Hotels From a bold London sanctuary, to an art-infused Alpine retreat, these spaces seek not just to provide visitors with a place to rest, but to wholeheartedly welcome, reinvigorate and inspire. Toby Maxwell.
Words By Toby Maxwell
KEYLITE ROOF WINDOWS aided with the major restoration of the five-star luxury Conservatorium hotel in Amsterdam, Netherlands, by providing 263 nonstandard conservation roof windows in bespoke sizes.
Adjacent to some of Amsterdam’s cultural hotspots, the Conservatorium hotel began as a former bank and soon after a music school. In its new role, it features 129 rooms and suites, six meeting and event venues, and a luxury wellness centre. Restored by renowned Milanbased designer and architect Piero Lissoni, the building fuses simplicity and functionality, with contemporary updates focusing on clean lines and glasswork.
The high-profile restoration of this historic Amsterdam building into a luxury hotel required Keylite to work in close collaboration with the constructor Structon to manufacture and supply 263 specially designed roof window units in completely non-standard sizes ranging from 660×1,500mm to 780×2,000mm.
Mike Ensing, national manager at Keylite Holland, says: ‘The Conservatorium is truly a fantastic hotel in the heart of Amsterdam. Originally a bank, the space at the top of the original building was closed and dark, and Lissoni’s vision was to allow natural light and fresh air in through large windows.
‘Being a national monument, the strict legislation regarding the building’s historical nature meant that disrupting the structural body, beams and brickwork was out of the question. Carefully curated windows, fully approved by Monument Care, were the only solution to achieve Lissoni’s biophilic design of bringing the outdoors in.
‘As a conservation building, special monument glass was required for each of the Keylite roof windows, which was shipped from Holland to the Keylite factory in Poland and then cut to non-standard sizes.’
Another carefully thought-out design feature was the bronze trim specified for the glazing on each of the Keylite roof windows, which not only contributes to the contemporary yet timeless aesthetic, but also provides sound-reducing benefits. www.keyliteroofwindows.com
