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Spanish architect Emma Martí has converted an 18th-century townhouse on the Balearic island of Menorca into the intimate eight-bedroom Hevresac Hotel, taking over all of its five floors from basement to attic.
The building, which originally belonged to a local merchant and privateer, is set in the historic centre of Mahón – a former trade hub that still bears traces of French and English culture after spending many years under colonial rule.
Emma Martí has converted a five-storey townhouse into the Hevresac HotelHevresac owners Ignasi Truyol and Stephanie Mahé brought Martí on board for the renovation in part because she was an old friend, who they thought could be trusted to conserve and enhance the spirit and character of the building.
Martí’s aim for the project was to fill the building with light and life while preserving its wealth of existing architectural elements, from wooden beams and mosaic flooring to stucco walls and staircases.
“The aim of the project was to create a fresh and inspiring hotel that values the beauty of the existing architecture,” said the hotel’s owners.
Original details such as parquet floors were retained throughoutHevresac’s original floors, covered variously in wooden parquet and encaustic cement tiles, were carefully preserved.
In areas where it was not possible to retain the original elements, Martí chose a new design language using modern equivalents of these original materials, including micro-cement.
Hevresac Hotel has only eight guest roomsThe renovation process revealed both the stucco on the walls and the original paintwork on the beams, uncovering part of the building’s hidden history.
The original wrought iron columns in the living room are now a celebrated feature. Less noticeable but equally interesting is the Masonic symbolism on the wrought-iron railing of the marble staircase at the entrance.
Solid timber was used to frame private bathrooms in each of the bedroomsMartí also wanted to preserve the original room structure of the townhouse.
To allow for this, she added private bathrooms within each of the existing bedrooms using a lightweight timber framing system made of solid Flanders pine, while three-ply spruce boards form partitions, headboards and wardrobes in each bedroom.
“Martí’s intention is for the new materials to coexist and harmonise with the originals, providing a new language, lightness and contemporaneity,” the owners said.
Artchimboldi Menorca is a work retreat inside an abandoned girls’ school
A new staircase – also utilising spruce ply – now coexists with the original staircase, providing an alternative route through the Hevresac Hotel.
The material is key to the contemporary language of the new insertions, which sit clearly differentiated alongside layers of the building’s past.
“I like to work with an honest and frank attitude towards the island’s architectural heritage,” Martí told Dezeen. “I wanted it to be clear what our intervention was, not to highlight it but to highlight the value of what existed in the building.”
Three-ply spruce boards form partitions and wardrobes in each of the bedroomsTo fill the spaces with natural light, several skylights were added on the upper floor, with one above the main stairwell as well as three new openings in the facade.
In the basement, the vaulted ceiling made of local marés stone required an intervention to lighten the space.
Martí’s response was to remove a bay of the existing vault and install a new, more comfortable staircase to link the ground floor with the basement and flood the space with light.
Martí also added a new spruce ply staircaseHevresac’s choice of furnishings reflects Mahón’s cosmopolitan history, including an eclectic assembly of antique, vintage and contemporary pieces from all over Europe.
Among them are Nanimarquina rugs, Achille Castiglioni lights and some of Marcel Breuer’s Cesca chairs, as well as items from Menorcan antique dealers including Alcolea & Kraus and Antics Antigüedades.
“It’s a kind of synergy,” the owners said. “Together, the components project a warm, creative and personal composition, which is more than the algebraical sum of those individual pieces.”
The hotel has a small terraceMartí, who founded her self-titled studio Emma Martí Arquitectura in Menorca in 2013, has since completed a number of projects on the island.
Among them is a work retreat inside an abandoned girls’ school, with design-driven spaces where businesses can host meetings or team-building sessions.
The photography is by Pol Viladoms
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Hospitality company Artchimboldi and Spanish architect Emma Martí have teamed up to transform a forgotten girls’ school in Menorca into a bright and contemporary retreat for professionals.
Established by Anna Truyol in 2007, Artchimboldi provides design-focused spaces where businesses can host meetings or team-building sessions.
Artchimboldi Menorca’s ground floor has a living and dining spaceThe company already has two locations – a pair of modernist apartments in Barcelona – but has now opened a third, larger site in Menorca that can be used for corporate retreats.
“In designing Artchimboldi Menorca, I wanted to transfer everything I have been able to observe and witness from my experience of welcoming all kinds of companies to the spaces in Barcelona,” explained Truyol.
“Menorca retains its authenticity, has a very close and accessible nature, and brings a very different rhythm than the city.”
The central table can be rearranged to suit different work and dining set-upsArtchimboldi Menora occupies an old girls’ school in Sant Lluís, a quaint village in the southeast of the island.
The school was constructed in 1900 but was eventually abandoned, leaving the interior in less-than-ideal condition. Truyol brought in Martí, a local architect, to carry out a revamp.
Guests can write down ideas on a four-by-four metre slate boardAlthough the building’s roof had to be completely rebuilt, insulated and waterproofed, Truyol and Marti took a light touch with the rest of the renovation works in order to highlight “the history, experiences and soul of the space”.
The building’s original marés stone walls were preserved and freshened up with a coat of white paint, and many of its timber ceiling beams were left in place.
Seating poufs and a wood burner appear in the lounge areaAn airy living and dining area occupies the first floor. At its heart is a custom-made table made of lacquered wood, which can be easily reconfigured into different formats for group meals, meetings or workshops.
Beyond the table is a cosy lounge that features amorphous grey seating poufs and a wood burner with a four-metre-high flue that accentuates the height of the room.
The Olive Houses are off-grid retreats hidden in Mallorca’s mountains
In a nod to the building’s past, Tyrol and Marti have also included a large antique bookcase and a schoolroom-style slate board, where guests can scribble down any thoughts and ideas.
At the rear of the room, timber-framed doors lead out onto a gravel patio with a micro cement pool.
The patio features a micro cement poolGuests can catch some rest on the building’s first level, which much like the ground floor has white-painted stone walls. But here, polished concrete flooring is replaced with bold chequerboard tiles.
Pre-existing partition walls were knocked through to make way for a sequence of boxy Flanders-pine sleeping pods.
Each one is fronted by a linen curtain that, when drawn back, reveals a comfy woollen futon.
Flanders-pine sleeping pods were incorporated on the building’s first floorSlender black ladders grant access to the top of the pods, where guests can relax during the day. Alternatively, there is a small seating area dressed with a grey sofa and woven rugs.
Personal belongings can be stored underneath the pods or in the bespoke sage-coloured shelving unit that sits at the room’s periphery.
Additional sleeping pods can be found in the building’s loft.
Ladders allow guests to sit and relax on top of the podsOther retreats on Spain’s picturesque Balearic islands include The Olive Houses, a pair of off-grid dwellings in Mallorca where architects, writers and artists can work uninterrupted.
The two buildings are minimally finished and rendered with stucco that complements the surrounding olive trees.
The photography is by Pol Viladoms.
Project credits:
Design: Anna Truyol and Emma Martí ArquitecturaTechnical architecture: Manel Alzina SintesDeveloper: ArtchimboldiConstruction company: Construcciones Virfin SLCarpentry: Biniarroca SLCollaborators: Cristina Pons (North Agent)
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