Umiltà 36 Luxury Hotel | Caberlon Caroppi Italian Touch Architects

Umiltà 36 Luxury Hotel is located in the Trevi district of Central Rome in via dell’Umiltà, a stone’s
throw from the famous monumental fountain and the Quirinale.
The structure is located inside a historic building that has hosted executive offices over the last
twenty years. Today, thanks to important architectural, engineering, and (obviously) interior
design renovations, it reopens to the public with a new and more appropriate role: a 5-star
luxury hotel, designed for an international and cosmopolitan clientele.
The grandeur of the building is revealed from the moment one walks in, thanks to the presence
of a wonderful wooden door that opens into a high entrance hall with a barrel vault. The ground
floor project immediately focused on restoring the double height of the floor which, over the
years and due to different uses of the building, had been lowered into a mezzanine floor.
The CaberlonCaroppi studio had no doubts in proposing a return to the original design of the
building, which emphasizes height and gives decidedly more captivating and spectacular views.
The renovation has given great prominence to the grand hall, and restored its importance to the
historic marble staircase leading to the upper bedroom and apartment floors.
The inspiration of the interior design project undoubtedly derives from the atmosphere of
central Roman living rooms— elegant and timeless places which hold hospitality as a primary
value —revisited in a contemporary lens as a balance between decoration and minimalism, with a
deliberate reference to Roman dolce vita where elegance and lightness were indisputably values.
The use of dram wallpapers, the presence of the marble staircase, and the choice to combine
warm tones and wood are all elements which have contributed to the allure of the structure;
especially from the entrance to the reception up through the elevator landing, the customer is
surrounded by an elegant and refined space.
An intense blue tone, on the other hand, tinges the walls of the internal courtyard in anticipation
of the entrance into a spectacular external cloister, enhanced by a glass roof which allows guests
access regardless of weather conditions for breakfast dining.
The strategic location of the hotel, situated between two very important thorough fares of
Rome, inspired an expansion of the SHEDER’s offerings by allocating part of the ground floor
to an Argentine-inspired gourmet restaurant. The restaurant guide was entrusted, in fact, to the
creators of El Porteño in Milan.
The concept of the restaurant aesthetic, as in the city of Milan, takes reference from elegant
Argentinian homes. Here, however, the design is adapted to the geometry of the building, and
the smaller yet remarkably vertical characteristics of the space.
The renovation, studied in detail, incorporates key elements of the Argentinian design with a
mixture of ancient and modern traditions, and melds harmoniously with the rest of the spaces in
the structure.
The 29 rooms of the hotel are distributed throughout the piani nobili of the building on the first
and second floors. The heights of the ceilings have been emphasized by the skilful use of full
wood paneling as the headboards to the beds, bringing the eye up in a traditional mid-century
format.
In addition to the hotel rooms, 18 apartments have been built on the remaining two floors of
the structure, each consisting of a living room and kitchenette, a bathroom and bedroom.
The apartments maintain the same style as the rest of the hotel and guarantee a unique living
experience.
Inside these spaces, materials and fabrics alternate between classic and modern features to
suggest a harmonious elegance, a subtle compromise between architecture and design and a
wonderful story from past to present day.
Overlooking the Vittoriano and the rooftops of Rome on the top floor, the panoramic terrace
hosts an open-air lounge restaurant and cocktail bar open during spring and summer.

Structural renovations
The renovations took into account the extremely varied and lengthy history of changes to the
building, a product of a long transformation process in line with the development of the area
which included combinations, additions, and layering for over two thousand years.
The structural projects were carried out in full accordance with the architectural needs of
the building, and with the aim of making the property suitable for its new intended use, thus
transforming it from a commercial space into a “hotel.”
The spaces we intervened in followed a pattern of complex environments which were
characterized by small and very irregular surfaces. This aspect was particularly evident on the
ground floor, where the rooms were defined not only by the load-bearing walls of the building,
but also by an inter-floor slab which significantly limited the space’s functionality and aesthetic
appeal.
With the demolition of extensive fields of attic and the creation of large openings in the loadbearing walls, it was possible to give added value to the building, which was thus transformed
and made suitable to accommodate the environments of the new intended use.
The demolitions were followed by structural reinforcement of the load-bearing walls and
stiffening of all the floor areas, which made it possible to obtain the “seismic improvement” of
the entire building, as required in par. 8.4.2 of the NTC 2018 (Technical Construction Standards,
Ministerial Decree of 17 January 2018).
By completing a full structural renovation, we achieved a new balance in the building, creating
new spaces and areas while respecting both the history of the building and its new hospitality
function.
The firm’s strength lies in their ability to identify and redevelop important and distinctive
elements within the structure, contextualizing them in a new environmental setting that has
given the building a fresh start.

The plants
The systems were designed with the aim of providing the structure with environmental comfort
and management standards suitable for the hotel level, as well as allowing the rationalization of
energy consumption.
The mechanical systems are perfectly integrated into the furnishings, adopting technical
solutions capable of conditioning the rooms with minimal invasiveness and obtaining maximum
comfort for the customers. Air conditioning can be “heard” but not seen. The hotel is equipped
with a simple management system on the guest side and at the same time technically advanced,
capable of monitoring all functions and controlling access and attendance in the rooms through
an integrated system of sensors.