A hotel with museum specifications becomes the landmark of Thessaloniki’s port
The Met Hotel is a 5-star hotel entirely designed by Zege Architects, founded by Greek architects Tasos Zeppos and Eleni Georgiades in 1981, for the Chandris Group. The hotel opened in 2010 and is located in the port of Thessaloniki, the second biggest city in Greece. The Met Hotel has become a new urban landmark attracting people to an industrial environment that was hardly ever visited by the wider public before. The hotel contributes to the development of the port and sets an example of how such areas can be given new life.
The building is in dialogue with its context: the sea and the docks lend the hotel its special form. The wavy surfaces of its facades challenge the standard hotel typology and the zigzag lines of the bar, the reception desk and the restaurant give a sense of movement that prevails over the straightness of the enveloping spaces.
Big windows and transparent bathroom walls in the rooms make the view of the port an integral part of the design and the visitors' experience. Large surfaces of wood, marble and glass create an environment of clean aesthetics and discrete contrasts that allows visitors to quickly decipher the logic of the space and its uses. But as they move through the hotel, surprises are waiting for them: comfortable lounges, cosy fireplaces, quiet reading corners and exits to the internal courtyard. Gold leaf wallpaper behind the bar, wooden walls in the restaurant and a deep black reception desk make these areas recognisable and add to the visitors' sense of direction. Works of art by artists such as Bill Viola and Erwin Wurm from the private collection of the Chandris family enhance the gallery-like atmosphere of The Met Hotel and make it a major attraction for art lovers.