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#COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS

TOC Hostel

GCA Architects, with lead interior designer Carla Navas at front, recently finalized the refurbishment of a 5 storey building in Gran Via de les Corts 580, Barcelona.

The building was a residential construction dated 1874 and has now been converted into a youth hostel, part of the three first projects of TOC Hostels & Suites’ brand development. The other two, also designed by GCA Architects, are located in Madrid and Seville.

The overall brand concept, fostered by the architects, owes its inspiration to Bertolucci’s film “The Dreamers”, where a young American student meets a French brother and sister in Paris during the student revolts in 1968. In line with this film and its characters, all hostels intend to recreate the idea that a young restless group has built itself the spaces where to interact with each other and become an active part of their own zeitgeist. The target customer being young travelers aiming to share their experiences and the cities interests, and especially concerned about the evolution of our society’s values.

The main dilemma related to the design of these hostels has been to find the proper balance of user comfort, considering the public use of all spaces, and of both local and global inputs. In line with this challenge, the designers made use of two different strategies. In common areas, whilst linking the building, city and brand; the idea is to allow the user to participate of the design sticking pictures and painting on walls aiming to engage them with the brand, as if the hostel was their own place. Inside the rooms, instead, the intention has been to create a calmer and more welcoming atmosphere, offering a similar aesthetic and functional appearance worldwide, in all rooms, whichever TOC hostel.

Following this idea, in shared rooms, the designers have tried to frame the space of each user to give them a further feeling of privacy. Bunk beds have therefore been designed as a composition of cubicles, where they have their own reading light and a small bag where to leave personal belongings. Moreover, they are all given access to a locker where to keep their clothes and luggage.

In all hostels, there is a selection of room typologies allowing for adaptability to demand seasonal swings. From private suites to shared rooms with 8 beds, there is a wide range of possibilities, some incorporating WC’s within the bedroom area, others sharing it by genre for the whole floor. Although all materials used are extremely enduring and resistant, the overall feel has been kept very warm and homey with strong graphic interventions to keep the user engaged with the interspaces. Two sheep painted next to the night table or a “get naked!” on the shower door for instance, intend to initiate some sort of communication between the spaces and their users.

In particular, TOC Hostel Barcelona’s design direction shows a combination of industrial aspects such as its original exposed vaulted ceiling and brickwork, rough textures, black iron and bare pine wood finishes, with a Mediterranean color scheme brought up through highly saturated textiles and decorations. Leaving space for the customers’ interaction and participation in the design, the project leaves them a canvas referencing the commercial and industrial power characterizing the city itself.

The hostel has an intriguing entrance and a long path to reach the main common area because all rooms have been located in the building’s central core for a more efficient building functionality and installations project. Hence, the main living areas are located at the back of the building, underneath the terrace and pool, in the interior of the city block, with direct natural light from the staircase patio. To ease off the long walk through diverse corridors to reach the restaurant and bar, these areas incorporate different functions and distractions on the way specially using graphic resources.

Within this main common space, the bar, located in the passageway between the living and dining areas, enables to arrange all different uses and simultaneously serve all users from a unique point. Here, all furniture is movable allowing for operator flexibility although it has been arranged to work during regular hostel operation. There is a first relaxing area, with leisure games, lounge sofas and a big projection wall and further back a bar and restaurant areas for more punctual uses.

TOC Hostel

Details

  • Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • GCA Architects