25hours Hotel on Langstrasse in Zurich

Plenty of hotels provide more than a place to sleep these days. Their offerings attract local residents along with overnight guests. The 25hours hotel chain has been going down this road for over ten years now. Each of its establishments - there are a total of nine now – is custom-designed and has a specific local flavour. The latest addition is Hotel Zurich Langstrasse, which, given its location between Europaallee and the Langstrasse quarter, provided what may have been the most exciting and awkward challenge. Studio Aisslinger was responsible for the interior design, as it had been in Bikini Berlin. The part of town involved hugs the railway line to Zurich’s central station as far as Langstrasse, an area that may not be everybody’s cup of tea.

Work has been proceeding since 2009 on developing a plot 860,000 square feet in size to a masterplan by KCAP Architects&Planners. At its western end, Europaallee abuts the Langstrasse quarter in District 4, a heterogeneous district characterised by brothels, small galleries, shops and bars as well as a broad mix of residents. The new 25hours hotel is a plain stand-alone building located at precisely the point where the smart new-build area ends and the more tumultuous area begins. The seven-storey building was realised together with an adjoining residential and commercial building by the Zurich-based firm of e2a eckert eckert architekten.

With its dark façade in glass-fibre concrete and large window frames in powder-coated aluminium, the building almost comes across as being a block of blackness. Things are far more colourful inside, though, featuring a mix of materials and themes: raw exposed-concrete ceilings contrast with shiny finishes, rough-sawn timber with polychrome fabrics. Aisslinger, who had, after all, started out as a furniture and product designer, authored most of the furniture himself. It is only logical, therefore, that Aisslinger should select FSB 10 1226 for the hotel rooms, a door handle he conceived himself.