Retreat with a view – the bathroom concept at Westin Elbphilharmonie wows guests

So young and already an icon of modern architecture: After overcoming a few challenges, the Elbphilharmonie has become an international symbol of modern architecture. Its fascinating shape, the sophisticated wave-like silhouette beside the surrounding water, the link to the old Kaispeicher warehouse with modern glass architecture makes it as distinct as each of its kin - the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum. But true beauty comes from within as well, and the bathroom concept of the integrated Hotel Westin - realized with products from Villeroy & Boch - is just as radical and breathtaking as the exterior. It demonstrates just how good an icon can feel. Villeroy & Boch, experts for premium quality bathroom fixtures, spoke with Tassilo Bost about his design and why a bathroom with a view of the ‘sublimity of a place’ can become an almost erotic experience.

You have been a partner for the Westin chain for many years and probably felt like it was a special indication of trust to receive the job for the hotel in Elbphilharmonie.

Our interior design office began working with Westin even before planning began in 2008. They did not want a ‘hotel off the rack’, and we were able to focus completely on the topic with the virtuoso architects at Herzog & de Meuron.

You once said, “Look at the bathroom and you will know what kind of hotel it is.” Was that the source of your radical approach, to have the bathrooms reflect the building’s exterior to some extent?

An architectural icon at such an exposed site as well as the vitality of the harbor demanded a very self-confident idea. We don’t want to follow a trend with our design. By using purism and transparency, we direct focus to the special quality of the genius loci.

Why did you locate some of the bathrooms directly on the facade? This decision is actually contradictory to efficient use of space.

The bathroom is probably the place where guests spend the longest amount of time with intention. The way we see it, people find special quiet here to concentrate on the unique view.

By making the direction extroverted, the bathrooms celebrate the view. What significance does that have for the hotel and, with that, for the guests?

We wanted to give the visitor an unmistakable moment of retreat above and beyond the unique architecture. Guests will always associate this intense experience with the hotel stay.

In your opinion, what creates this feeling of sublimity? The unbelievable exclusive feeling of the location or the possibility to gaze into the far distance?

That depends on the person. For me, combining the contradiction of private retreat with a view of the vitality of the harbor was important. Of course, ‘raising the self’ - the experience of exclusivity and luxury - played a significant role. Especially in the private sphere of the bathrooms, the place of disrobing, the ‘sublimity of the place’ reaches an almost erotic experience.

How do you see the contradiction between the desire for private safety and the extroverted, almost exhibitionist approach of the bathrooms?

It is exactly this tension that creates the incomparable feeling of this moment for guests. Such experiences can trigger a kind of addiction. Maybe even the urgent desire to return to this place.

What is the basic idea behind your approach for the Westin and can it be transferred to other hotel projects?

The local reference of a hotel is increasingly important and corresponds to a current trend in hotel design. The transparency of the facade stretches from the surroundings at the Elbphilharmonie into the private sphere of the bathrooms. This ‘extroverted privacy’ is the key to the guest’s unique experience.

About Tassilo Bost

The Berlin interior design office has concentrated on hotel architecture and design for over 15 years. The interdisciplinary team has worked for international hotel brands including Westin in the area of project consulting, design and realization. The bathrooms of the Westin Elbphilharmonie Hamburg use products from Villeroy & Boch.