Dezeen Magazine

Philippe Starck designs "phantasmagoric" hotel topped with a house for Metz

Philippe Starck has revealed plans to build a 14-storey hotel in the French city of Metz, with an 18th-century-style house on the roof.

The French designer was commissioned to design the "habitable, surreal and poetic work of art" by the Hilton Group, to operate under the Curio Collection brand.

In an arrangement that Starck describes as phantasmagoric, a traditional regional home will be placed on top of a monolithic and monochromatic hotel tower containing 119 rooms and suites.

"This project is an out-of-scale phantasmagoric architecture. It's a game about uprooted roots, a symbolic construction of Lorraine", said Starck.

The house, which will contain a "poetic restaurant and lounge bar", will be surrounded by a rooftop terrace and garden.

Designed to resonate with the nearby Centre Pompidou Metz, designed by Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines, the hotel will be located in Metz's recently developed Quartier de l'Amphitheatre.

"Metz is going through a revival," said Dominique Gros, mayor of Metz. "The opening of the Centre Pompidou Metz and the wider Quartier de l'Amphitheatre redevelopment is attracting investment and drawing household names such as Philippe Starck and Curio Collection by Hilton."

"It's great to see projects of this caliber come to Metz and there are exciting times ahead for the city," he added.

Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president, development EMEA at Hilton added: "Maison Heler Metz is a unique property, the design of which perfectly captures the spirit of our hand-picked Curio Collection."

"This will be Metz's first upper upscale hotel in a number of years, and an impressive addition to our portfolio in France, which continues to be the most visited country in the world."

Starck, who ranked at 64th on Dezeen Hot List 2017, is known for his imaginative approach to architecture and design. Recent projects include the interiors of a plant-covered hotel in São Paulo, a power dock for Bentley's first hybrid car and the medals for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

But he won't be the first designer to top a tower block with a house – the same approach was employed by British studio FAT, with its Community In A Cube project in Middlesborough.