AZURE 2015-03-04

← each bedroom was
fitted with furnishings
and light fixtures
designed for the hotel.
↑ fabric wall panels
and indirect lighting
lend a warm ambience.
↙ additional elements
had to be inserted
without damaging the
heritage site.
visited the site, they felt the need to preserve its essence. “We wondered,”
says Manku, “how can we encourage people to go deeper into the history
of the place but not disrupt the serenity?”
Jouin explains that the monks’ efficient way of life informed the design.
In the former refectory, a custom oak table extends for eight metres and
accommodates 30 or more guests, who are expected to sit up straight (not
unlike monks) in folding wooden chairs. When not in use, the chairs nest in
an orderly fashion along the walls within LED-lit frames, which also serve
to hide heating and wiring.
According to Manku, the architects benefited from a freedom seldom
granted to projects of this scale. Describing their approach as “monk tech,”
Manku singles out the iBar as an example. A bold and boxy island of fourseater
banquettes made from salvaged oak beams runs the length of the
chapel, and the tabletops are embedded with touch screen pads. While the
screens can always be powered off, it seems counterintuitive to stay in one
of the world’s oldest monasteries, with its ornate cloisters and towering
arches, only to discover that you can play virtual games in the hotel’s main
gathering place.
Upon check-in, guests are handed iPads loaded with multimedia content
and services (the hotel calls this Hospitality 2.0). They are then led
to their rooms, with the comforts of fabric-lined walls, linen headboards
and custom-made mattresses, while flat-screen TVs are secreted behind
perforated metal panels. The 88-seat restaurant contains two distinct
areas, including open-air tables that face outward from the cloister to a
courtyard filled with fragrant herbs. Award-winning chef Thibaut Ruggeri
uses the garden’s bounty to prepare a heavenly menu stocked with local
meats and cheese dishes, often garnished with honey from the hotel’s
hives – all served on dishware crafted by a ceramicist who lives just down
road. Regional suppliers are central to the hotel’s holistic mission, which
embraces such renewable energy sources as a boiler fed by wood chips, and
over 90 photovoltaic panels that line a green roof. Even the water derives
from the monastery’s own natural spring, the Fontaine d’Evraud, for which
the estate is named. As Jouin notes, “When you enter a treasure like this,
you want to approach every aspect with great awareness and respect.”
→ Fontevraud L’Hôtel, Prieuré Saint-Lazare, a three-hour drive southwest of
Paris. Room rates start at $195 per night. fontevraud. fr
60 mar ⁄ apr 2015
azuremagazine.com