Meelfabriek Hotel

location Leiden, Netherlands
date 2017
client Ab van der Wiel, Meelhattan B.V.
program hotel
surface 6570 m²
status under construction
design team Studio Akkerhuis
consultants Piet Oudolf, Lola Landscape, Pieters Bouwtechniek, LBP Sight, Vlampunt

The 40-meter height former grain silo is the largest industrial building in the Meelfabriek post-industrial development and it will be transformed into the Meelfabriek Hotel. In order to retain the silo identity and thus its industrial heritage, the project aims to preserve as much as possible its monolithic exterior and majestic interior, transforming the roughness of the exposed concrete into raw beauty.

Through an inside-out transformation, each room fits in between the continuous vertical structure. Such verticality is emphasised at each floor by the preserved vertiginous voids that cross the full height of the building and through which suspended bridges serve the hotel rooms. Likewise the room windows fit in the monolithic facade as a result of a surgical intervention.

While the central part of the building hosts the hotel rooms, both the bottom and top levels have public access to ensure a multidimensional experience for the various users of the building. The ground floor is designed as a flexible event space connected to the hotel lobby, Singel channel marina and the commercial functions.

From there a panoramic core with exterior stairs brings the visitors first to the destination roof-top bar and restaurant, then to the exclusive ballroom: a pure mirrored glass volume of 10x10x10 m, the highest point of the Meelfabriek, suspended in the sky, with a 360 degree breathtaking view of the city. The cube glass facade will mirror the surroundings in the daytime while at night it will be a beacon and symbol of the new city district.