La Maison des Têtes
Creation of the gastronomic michelin-star restaurant Girardin, a wine cellar and renovation of a boutique hotel in the historic and listed building la Maison des Têtes in Colmar, France
Located in Colmar, France, in the heart of the Alsace wine district, La Maison des Têtes (or House of Heads in english) is as historical and listed building completed in 1609, whose name stems from the 109 small head sculptures that ornate it’s renaissance style façade. This building, today a five star hotel with two restaurants, is one of the major sights in Colmar, next to the Unterlinden Museum that was recently renovated and extended by Herzog and De Meuron.
The listed building was recently taken over by chef Eric and Marilyn Girardin.
In addition to an existing Brasserie, a restaurant serving traditional french and Alsatian dishes, Eric Girardin wanted to create a new restaurant offering a contemporary gastronomy that expands on the cuisine they he was offering in his previous restaurant in Strasbourg, and as well as renovate lobby, common areas and hotel rooms.
Access to the hotel from the street is through a listed paved courtyard shaded under the foliage of climbing vine plants.
The lobby which was sombre and heavy with wooden panels, has been treated in a contemporary manner, that contrasts to and highlights the remnants of the thousand year old City Wall of Colmar that crosses the lobby.
The reception was designed as a simple counter, a free terminal, that reduces the distance between guests and staff. It is made of lacquered MDF, also used for the side table and bench. behind a flush door are the back-offices and luggage storage.
The Restaurant Girardin contrast starkly with the renaissance exterior and rusticity of it’s setting. The space has a capacity of approximately 30 seats. The atmosphere is airy and calm, centred on the experience of the cuisine. The only trace of the exterior is in the listed stained glass windows facing the court.
The ceiling consists of a succession non-uniformly curved surfaces, a modern interpretation of the traditional vaults. While referring to traditional clerical and monastic architecture for it’s sense of calm and introspection, these surfaces are finished with a special coating in order to achieve a perfectly balanced acoustic environment.
The walls are painted white, with traditional baseboards and lower panels.
And the nest is installed.
A hybrid between a screen and yurt, The Nest is this structure that embraces and coves a table without isolating it, making for a more intimate setting, while defining the overall character of the room. It is made of a cantilevered wooden structure clad with textile scales in a geometrical pattern. The interior is white, outside coloured linen that can be found on the chairs and armchairs.
The choice of lighting partakes in the staging of the room: half spheres of cast glass sconces scattered on the wall for mood lighting (materials reminiscent of stained glass) and directional lights on the opposite wall for an indirect light via the vaulted ceiling.
Finally, wedge shaped mobile carts in white lacquered MDF allow to compose and divide the space in a flexible and variable manner according to the size of the tables and the number of guests planned for the evening. Some of these service carts include recesses for wine buckets, other storage space.
The Alsatian region being famous for its refined wines, a wine cellar is housed underneath the restaurant. It is a place for tasting and promoting Alsatian wines, while also developing wine tourism. The access to the cellar is from the adjacent room, a backdrop to the restaurant with it’s old tiled stove. Here a revealed old, scratched, derelict plaster wall and dark colours announces the contrasting mood as opposed to the main restaurant space. Below the materials are raw, stones with layers of coating and dust brushed away, recovered old wood boards for the flooring and ceiling, together with four-hundred year old wood beams and columns. Seatings are arranged on a mezzanine with glass and black metal railings, the wine is stored below.
The restaurant received its first Michelin star in its first year of opening.
The renovation of the rooms was done in a concern to combine the old wooden setting with a more contemporary layout.
The access to the rooms is made through a monochrome “lock” ( either in Night Blue or Taupe Gray) that gives access to bathroom, toilet and the room. This space also comprises a cupboard lacquered in the same colour that contains wardrobe and a service column with the minibar and coffee machine.
The wood beams and panelling were kept.
Desk and an upholstered bench completes the layout. For sake of unity, the doublings of the curtains, bedspreads, slabs on the bench, bedside tables and the wallboard of the desk are made in the same fabric. The cotton linen and white linen brings sobriety and refinement. A thick wool carpet adds to the comfort.
In order to singularise the rooms we have created a specific headboard for each of the beds, each dressed in a different fabric or skin. Armchairs and lamps are also different for the each room.
The bathrooms and showers are made in large plates of ceramic stoneware (3m x 1m). Finish is either white Carrara marble or gray concrete depending on rooms.
The new rooms have gained in comfort and lightness, while retaining the warmth of the old setting, in order to meet the expectations from a 5-star hotel.
