Portuguese design studio Ding Dong took a unique approach when transforming The Editory Boulevard Hotel Aliados, giving it a sophisticated and eclectic appearance that perfectly fits the urban setting.
Located in the heart of Porto’s downtown bustling area, The Editory Boulevard hotel stands out from the crowd with its fresh and contemporary transformation carried out by Ding Dong.
The hotel emerges from the intersection of two buildings – one in Rua do Almada and another in Avenida dos Aliados, both well-renowned streets in the city – and the architecture and interior design project stems from the idea that the hotel should seem like it had always been there.
Ding Dong’s vision was to reinterpret the historical buildings within the area, using traditional and natural materials to achieve this whilst highlighting a contemporary urban edge. Antique pieces are placed side by side with bespoke furniture to emphasise an eclectic atmosphere paired with a sophisticated, urban setting. Different textures, natural light and bespoke lighting, add a depth and an intimate feel to the spaces.
Here, Ding Dong Co-Founder Michael Miranda, discusses each of the hotel’s spaces in detail.
The bar
“The bar is like a window to the rest of the city and the people using it every day. Being located in one of the most up-and-coming areas with lots of restaurants popping up in the last few years, the bar needed to have a remarkable concept. Art has a fundamental role in the conception of this bar, and the two murals, designed by Porto artist Sofia Torres, are the starting point for defining the entire space, complemented by elements of the woodwork and red fabric framing them. The flooring features wooden slats (oak) with white glaze and wooden slats (oak) with black wood glaze, all arranged at an angle, giving it a highly contrasting appearance.
The dome-shaped ceiling is lined with wallpaper featuring a linear pattern of human figures. The wall facing the main entrance is covered in fitted carpet, an unusual trait that gives it a surprising twist. The connection between the Bar and the Restaurant is also an essential piece to his puzzle, characterised by a passageway lined in oak and a deep red colour that ends up in a room facing a terrace and balcony over the Restaurant. The common element between this room and the Bar is the tapestry, this time covering the floors. Ding Dong wanted to create a space that welcomed people to sit back and relax, which is why they used oak with glazed white wainscotting, and a wallpaper inspired by the 70s. This colour palette is complemented by a bright colour, Neon Lobster, and olive green on some of the woodwork and ceiling — which features a skylight with artificial lighting and woodwork framing. The furniture is comfortable and leaves visitors thinking they’re almost at home.”
The Terrace
“This outdoor area comes into play as a very verdant courtyard with elements of water onto a more graphic backdrop. The swimming pool is surrounded by flowerpots and a lounge area that supports the bar/restaurant, which is also surrounded by greenery. The swimming pool is lined with a natural black stone with a tarnished finish, complemented by lighting on the bottom, which intends to mimic the stereotomy-inspired diagonal lines of the surrounding exterior space.
The lounge area next to the restaurant is paved with quadrangular pieces with alternatively black and white slates, both in natural stone. This space is covered with a black metallic pergola that will eventually be covered in vegetation. The pergola is also a clever way to hang exterior heaters which, along with the fireplaces, will allow for comfort all year round. The rest of the furniture and fabrics will be in black and white, emphasising the graphic character we were looking to have here.”
The restaurant
“The Restaurant cannot be dissociated from the room above and the Bar. Ding Dong attempted to combine the comfort of a home with the eccentricity of the circus universe. To achieve that, they used the same flooring displayed at an angle, combining two contrasting wood colours, notes of red-painted wood in several furniture pieces, travertine wainscotting, and carpeted walls with animal prints. The use of resistant fabrics with almost revivalist patterns and colours is paired up with tables screen-printed with excerpts from the mural at the Bar. The unique atmosphere is created through the use of light filtered with alabaster combined with more technical lighting.”
The Gym
“The gym is calm, neutral and sophisticated all at the same time. Ding Dong resorted to natural wood for the flooring, placed at an angle, too, and the walls, with frames and panelled ceiling. The wall is completed with a two-colour mirror combining practical and aesthetic traits, and wallpaper with light-toned natural motifs. The ceiling showcases a pop of mustard yellow.”
The Meeting Room
“The need to adapt this room to a purposeful space demanded a versatile yet serene decoration. To fill in the acoustic needs, the flooring is made with bespoke fitted carpet, complemented by walls with oak wainscotting and white glaze. The detachable wall is also made of oak. The remaining wall height is painted in a light green hue. One of the critical features of this room is lighting, achieved through the artificial light of the skylight with woodwork framing. The room also takes full advantage of the direct relationship with the exterior, thanks to the several windows facing the patio. An area with furniture that may be used for coffee breaks is also in the works.”
The staircase
“The formal design of the stairs is pretty consistent throughout the building, and it features a fitted carpet cover on the steps with woodwork on the skirting board and handrail, walls painted in two colours and low lighting — except for the staircase that starts at the ground floor (Aliados) aiming at the rooms which open up to the reception desk, and the staircase of the same floor that leads to the -1 floor, which is completely lined in oak wood. The common floors facing Rua do Almada, given that the staircase is inserted within the Bar and the Restaurant, Ding Dong decided to use the same fitted carpet used in these spaces, red oak woodwork and Neon Lobster on the walls.
To keep the connection with the upper floors, the colour aubergine is the chosen one for the wainscotting. The primary colour of the floors encompassing the rooms is a bright light green, which will be the predominant colour around most of the building. This colour is used for the lacquering of woodwork, skirting board and handrail, as well as the walls and ceilings on the upper floor. The wainscotting presents a darker colour, aubergine, which will aid in harmonising the whole scenario. The fitted carpet is custom-made with four colours of warm tones and rosy backgrounds with a pattern inspired by a Terrazzo pattern.”
Room Hallways
“Ding Dong looked at these spaces as transition elements between both public and private spaces (the rooms). The atmosphere is calm, and sophisticated, evoking the history of the building, which inspired the extremely detailed woodwork design, lacquered with an utterly bright light green. This element of classical inspiration is combined with the use of a geometric wallpaper on the wainscotting and fitted carpet flooring with a Terrazzo pattern and oak framing. The ceilings are designed with panels polished with plaster framing and painted in a rosy tone, similar to the walls. The walls are punctuated with black metal lamps of classic lines. On the Aliados building, a big, lacquered steel window faces the courtyard as if it were a pause in the hallway path.”
Rooms
“Similar to what it was required for the hallway, Ding Dong intended to get a calm atmosphere, sophisticated, reminding us of where we are and making us think that the rooms could’ve always been like this. Detailed woodwork, bright light green, oak flooring at an angle: all of these are common traits that are also part of the rooms. A new element, the closet, appears as a combination of light wood with dark oak placed in a green area, walls and ceiling, where some framing disguises the trapdoor that leads to the air-conditioning system. The wall also combines green and white through a pattern made with plaster framing. Each room features frames painted in oxblood red, as well as unique details made possible by the drawings authored by a Portuguese artist and Monsaraz rugs explicitly produced for this project. This is the foundation for every room, considering there is a ‘green version’, an ‘orange version’, and a ‘vintage version’ with specific characteristics that make each one unique.”
Photography © Montse Garriga Grau
