A spa centre with a “wow” factor

Poland’s capital is a youthful, exuberant city brimming with street art, fascinating contemporary art museums housed in converted factories, trendy restaurants and inspirational urban regeneration projects.
In this vibrant metropolitan setting, the Renaissance Warsaw Airport Hotel was opened in 2018 in a strategic location close to Warsaw Chopin Airport and just twenty minutes from the city centre.
The materials and external appearance of the building stand out for their “aeronautical” references, including the aerodynamic lines and the use of materials that give the façade a smooth skin-like finish.
As interior designer Barbara Dobrzyńska from the practice RedDogg Studio explains, the interior in particular “reflects the new marketing strategy of the Renaissance hotel chain, which has abandoned the idea of replicability in favour of diversity and contextualisation”.
According to this new philosophy, continues Dobrzyńska, “hotel interiors should have a strong sense of place and reflect the atmosphere of the city in which they are located. With this in mind, the concept of the Renaissance Hotel in Warsaw draws inspiration from Polish modernist art and architecture from the 1920s avantgarde through to the industrialisation of the 1930s and the political détente of the 1950s and 1960s.”
Unlike a conventional five-star establishment, the hotel aims to create an ideal environment for inquisitive people who are constantly in search of fresh inspirations, even during business trips, and to help them discover local culture. This is reflected for example in the figure of the Navigator, an expert who proposes carefully selected experiences from a database of locations where visitors can fully immerse themselves in the city’s atmosphere. The hotel has an exclusive restaurant offering a contemporary revisitation of local cuisine, and a wellness centre complete with swimming pool where guests can relax and unwind at the end of a busy day. As Barbara Dobrzyńska explains, the swimming pool area was also inspired by modernism. “The design of these interiors referenced the distinctive façade decorations of Polish modernist buildings from the 1920s, especially in the use of exposed brickwork.”
RedDogg Studio found Italian tile producer Cerdisa to be the ideal partner for this project and opted for the Archistone and EC1 tile collections, in particular 3D mosaic with its alternately recessed and projecting “tesserae” design and combination of smooth and rough textures. “Due to its simplicity and speed of installation, it proved an ingenious solution” for recreating the brickwork pattern while “emphasising the play of shadows on the walls”.
The grey colour is also ideal for recreating the brutalist effect of concrete, softened by the black and white optical geometric patterns of the background, the bright colours of the designer chairs, the shimmering blue of the swimming pool and the ceiling lights, which also feature a zigzag design. This visually surprising space offers the luxury and comfort typical of a five-star hotel in an entirely new and unconventional way while meeting the client’s three key requests: to create a place with a “unique, intriguing and indigenous” style where guests can recharge their batteries before and after a journey while immersing themselves in local culture.
Another factor behind the choice of products from Cerdisa was the technical characteristics and scope for customisation offered by the Archistone floor tiles for the pool area, which combine aesthetically appealing finishes with the safety of a non-slip surface. One of the customised solutions is the slotted water drainage grate with a minimalist, essential design that fits perfectly into the context.