-By Danine Alati, Photography by Jan Bitter © www.vitra.com and Ewout Huibers

To all travelers long and short haul / To the weary, the wise and the bleary eyed / To the suits, weekenders, fashion baggers and affair-havers / To the explorers, adventurers and dreamers / To all locals of the world from Amsterdam, Boston and Cairo to Zagreb / To all who travel the world with wide eyes and big hearts / To all who are independent yet united in a desire for positive traveling / To those who are smarter than a dolphin with a university degree and realize you can have luxury for not too much cash / To those who need a good bed, a cold drink and big fluffy towels / To all who are mobile citizens of the world / CitizenM welcomes you all.

A new Dutch hotel group called CitizenM set out to create an innovative hospitality venture that offers travelers one and all luxury on a budget. Amsterdam-based Concrete Architectural Associates collaborated with CitizenM on this unique hotel concept, with the first hotel opening at The Netherlands' Schiphol Airport in mid 2008 and this second location in the heart of Amsterdam opening earlier this year. "The concept of the hotel is to cut out all hidden costs and remove all unnecessary items, in order to provide guests a luxury feel for a budget price," says Rob Wagemans, the founder and head of Concrete. "Since CitizenM believes a great bed and a simple and clean bathroom are all we need during a city or business trip, the design is focused on these items."

Guestrooms are small in size—14 sq. m. or approximately 150 sq. ft.—but big on innovation and design, as contents were prefabricated in Concrete's local factory, making products easy to transport. To maximize space within the allotted guestroom floor plan, elements of the bathroom are separated out. In an unusual layout, the bed is set in front of floor-to-ceiling windows, while two separate large, glass, vertical cylinders contain the shower and toilet, with a small Corian cylinder housing the washbasin. Both the shower and toilet cylinders (the shower is a transparent tube, while the toilet is encased dusted glass) are accessible via sliding arched doors with translucent ceilings that diffuse RGB LEDs from above. Lighting from 14 different light sources creates what the architects call "a theatrical atmosphere" in the room, and an electronic touch-screen allows guests to control ambience with the option of six pre-programmed moods (romance, business, and "surprise me," etc.) and six pre-programmed functional settings (work, shower, read). Through the mood pad guests can even control blinds, blackout curtains, climate, and television, and the system saves guests' preference to replicate on future visits.

With a guestroom as cozy as visitors' own bedrooms, likewise the public spaces exude a homey aesthetic, and as such the grand lobby space is actually subdivided into areas the designers like to call "living rooms," outfitted exclusively with Vitra furniture. "Our purpose is to create a home environment by designing working areas, dining areas, and sitting areas," explains Wagemans. "It creates a second home away from home for the visitors."

Unlike most hotels, a reception desk is not the focal point of the lobby, as CitizenM features six self-check-in terminals, allowing guests a sense of self-sufficiency, while also providing hotel hosts should they need assistance. Similarly, the "canteen," or food and beverage area, offers self-service items, which guests can enjoy throughout this main public space, one section of which becomes more of a bar scene during evening hours.

While the CitizenM Hotel in Amsterdam City Center is aligned with the overall brand and design scheme established at the Schiphol location—which will ensue in the next 20 hotels slated to open throughout Europe in the near future—the specific locale of this hotel does distinguish it from the others. "The local context of the building is very important, and we try to implement this local flavor," Wagemans says. "For example, we look at the materials the façades have in that particular street or area. Our new hotel will blend well with the buildings in the area, while still keeping the CitizenM brand recognizable."

Concrete designed the façade of this Amsterdam hotel as a black metal box, dominated by the pushed out, big glass windows of the rooms—"the various depths of the aluminum frames and the angled glass give an individual twist to the rigid façade," according to Wagemans, yet it blends in with the buildings on the street. He adds, "The big glass windows on the ground floor are placed inward, creating a natural transfer between inside and outside and showing the living rooms and lobby space to the street. As an extension of this dynamic interior, a red colored glass box marks the entrance."

Because of strict building codes, CitizenM must maintain the same roof-height level as adjacent structures on the street. To meet this regulation, Concrete lowered the entire building 90 cm. below street level. As a result, there is a street-level bar-top in one of the living rooms, where the bar-top is level with the pavement on the sidewalk outside to lend a unique perspective to passersby, and further steeping this hotel into its setting. In an effort to contribute to its cultural environment, CitizenM features artwork by local talent printed on PVC mesh fabric and placed on its façade; within a few years these works will travel from one hotel façade to the other much like a traveling art exhibit.

"We created the concept of CitizenM as a holistic plan that would set the boundaries for every creative process and output in all disciplines involved," Wagemans says. "We sought to create a high-tech and innovative hotel, that doesn't feel futuristic, but feels like home. The greatest challenge was changing the hotel industry: creating a five-star hotel room in 14 sq. m. But we think we achieved it, and so do the guests. We've cut out all unnecessary items but did not save on design."


who
Project: Hotel Amsterdam City Centre. Client: CitizenM. Concept, architecture and interior design: Concrete; Rob Wagemans, Erikjan Vermeulen, Jeroen Vester, Sander Vredeveld, Matthijs Hombergen, project team. Photographers: Jan Bitter © www.vitra.com

what
Graphic design and visuals: KesselsKramer. Technical drawings: ADF / Aveco de Bondt. Structural engineer: Pieters bouwtechniek. M+E engineer: Linssen / Ilex. Room enginering: Well Design. Acoustics and fire protection: TNO delft. Costs and tender documents: Bureau Coppens. Production Management executoor: Van Delft. Ambient experience, lighting, moodpath: Philips. Furniture lobby area: Vitra. Room-module contractor/suppliers: Modcon modular constructions. Steelwork/façade: Interdam project. Foundation: Keijzer Beton. Electrical: Roos en Doorn. Mechanical: van Galen / Beck en vd Kroef. Furniture room: Interna, Italy. Interior building finishing: Snelbouw/ Meijer bouw. Kitchen utilities: ATK grootkeuken techniek. Visuals façade: Visual Works. Fixed furniture groundfloor: Roord Binnenbouw.

where
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands. where Total area: 6000 sq. m. Room: 14 sq. m. Number of rooms: 215.