Lloyd Hotel, Amsterdam
MVRDV’s historic experiment
It sounds like a licence to fail: a dreary abandoned former prison, an architecture firm with no experience in restoring old buildings and in addition an operating-crew which is indeed enthusiastic, but absolutely new to the hotel business. But in fact the “LLOYD HOTEL” in Amsterdam, redesigned by MVRD, has turned into a prime design address which completely redefines luxury in a totally new creative way.
Recalling its original purpose as a hostel for emigrants, the “Lloyd Hotel” is located halfway between the old city of Amsterdam, with its crisscrossing canals, and the former wharves of Borneo-Eiland, KNSM-Eiland and Java-Eiland. Today they attract hordes of architectural tourists as prime examples of intelligent, individual housing projects. And the “Lloyd” is also located precisely midway between the historical and the modern: outside a bulky lump with a clock tower, windows with glazing bars, and a facade of grey brick, and inside a surprising, experimental conglomeration of ideas from some 50 designers and artists. Nevertheless, the building is not seen as a design hotel, but rather as a concept hotel, that instead of having a single, consistent style unites many very different ideas and philosophies.
Just how well this concept has been received can be seen from the fact that the hotel is filled to a sensational 80 percent of capacity. Last year it even won the “Talents du luxe” award sponsored by the luxury brand Swarovski – even though the “Lloyd” has neither marble bathtubs nor shoe-shine machines, mini bars, a spa or other regalia of luxury hotels. “Our guests simply have a different definition of luxury”, says Oxenaar, “they appreciate the fact that here they can make the acquaintance of people with very different ideas, backgrounds and budgets.”