Hotel Ambassade public area, library and brasserie design

Since 1953 the Ambassade Hotel resides in Amsterdam, on the Herengracht and Singel, occupying an ensemble of 17th century canal houses. In the sequence of time the hotel implemented several improvements, always being faithful to the concept of an intimate and comfortable hotel: a place where guests feel at home.

In 2014 the owners of the hotel decided to commission Cruz y Ortiz Architects the renovation and increase of its public areas. Both Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz have been – and still areguests of the hotel for more than 20 years.

The scope of works was based on three main starting points: First of all, the important Cobra collection that the hotel owns should gain a more public and visible character Secondly, the Ambassade Hotel is highly visited by many authors who leave a signed copy of their books at the very same hotel. The library that the hotel houses, is a result of this unique collection and contains over 4000 books. And last, a lounge bar, small enough to meet the homey atmosphere and a new brasserie on the first floor were also part of the commission.

Taken into account the previous situation, one of the first statements made was to reorganize the spaces. Due to the building modifications introduced before, some special qualities of the houses got lost. The result - a somehow amorphous space - seemed a sum of several decisions taken over time, resulting in a loss of coherency and hiding of the canal houses original structure. So, first priority was to provide geometry and legibility to the spaces. The succession of aligned pass ways that were introduced in the design proposal enables the transit from one house to another, as a stroll through a sequence of spaces in which the original houses are again identifiable. Recovering the spatial orientation gives a natural calm in the perception of the hotel’s public areas.