Hotel Romeo Rome public areas furnished by Devoto Design

Located in the heart of Rome, the Hotel Romeo Collection joins cutting-edge design and master carpentry. Devoto Design has delivered the hotel public areas turning the architectural vision of Zaha Hadid Architects into reality thanks to innovation and craftsmanship.

A cutting-edge project for contemporary luxury

Every step of the project required dedication, from the first prototypes and the production of samples and mock-ups to the final installation. Thanks to the combination of engineering and craftsmanship skills, we were able to turn Zaha Hadid Architects complex geometry into reality.

Thanks to our expertise in terms of digital fabrication and parametric engineering, we turned the complex surfaces into simple and construable elements with millimetric precision.

Materials and design of excellence for the Hotel Romeo Rome

The Hotel Romeo Rome project is characterized by double-curving furnishings and claddings, organic shapes and refined materials.  We carried a careful selection of the best metals, stones, solid surface and wood that could grant the highest performance in terms of aesthetics, durability and quality.

Specifically, the public areas we delivered are: the lobby, the reception, the Ducasse restaurant, the bar, the SPA and massage rooms, the gym, the cigar room and the iconic external staircase.  

“We turned wood into clay, we tested and fine-tuned our innovative production techniques and technologies to obtain nearly extreme curves and shapes. We used wood but also composite materials, metals, and stones. This project markst he culmination of our engineering and manufacturing progress, our exploration of curves and organic shapes. And for this, we thank the genius of Zaha Hadid Architects and confidence placed in us by the Romeo group.”

The furnishings and claddings were crafted using a diverse range of materials and technologies: in the lobby, we find the stainless steel vaults, or “whale skeletons” as we like to call them; in the reception, the curved walls are clad in brass lamellae, while in the restaurant and bar Amara ebony is the real protagonist: it creates columns that branch out and clad the ceiling, following the natural grain of the wood. The ceiling is characterized by the alternation of solid and hollow elements that allow light to pass through.  These latter, like enormous leaves, are made of wood strips that twist and turn on themselves, one of the toughest challenges faced and won by Devoto Design’s innovative engineering approach.

The same Amara ebony can be found in the cigar room with curved and tapered wall niches that follow the wood grain, creating a harmonious and rhythmic ambiance.

The spa and the gym are dominated by large, curved wooden elements on both the walls and ceiling. contributing to the overall sense of tranquillity and well-being.

A standout feature is the external staircase: it leads to the rooftop and is made of solid surface. Its design is visually striking: it is formed by white vertical strips that clad the nearly 7 m high back wall, descend and curve to form the steps before rising again to create the balustrade, all in a visually and materially continuous flow.  As the staircase ascends, the strips on the wall become denser and thicker, eventually merging into a single block of solid surface.

The Hotel Romeo Rome is a symbolic project for Devoto Design: the right mix of our engineering, innovative and craftsmanship skills.

We asked Marianna Devoto about her own experience:

“Our first contact with the Romeo group was in 2019 when they invited us to the hotel’s public areas tender. I vividly recall the very first phone call with Dr Liuzzo first and then with architect Russo. I remember the stunning ZHA renderings they sent us, and I remember the feeling of excitement and awe. My father, sister, and I had no doubt: we had to win the project!

But then the pandemic slowed everything down and all our projects and activities came to a halt. And it was in that situation of precariousness, uncertainty, and fear that we ironically had the chance to focus on the analysis of the project, of all its furnishings and claddings: an activity that required time and high levels of concentration.

I remember the video calls from my living room (with my kids around all the time!) where we’d brainstorm ideas and ask countless questions. That was the moment we began to build a relationship of trust and esteem with the client. From our end, we were determined to win the project, the last project Dame Zaha Hadid had worked on… we would not have let it slip away!

And we didn’t! It all started with the production of samples and mock-ups that we needed to understand if such complex surfaces could actually be crafted and not only drawn: only thanks to this prototyping activity did we understand that we could it and we could keep on going because our solutions were not just a gamble!

Our experience, our innovative approach in terms of materials and technologies, our capability of turning complex surfaces into simple and construable elements, and our stubbornness and boldness have allowed us to find unique solutions to these complex design challenges.

Once the samples and mock-ups were approved, we got into the thick of things. The engineering, production, and installation activities overlapped for a non-stop process that made it possible for us to meet the expected time and quality.

We are extremely proud of what we have achieved and thrilled with the strong bond of trust and collaboration we’ve built with our client and the designer, a relationship that has never wavered, even under intense pressure moments.

The Hotel Romeo Rome project is something special to us because it represents the culmination of our skills in terms of curves and organic shapes and how to turn them into construable elements. It is a big achievement, a source of immense pride, but we don’t want to stop here: we are ready for the next challenge!”