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Teresa Sapey has renovated a 19th century building in Madrid turning it into a charming aparthotel whose design and interior decoration have been inspired by the Sun’s orbit and eclipse phases
Italian architect and interior designer Teresa Sapey designed, in the center of Madrid, Amor De Dios, an aparthotel with all the comforts of a luxury hotel. The building is located in the heart of the Barrio de Las Letras, the Literary District, where some of the most important writers of the Siglo de Oro (between the 16th and 17th century), such as Miguel de Cervantes and Lope de Vega, lived and wrote. If in the past it was the city’s hub for art and literature, today it is still an area brimming with history and culture, rich in museums, monuments, art galleries, theaters and ancient palaces. Among the pedestrian streets and squares of the area, there are also bars, restaurants and shops.
The aparthotel is located in a building dating back from the 1880 that, abandoned from decades, needed to be restored. Major renovation works were carried out only in the interiors, while, since it is a historic building of the City of Madrid, the structure and the façade were just restored and painted without undergoing any changes. The internal distribution of the spaces, on the other hand, has been modified to create the apartments. Each of the 3 floors has been redesigned to host two apartments, as well as the ground floor, which hosts also the reception. Each apartment is equipped with a living room with sofa bed, kitchen and en-suite bedroom.
The interior design of Amor de Dios, an aparthotel with a contemporary look, characterized by simple and comfortable elements, is inspired by the lemniscate of the sun (the 8-shaped curve traced by the sun during the solar year). The sun during different eclipse phases is represented everywhere: on the stairs and on each floor, in different sizes and shapes. Gold, its color, is often present, for example on all the lamps. Each floor is characterized by a different color: on the ground floor, shades of green are prevailing; on the first, shades of blue; on the second, pink, and, on the third, beige. In communal spaces the prevailing colors are black and white. To complete the aparthotel is an indoor patio hosting many plants and a 5 m tall tree. [Text Carlotta Russo]
