ALL THE POETRY OF RIAD ROSEMARY, A HOUSE-HOTEL MADE AND BUILT BY HAND IN THE HEART OF MARRAKECH
A miniature geography of the territory it occupies, the new LRNCE hotel is a new starting point that is already a destination
In the heart of one of the oldest districts of the city, Riad Zitoun Jdid, the new hotel in Marrakech , designed by LRNCE, a lifestyle brand founded in 2013 by the artist Laurence Leenaert and her husband Ayoub Boualam, is a refuge with an exotic memory that meets the vernacular design. Hospitality project inaugurated last September after five years of restoration, it concerns one of the buildings designed by Quentin Wilbaux , the Belgian architect who, right in the medina, has documented, photographed and restored around 150 properties over the years. Riad Rosemary , a hotel and destination that celebrates local craftsmanship and culture, thus mentions its origins in its name and pays homage to the former owner, Mrs. "Rose-Marie".
Thus, if architecture alone is a poem to be inhabited , the stories of the artisans who worked on the project strengthen the emotional component of the domestic story: a group of women specialized in the decoration of glass and stained glass windows from Meknes, the potters of Safi, the tilers of Fes and the marble sellers in Rabat. "Many, however, such as carpenters, metalworkers and plasterers, live on site", they explain, "including the craftsmen who laid the tiles in the courtyard at the rate of 30 slabs a day, while another team inserted 8,000 lozenges of red marble in the main staircase". Everything, therefore, takes us back to the Arab region, outlining the profiles of a house-hotel made and built - effectively - by hand.
Artistic works, accessories and custom-made furnishings, collectibles and unique pieces then follow each other through the interior spaces, in a labyrinth of rooms that alternates vintage armchairs by Carlo Scarpa with lighting fixtures recovered from destroyed inns, with desks of 1920s, highly polished silverware and American ceiling fans. At guests' disposal, introverted and comfortable, there are five suites , each different from the other; The shared spaces, however, such as the swimming pool and the inevitable hamman , are less intimate and intended for conviviality . Starting point which is already destination.
