Hotel Anoetic
- LOCATION
- Hannam-dong, Seoul
- SCALE
- 66㎡
- PURPOSE
- Showroom
- SERVICES
- Space Design, Construction, Furniture Fabrication, Branding
- YEAR
- 2023
"A hotel that sells clothes."
A building in Hannam-dong, Seoul, completed in 1970. When we first saw it, it was close to derelict. At 66㎡ (20 pyeong) in total, the interior was extremely narrow, and the floor stepped down four levels following the slope of the land. An unusual structure for a showroom.
The location was the opposite. Even by Hannam-dong standards, it sits where passersby can’t miss it. With exposure that good, the facade had to carry the project.
Most showrooms in Hannam-dong are monotone. White walls, gray concrete, restrained lighting. Color was used so this one would stand out among them, no matter what. A red awning and a red door, mint window frames and furniture, dark wood floors.
The direction for the color came from the brand. Anoetic is a fashion label rooted in contemporary classic, so the concept became French classic. Then the space was given an identity: a hotel. The sign reads “Hotel Anoetic.” Every design element after that was worked out within the genre of a hotel.
Open the door and the first thing you see is a bed. It sits by the entrance so the hotel premise reads the moment you step in, styled with bags, a dress, and a bouquet.
Behind the counter is a back bar modeled on the key cabinets of old hotels. Its pigeonholes hold perfume instead of keys, under a LOBBY sign flanked by check-in and check-out. The clothing racks are taken from bellboy carts: brass frames over a red carpet base. Built-in mint wardrobes recall the closets of a hotel room. Each zone carries a sign: HOTEL LOBBY, WARDROBE, FITTING ROOM.
The lowest level is a basement. Because it sits so deep, it borrows the motif of a ship’s cabin. Round mirrors went up, and an extremely tight footprint was made comfortable and beautiful, the way a good cabin is.
Outside stands a bus-stop sign. The blue sign reads “WALKING STOP” - a stop for customers who arrive on foot. In front of it is a row of red plastic seats, the kind found at old Korean bus stops.
Influencers lined up from opening day. It didn’t take long to become one of Hannam-dong’s hot spots.
A narrow, worn-out building on four levels, given a single premise: a hotel. The bed, the key cabinet, the bellboy carts, the cabin, the bus stop. Every detail came from that premise.