Structure agency Neri&Hu has reworked the carcass of Tbilisi‘s former central put up workplace right into a 239-room lodge whereas preserving its distinctive modernist facade.
The studio’s first venture in Georgia noticed founders Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu sort out one of many capital’s most distinguished Soviet-era ruins, set on the principle artery of Rustaveli Avenue.
Initially designed by Georgian architects Lado Meskhishvili and Teimuraz Mikashavidze in 1964, the constructing served as locals’ main connection to the skin world, permitting them to ship telegrams and make calls earlier than this expertise grew to become commonplace in most households.
“The Telegraph constructing holds a particular place in Tbilisi’s social reminiscence – not simply as a bodily landmark, however as an area of communication, connection and alternate,” Neri&Hu defined.
“Our aim was to respect its identification whereas reimagining it for modern utilize, making a fresh chapter that is still linked to its authentic spirit of openness and alternate,” the duo added.
The renovation noticed Neri&Hu retain the constructing’s Soviet modernist facade, with its monumental cornice fabricated from native Bolnisi tuff – the identical stone used to clad the Georgian Parliament additional alongside Rustaveli Avenue.
However at avenue stage, floor-to-ceiling glazing was added to permit passersby a peek into the lodge’s public areas, amongst them 5 completely different eating places and a miniature library, organized round a central courtyard full with climbing greenery and an al fresco bar.
Neri&Hu used glass as an alternative of strong partitions to divide these completely different areas, sustaining sight traces deep into the constructing from the road within the hopes of building the Telegraph lodge as an extension of Tbilisi’s public area.
“A key gesture was the utilize of a see-through facade, which helps dissolve the boundary between inside and out of doors,” the duo defined. “This visible permeability invitations passersby in and reinforces the sense of continuity between private and non-private area.”
“The inner corridors operate like miniature streets, connecting again to the town and inspiring circulation via the location,” they added.
“On the coronary heart of the venture, the vast central courtyard turns into a fresh, energetic piazza for the town – a gathering area characterised by an abundance of greenery and planted components.”
In step with this concept, the fabric palette within the courtyard and the encompassing thoroughfares maintains a contact of the outside, with travertine tiles used to cowl the entire flooring and the lodge’s reception desk, alongside casual bench seating harking back to avenue furnishings.
Board-formed concrete partitions echo the identical gridded sample in homage to the inflexible geometry of the Telegraph’s facade.
Blackened metallic and obscure timber spherical out the inside’s pared-back materials palette, complementing the worn-down concrete beams and columns that present glimpses of the constructing’s historical past.
Neri&Hu used this confined choice of supplies to create distinct personalities for every public area, with the library dominated by walnut-veneer panelling, whereas coffered ceilings and old-fashioned mirrors create a French bistro vibe within the Grand Café – a fantastic eating restaurant serving contemporary Georgian fare.
Inexperienced is the one color used all through all the lodge, discovered within the leather-based seating cubicles of diner-style restaurant The Grill and the metal-mesh screens and lamp shades making a street-market really feel at Laan Thai, which is helmed by Bangkok-born Parisian chef Rose Chalalai Singh.
Veiny inexperienced marble was additionally used to kind a pill-shaped bar and a dramatic brass-framed fire within the Bell&Gray Bar, which leads onto the Telegraph Lodge’s reception.
From right here, company can ascend to their lodgings by way of a dramatic central staircase, for which Neri&Hu created a customized 35-metre-long pendant gentle.
The shortage of strong partitions continues within the 239 visitor rooms, housed on the constructing’s higher tales and organised across the courtyard and a second light-filled atrium, wanting down on the planted roof of the lodge’s ballroom.
Fluted glass and black metallic have been used to create see-through partitions, separating the bed room from the lavatory and the residing areas.
Like a Swiss military knife, this identical metallic skeleton additionally integrates different features all through the completely different rooms, variously appearing as a framework for storage and lighting, or holding up mirrors, cleaning soap trays and doorways within the washroom.
The lodge’s rooftop suites even have their very own little terrace, offering views over Tbilisi from the sixth ground.
Set to observe in September is the Rolling Stone Rooftop Bar and a crimson-drenched jazz membership envisioned by Georgian inside designer Ketuna Kruashvili, positioned close to the wood-panelled gymnasium within the lodge’s basement.
The Telegraph Lodge types half of a bigger redevelopment of the realm surrounding Tbilisi’s former Republic Sq. by the Silk Street Group.
Part one noticed the native funding agency flip the previous Lodge Iveria – Georgia’s first high-rise tower, which later grew to become a fleeting shelter for Abkhazian refugees – into the Radisson Blue Lodge in 2009.
“This area [Republic Square] used to symbolise Georgia’s collapse,” mentioned Silk Street Group founder George Ramishvili. “We need to change that. Our redevelopment plan will rework it right into a pedestrian-friendly space the place individuals need to stroll, not keep away from.”
Regardless of ongoing tensions with Russia, which presently occupies 20 per cent of Georgia’s territory, the nation’s tourism business is booming, with direct flights from London to Tbilisi reintroduced this April after a 12-year hiatus.
Amongst a slew of latest lodge openings is Tbilisi’s cinematic Blueberry Nights lodge and Silk Street Group’s AHEAD-shortlisted Tsinandali Property, taking up the vineyard and property of Georgian aristocrat Alexander Chavchavadze, which later served because the summer season residence of Russia’s final tsar.
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