The Social Hub Firenze | Rizoma Architetture

The Social Hub, the young and dynamic Dutch start-up active in the hospitality industry since 2012, has opened its first property in Italy in the beautiful setting of Florence. TSH’s first Italian facility brings to our country a new idea of hotel accommodation, a hybrid formula open to both students (as evidenced by its name) and Italian and international tourists. The hotel becomes a meeting place for young university students, who come from all continents and are given the opportunity to reside in the facility for up to two years, and the many tourists, professionals, businessmen, researchers, and modern globetrotters who have to spend anywhere from two nights to twelve months in the Tuscan capital.

TSH Florence was opened in July 2018 in a strategic area of the city: inside the former Palazzo del Sonno, opposite the Fortezza da Basso and only 10 minutes from Santa Maria Novella station. The hotel has 390 rooms, 57 percent of which are dedicated to students and 43 percent to other guests. The offer is aimed at a young, dynamic and cosmopolitan clientele: TSH combines attractive design with high-end receptive services (conference rooms, auditorium, restaurants and cafeterias, outdoor swimming pool, gymnasium, indoor court, roof-top bar). The common areas are the beating heart of the hotel: every guest, whether student or tourist, is invited to spend as little time as possible in the room and to experience the meeting and socializing spaces dedicated to study, sports, work, leisure and culture.

The goal is to guarantee the guest not only a room in the historic center of Florence, but to offer him or her a unique experience: to live (or relive) the best spirit of the university era, to return to the informal and fun activities of that time in life, with the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, to be part of an engaging community that is generating a worldwide network of guests “made in TSH.”

This spirit of freedom, creativity, and encounter is what guided the interior design of the common spaces in the ground floor, basement, inner courtyard and especially the sixth floor of the Florence hotel. The music room, communal kitchen, swimming pool and auditorium are just some of the spaces serving guests, designed with the aim of bringing different cultures together.

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The project involves the redevelopment of a former office building that has been converted to student housing.

From the energy point of view, the plants have been modernised according to the latest standards; on the building envelope the original features of the building have been preserved.

The interior project involved civil finishes Craddle to Craddle in particular with the use of vinyl flooring with recycled and recyclable raw materials.

Mainly Italian and Italian companies were selected for the furniture and for the interior civil finishes. The custom furniture was made by Italian companies within 200 km from the installation site.