The Green Marmot Capsule Hotel offers fully equipped rooms in a ‘Tiny house’ format for networkers, digital Nomads and travelers. With its minimalistic timber design, it is a condensed Boutique Hotel in the old city center of Zurich.
How to transform a concept developed in Japan in the 1970s to Switzerland? There are only a few role models in Europe, in Zurich it is the first of its kind. Planning a capsule hotel means to implement various requirements in a tight space and the given budget. How much space does one person need, is it acceptable to ask guests to take their shoes off at the entrance?
The client's aim was to design a place where as many people as possible can stay overnight and still got recreation and enough privacy. A place to come back to and to recommend to others. A place that relates to the image of Switzerland and embodies ecological values.
At the beginning of the planning process a schematic diagram deals with functional and cultural aspects and determines the floor plan. The name Green Marmot Capsule Hotel refers to the habits of this friendly alpine dweller. The choice of natural materials and colors take up the characteristics of his outdoor living space. The retreat into each private sleeping capsule takes place through a sequence of rooms dealing with narrowness and with, light and shadow, new and old of the existing building.
Narrow and wide
The building is located in the middle of Zurich's old town with a view over the nearby river Limmat. The hotel on the upper floor benefits from a direct access via the narrow Rössligasse. The reception and a small counter for coffee and snacks are located in the entrance lounge. For meals you go to cafés, restaurants and bars in the neighbourhood, they serve as the hotel's temporarily extended living space. The lockers are the most frequented element in the hotel, they are located in the center and connect the public lounge area with the joint bath- and bedrooms. The minimalist designed entrance with plain surfaces creates a calm and spacious atmosphere. The corridor, on the other hand, is narrow and dark, here you enter the world of the green marmot.
Typology
A Japanese study found out that an average of nine hours is spent in a capsule hotel. In addition to the actual sleeping time of seven hours, one spends the rest of the time checking in, resting, washing or looking for information online. The design encourages a certain code of respectful conduct. Minimal internal dimensions of a capsule are contrasted with appropriate free spaces in the common rooms. The way from the outside to each capsule benefits from a curated sequence of different spaces. Pleasant acoustics and several light settings allow to control the atmosphere over the course of a day. Highly frequented areas such as the lockers are functionally embedded in the process.
Material joined
Light birch wood with three different surfaces characterizes the natural atmosphere of the interior: natural, fir green and light gray. In order to emphasize the generosity of the lounge area, all installations are integrated in the furniture. The floor pattern and the ceiling light is inspired by Sophie Taeuber Arp, the pioneering artist of concrete art in Zurich. In contrast to the entrance area, the sleeping capsules emphasize the joining of its timber elements. The external fir-green construction creates niches to slow down movement in the room. Each capsule is supplied with fresh air, has a sideboard with a fold-out table, reading light, mobile phone charging station, timber safe, mirror and coat hooks as well as a light gray herringbone patterned curtain. The partition wall to each neighbor is doubled with an internal acoustic insulation. There are capsules for couples and a separate, non-visible area for women traveling alone.
Definition process
It was the first time this typology was realized in Zurich. It leads to seemingly simple but fundamental questions when it comes to its classification in the existing Swiss legislation. Is a sleeping capsule a room? In close cooperation with the Zurich authorities, several special solutions had to be developed. A capsule is not a room if it has no door. Two capsules are available for wheelchair users with sufficient space beside. A fire alarm system communicates directly with the fire brigade and each capsule has its own fresh air connection. Curtains may not be too close to the capsule ceiling for potential smoke, because after all, for the building insurance each capsule is an independent room.
Densification
The concept of a capsule hotel was developed in the metropolitan area of Tokyo out of the need to offer a cheap accomodation. Today, transferred to more discerning guests with different cultural backgrounds, it can be considered as a contribution to an urban redensification. With reduced personal space requirements, shared functions and by using the existing infrastructure of the city.
