The treble of steel

The triple function of the steel in decoration can be enjoyed anywhere of the world... for button, three samples in Croatia, Belgium and New Zealand.

(Edición en Español)

Hi, we have little time, and should make the most this, for once I'm going to go straight to the point, without preambles or bagatelles. I've spent a few days in a hotel that you will want to know, it is called Hotel Lone, is a luxury resort with a quality with the highest standards of comfort, and you know that I, Rodolfo, presume of a high conception of the luxury, comparable only to that I have of the quality, I come from a family with a vocation of humility but with a millennial surname.

I was, at the Monte Molini in Rovinj, Croatia, enjoying the wonderful hotel with form of "Y", designed by the architecture Studio 3LHD for Maistra Hotels with the healthy intention of being the first in the country to membership of the Design Hotels Group. They put in the hands of the architects in 2006 an area of 22.157 square meters where to build 29.407 in just 6.147 square meters of surface. I could tell you that I saw as did reality this beautiful ship (the facade composed of horizontal strips perfectly simulates a cruise, reducing even the dimension of higher plants to achieve this effect) but I don't like to boast.

You are to ten minutes to the city centre, but you will not need to go to it for nothing, the complex opened in the year 2011 has 248 rooms of which 12 are suites of luxury, their surfaces have between 33 and 129 square meters (do not need to tell how many has the suite). Three fantastic restaurants (L, On and E) enliven your idle stomach with all kinds of wines and Mediterranean food. Of course, they also have an extensive area destined to worship you, nothing more and nothing less than 1,700 square metres of spa, Finnish sauna, heated swimming pool, gyms specialized, therapeutic areas and a large etcetera. Pools of over 1,000 square meters (even for children), terrace of 2.350, up to ten conference rooms (the largest for 650 people), gardens outside and a swimming pool with infinity edge.

I ventured in my role as detective and I discovered that every detail of the hotel was thought out and designed to be unique. A great team was in charge of every aspect, Numen/For Use created the furniture, I-Gle the staff uniforms, the artist Silvio Vujičić the fabrics in the rooms, the lobby for the innovative Ivana Franke, Spa for Studio 92, and finally, Kappo study was commissioned to the landscape around the hotel. Thanks to this team have achieved what they wanted: give a unique identity to the building, they have succeeded and its customers have granted the certificate of excellence from TripAdvisor this year, 2015.

To remember something sometimes just look at the ceiling (I don't know if you has happened on occasion, I happens to me). After having entered in the wonderful hotel lobby, from whose central point is reached the rest of rooms, a mild Flash forced me to elevate the head. "Clear", I thought, "I had forgotten the original ceiling of steel!", and immediately I began to study it: a grid of rectangular and square shapes where the white predominates, but have many pieces of different colours giving enhancement to the set, including rows of hidden luminaires that provide the desired light atmosphere. If you are interested, the company responsible for these pieces of stainless steel is called The Inox in Color (nice name). The inspiration became in presence and I remembered something related with the steel, a place I had still not visited.

I went ahead my departure from the Hotel (forgive me Lone) and I immediately went to Belgium, where another wonder created by the group of artists and architects of Gijs Van Vaerenbergh was waiting for me. A former mine of coal, converted to cultural centre and of studies, the C-Mine, these seasoned professionals have made a singular structure of steel: a labyrinth (as you read it). It has an area of 1,400 square meters, weighs 186 tons and is consists of vertical modules of steel 5 mm thick, welded together (so that nobody can making traps). The originality of the proposal is not only the material with which it is made, too its own idiosyncrasies. Its height, up to 5 metres at some points, suggests the ingenuity of the creators, forming arches in some segments and in other open spaces and practicing openings to distract the brave caught up looking for the exit.

Bolliger + Grohmann were patients to assist the architects in the development of the structural design, as well as veteran Meuwes Laswerken, the entrepreneur who made reality the labyrinth. The creation of this metallic element was made possible by informatics (of new) designers using Boolean transformations, which are computer and mathematical operations that provide only two parameters: zero and one, or true and false. I.e. applied to the metallic swarm a model whereby delete and add geometric figures, my surprise are capital. The welds can be practiced either discontinuous or continuous, it occur in different ways, this is due to the function of the welding, to the ambient to which it is subjected and the load being carried, in other words, if an area does not require... why waste time and money on weld?

Alarmed by the texture of the metal in the labyrinth I needed to find another building with a different steel, and I found one, a little farther than I thought: in the city of New Plymouth, New Zealand (already was again with the suitcase in tow). There have built a Museum in honour of the famous filmmaker Len Lye, which have invested 11.5 million dollars (10.30 million euros), the Pattersons Associates architectural firm raised a fantastic facade that seals a landmark in the city. Sinuous curves of concrete abruptly mark the outside appearance, but, as if it were a spectacle, these curves are wrapped with a plated stainless steel, is already, I had found a different steel.

I declared that time as the triplet of steel, because in a short space of time had witnessed of three fantastic ways of working with it, what gives this material to the construction cannot measure or quantify. The building has a height of 18 meters, boasts with 3,000 square meters built and opened its doors last July 25 I know that other proud parents of the creature are the developers (Cleveland Construction) and the manufacturers of panels (Rivet), who also contributed with the formwork for walls of concrete moulds. From the street you can enjoy the magnificent view of this facade, as if it were alive, as if it were part of a film. This is only achieved with stainless steel and with the expertise of its professionals. But already I'm going I have hurry (remember?), Bye Bye.