Hobo Hotel Stockholm

Werner Aisslinger

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The youthful face of Stockholm

Stock­holm has two guises: under one, it is a Swedish me­trop­o­lis, as tidy and splen­did as the houses along the noble shore­side Strandvägen prom­e­nade. The library by Gunnar Asplund or the city hall by Ragnar Östberg serve as ar­chi­tec­tural icons crown­ing a fairly intact his­tor­i­cal cityscape. Under its other guise, mean­while, the cit­i­zens of Stock­holm are close to the spirit of the age, with in­no­v­a­tive restau­rants, pleas­ant cafés and fashion labels em­body­ing the latest styles. The new Hobo Hotel is quite clearly part of this more youth­ful guise. Located bang in the middle of the in­ner-city busi­ness quarter, it fea­tures a richly hybrid in­te­rior in­tended to impress guests and locals alike. The in­te­rior design was the brain­child of the Berlin-based Studio Aisslinger, which also de­signed Bikini Berlin and Zurich Langstrasse, both 25hours Hotels.

The design team around Monika Losos, Tina Bun­yapr­a­sit and Werner Aisslinger came up with a col­lage-like look for the new Stock­holm hotel that echoes the studio’s other hotel pro­jects. Con­tem­po­rary design fur­ni­ture shares space with vintage items and flea-mar­ket finds. The layout is as lovable as it is func­tional, with points of focus being set by crazy notions, colours and ma­te­ri­als. The Hobo Hotel is housed in a con­verted 1970s build­ing and has 201 rooms, some without windows in keeping with stan­dard Scan­di­na­vian prac­tice. The hotel’s lobby and restau­rant are located on the ground floor, right by Brunk­e­bergstorg.

All public areas in the build­ing are stocked with lushly flow­er­ing green­ery and on the ground floor next to the en­trance there is even an indoor veg­etable patch. Mint, basil, lettuce and chard for kitchen and bar grow on the open shelves. Though the spaces are not par­tic­u­larly ex­ten­sive, they make a very invit­ing impact due to their vibrant fit­ments. Studio Aisslinger has ad­di­tion­ally defined in­di­vid­ual zones with the aid of fur­ni­ture and plants, which makes the space seem bigger.

Architects and building

Photo: Steffen Jänicke

“It was our aim to lend the build­ing an in­ter­na­tional, spo­radic, spon­ta­neous air. It mustn’t come across as being set in its ways. We’ve in­jected a shot of Berlin chaos. Scan­di­navia is severe and elegant, but thriv­ing cities like Stock­holm or Copen­hagen do often yearn to be a bit like Berlin.”

Looking out onto the city from bed

Guests’ rooms are like­wise none too size­able – hardly sur­pris­ing given the build­ing’s central lo­ca­tion. But here, too, Studio Aisslinger has made the most of it - by un­con­ven­tion­ally placing the beds in some of the rooms right up against the window, for in­stance. That saves floor­space whilst also af­ford­ing views out over the Stock­holm cityscape, on the upper floors at least. Ad­join­ing the head of the bed is a board that can be used as either a night-table or a writing desk. For the rest, bulky cup­boards are dis­pensed with in favour of open storage spaces, hooks and clothes’ racks.

A com­par­a­tively large amount of space was re­served for bath­rooms that are compact but by no means cramped. A walk-in glazed shower and wash­stand deliver modern levels of comfort. All room and bath­room doors are fitted with FSB 1226 handles de­signed by Werner Aisslinger. The sofas in the lobby and bar and the hotel’s lu­mi­naires were like­wise de­signed by Studio Aisslinger. One way and another, then, guests at the Hobo Hotel can also get to ex­pe­ri­ence a bit of the at­mos­phere of Berlin during their stay in Stock­holm.

Building details

Photos: Pa­tri­cia Parine­jad

Location

Hobo Hotel

Brunk­e­bergstorg 4
111 51 Stock­holm
Sweden

Di­rec­tions

BESbswy