Refreshingly different: the Légère Express Hotel in Leipzig
The name of this hotel, based on a new concept of Fibona GmbH, is also the programme, because the Légère Express in Leipzig is casual and informal: wonderfully unconventional, yet lovingly cosy thanks to a collage-like mix of materials in combination with fresh colours. The intention was to draw the interior design stringently through the entire hotel. This meant great demands, among other things, for the tiles used, which make valuable contributions to the style of the hotel.
The Légère Express Hotel has 161 rooms in three categories as well as five long-stay flats. The rooms combine a modern concept with contemporary space efficiency and appeal to both business guests and tourists. The declared goal of the family-owned company Fibona is to build hotels which offer a high quality of stay and create the feeling of living at home. The conscious turning away from a classic separation of the individual hotel zones forms the basis for the "Being at home" feeling. The restaurant and bar area, for example, is designed as a "Living Kitchen". An openly designed zone which quotes the cosy kitchen at home with its mix of materials and furnishings. A perfect atmosphere for productive work, relaxed meetings or as a place of retreat is offered by the "Garden Lounge", which embodies a green oasis of well-being in the middle of Leipzig's vibrant city centre. Another feature in the lobby is the terminal available around the clock for uncomplicated self-check-in and check-out.
From red to black and white stripes
"The interior concept plays with a collage-like mix of materials. With elements that do not fit together at first glance and sometimes seem "crazy", such as our painted cow, the gorilla in the entrance area or the pull-up bar in the guest rooms”, explains Michael Sommer, architect at Fibona GmbH. The colours red and turquoise as well as black and white stripes form the design bracket and are to be found throughout the entire hotel, right into the bright and modern guest bathrooms, which are integrated into the rooms via a glass wall. "In particular, our special colour shades had to be precisely implemented - no matter whether it was a paint job or the floor and wall tiles”, Sommer continues. "To put it quite bluntly: we were looking for partners who would go with us on all points without any ifs and buts. With regard to the ceramic coverings, only Agrob Buchtal was able to provide this." Germany's most important manufacturer of tiles produced a collection in the format of 20 x 20 centimetres especially for this project, which precisely implemented the design specifications. In detail, these were variants with black and white stripes, completely in black or in Ruby Wine matt - where desired and required, such as in the floor-level showers or the "Living Kitchen", also in the required R10/B slip resistance. The ceramic concept was complemented by the "Plural" series, which adorns the walls in the bathrooms and the restaurant and bar area in the colours turquoise active and green matt.
