Hotel and Swimclub Zenden

Hotel and Swimclub Zenden is located within three monumental town houses situated near the river Maas in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The hotel’s history begins in the late sixties, and originally only contained a pool for swimming lessons. Over the years other functions such as hotel rooms and a yoga studio were implemented into the program. Upon the facilities reaching spatial limits, the owners turned to Wiel Arets Architects for renovation and reorganisation in 2003.

The scattered program was re-crystallized into an iconographical and integrated whole. Newly created openings in the hotel’s walls allow for views between all areas of the new program, as well to as to the exterior. The renovation led to an abstraction of the structure in both plan and section, not least because all ceilings heights were kept to a maximum. The resulting interior sculpture is completely clad in white, while the exterior inversions are painted in a dark shade of grey. New program elements were placed if and where necessary.

Upon entering the hotel, a relaxing lounge welcomes guests- inviting them to have a drink, admire the hotel’s pool or simply enjoy the purple Japanese maple on the patio, which contrasts the hotel’s white interior. From the lounge, guests can descend to the basement and find the sapphire blue waters of the pool, which retains its original medieval vault. Oppositely, ascending the stairs, nine hotel rooms await their guests. They all vary in layout and are dominated by the light flowing in through the big windows and reflected off the pure white surfaces.

Inside the four new guest rooms, services such as showers, toilets and cupboards have been condensed to blocks; enabling more living space. Corian inlays and night-stands have been integrated into the walls, washing tables placed on floating shelves, TV’s hidden behind reflecting glass and bathroom doors serve as mirrors. Dark-purple beds and armchairs contrast the white, wall-mounted furnishings, white ceramic sinks, frameless mirrors and round light fixtures from LAUFEN’s ILBAGNOALESSI dOt bathroom series designed by the architect. Within this minimalist design ethic guests are free to make their personal marks as if they were in their own homes.

Pierre and Martijn Zenden

Design: Wiel Arets, Bettina Kraus, Daniel Meier, Jörg Lüthke, Barend Christmas, Lars Dreessen
Assistants: Killian Nekeman, Insa Rosemann, Francios Steul

Furnishing design: Wiel Arets Architects
Bathroom fittings and lights: Alessi, Alessi Dot line