: Very Wood
Carpet production: KINNASAND (Isa Glink)
Graphic design: Studio Roth & Märchy Zürich
Completion: 2015