Milano Verticale, much more than a traditional hotel. A space open to the town

Milano Verticale | UNA Esperienze is a four-stars superior hotel opened in Milan, in the Porta Nuova – Garibaldi – Corso Como district, an area that represents the urban development and rebirth of the city. The architectural project aims to overcome the traditional concept of “hotel” by creating a space open to the town. The hotel is at the same time, a city hotel, a F&B destination, a location for business meetings and a hub offering innovative services with 173 rooms, approximately 600 m2 dedicated to restaurants and bars and a 1000 m2 internal garden. The core of the project is Milan itself. The interiors are a contemporary reinterpretation of the tradition of Milanese design, with references to the elegant modernity of Milan’s maestros from the post-war period, evident in numerous details, such as the use of multi-colour marble and Lombardy stone. In the hall, reception, lounge and lobby, the storytelling is entrusted to spectacular marble walls, ceilings covered with different colours and a large, double-height space that leads out into the internal garden. Milano Verticale | UNA Esperienze in fact also celebrates typical Milan-style understatement, with one example being the tradition of hidden courtyards that were the inspiration for the hotel’s magnificent private garden. Milano Verticale has been conceived as an extension of the city itself, an urban device at the service of Milan, with ground-floor amenities designed to play an active role in dialogue with the city: the hotel’s public functions. The structure has therefore been conceived as completely permeable and outward looking. Signs of this openness are the large internal garden, the redesign of the external forecourt and the whole of Via Rosales, restoring the link between the façades and exteriors and lending continuity to the vegetation in the public and private spaces. The hotel has 173 rooms on 12 floors. The same materials and concept that characterizes the public areas continues into the bedrooms: the “public” and private part of the hotel in this way speak the same coherent architectural language. The rooms stand out for their careful choice of just a few minimal materials: floors in ceramic stone and dark oak parquet, walls in marmorino plaster divided into large areas of colour in slightly different shades and bedheads in ribbed walnut wood. Worthy of special mention is the custom-designed desk/console table in brass, a constant player in the hotel’s story and pivotal element for the rest of the room decor. Featured in all the rooms, its structure changes to adapt to the different layouts and arrangements, making it a strongly architectonic object. Another highlight of the hotel is its 530 m2 rooftop area on the 13th floor, belonging to the 4 Penthouse Suites: 4 exclusive super attic apartments with large panoramic terraces and jacuzzi pools. Rooftop and Penthouse Suites can be completely customised to suit different needs and can be modulated according to use. They can even be turned into a totally personalised single apartment measuring over 900 square metres. A location with unparalleled 360° views of Milan’s skyline and the Alps. Tiziano Vudafieri and Claudio Saverino have worked side by side with Chef Enrico Bartolini, to give shape, sense, soul and function to the hotel’s kitchens and eating areas. In fact, the real feather in the cap of the hotel is its cuisine, which offers three concepts: a fine dining restaurant, contemporary tavern and cocktail bar. Three interpretations that express the rich heritage of Italian tradition with sustainable modern taste. These public F&B locations have been designes ad fluid spaces, connected to each other, but at the same time perfectly identifiable. “Vertigo, Osteria Contemporanea” an open modern-day tavern with views into the kitchen and a natural inclination to project out towards the exterior and the garden in an informal ambience. From the cocktail bar to the “Anima” fine dining restaurant, the atmosphere becomes more intimate and perfect for evenings, with its ten gourmet tables in their very elegant setting and two private rooms seating six and eight diners. The outdoor spaces play a very important role in the project: the internal garden provides more than 1000 m2 of peace and quiet for chilling in the heart of Milan, to be enjoyed at any time of day. The landscape project designed with P’Arcnouveau, was inspired by the Milanese tradition of secret courtyards, often hidden behind the sober fronts of noble palazzos in the city centre. The entire ground floor of the hotel acts as a filter for this space, separating it physically but not visually from the adjacent streets, in a continual game of rapport between inside and out. Just beyond the outdoor area set up for bar and restaurant use, the garden unexpectedly becomes informal landscaping. The plants here include paperbark maples, tulip trees, honey locusts, katsuras, groups of shrubs, grasses and herbaceous species including viburnum, Cornelian cherry trees and miscanthus. The materials and finishes are all about the spontaneity of nature and are juxtaposed to create contrast: the smooth stone edges of the water channel with the base in dark schist that seem to rise up out of the ground like some ancient rocky tool. The hardness and mass of the huge cages in natural metal, filled with large pebbles enhance the lightness and softness of the lawn. The forecourt at the front of the hotel entrance hints at the presence of the garden inside, in a privileged relationship. With plenty of hardstand for drop offs, this renovated versatile area can easily be transformed into external exhibition areas when needed. Here a large southern magnolia stands proud, preserved during the renovation work. The public space down the entire side on Via Rosales was also redeveloped with a project that sees hardstand alternating with shrubs and trees in pots.