Hotel Skeppsholmen - Stockholm

The hotel comprises Houses One and Two, both exactly 100m long and running on the same axis, known locally as the “Long Row”. The location is sublime. Skeppsholmen Island is an idyll in the heart of Stockholm – a few minutes from the central station, the shopping of Birger Jarlsgatan and nightlife of Stureplan and yet covered in trees. The islet is also home to the Museum of Modern Art and Swedish Museum of Architecture.

The first construction began in 1699 but the intended use as naval barracks never materialised as most of the soldiers did not make it home from the wars. Subsequently the two-storey buildings were used for storage, administration and finally accommodation for naval staff. The original architect was Nicodemus Tessin Jr, better known for his design of the Royal Palace across the sound, which has the same highest, “blue”, listed status for historic buildings as the Long Row houses. The change of use to a hotel is part of a bigger plan to bring life back to the island which is fairly desolate in the evenings once the museums close.

Heritage requirements meant that most of the changes made had to be reversible at the end of the 40-year lease acquired by Nobis hospitality group. The Nobis stable also takes in two of Stockholm’s premier evening venues, the Operakällaren and Café Opera, plus the Hotel J and Stallmästaregården Hotel. New construction by CKR and Erséus Architects at the Long Row included inserting elevator shafts and removing secondary walls to reinstate the continuous corridors.

House One hosts only 21 guestrooms plus the reception, lounge / restaurant accessing the terrace, a library and various meeting spaces. Guests do have to make a short five metre dash between buildings, so single women travellers are booked into House One whenever possible.
The listed aspect of the project was not a significant problem despite Mårten Claesson of CKR noting “we could not even recess one cable.” Both CKR, in spite of their contemporary image, and Nobis have experience in working with heritage properties having worked together on the restoration of the Operakällaren.

The impact of the listed status has been to limit half the hotel’s 81 guestrooms to 16.5m2; although with two windows and a clear interior this is more spacious than it sounds. Much original flooring has been covered with oiled oak boards, all casework, including bed headboards and CKR’s Vass cupboards, is freestanding and the bathrooms are separate pods constructed off-site and inserted to protect original finishes behind. The step up into the bathrooms allows space for the services. Exposed pipework is visible here and there, its neatness testimony to the quality of the workmanship throughout the property. Exposed historical aspects include stone stair treads worn by three hundred years of shoe leather and original brick floors, one including a dog’s paw print, in some small meeting rooms.

CKR have used the fog typical of the island as a theme for the interiors throughout the hotel, most literally in the guestroom curtain fabric. Designed by CKR, the Pool fabric for Almedahls comprises different densities of white pixels creating an ethereal, shadowy effect. In the public areas three adjacent rooms have different colours behind glass wall panels – darker green to symbolise the sea, paler green the sky and a milky whiteness the fog for the main lounge / restaurant area. The darker green room can be used for private dining and has a single piece, seven-metre long table made from African oak, imported from Botswana.

CKR’s product designs are used throughout the hotel, exuding Scandinavian simplicity. The round tops of their bright yellow Split table light up any room. The elegant almost hidden curves of their Arc desk sit in front of which their Misura chair for Tacchini, upholstered in another CKR fabric – Metropolis, whose pattern is inspired by street plans from cities around the world.

Their triangular wall light, Wall, decorates the corridor and their white Gum lamps droop from the ceiling peaked by a naked bulb. An elegant three-legged CKR Aria standard lamp is used as an alternative to their sturdy W081 floor-standing Anglepoise-style lamp by Helsingborg-based Wästberg. Indirect lighting in the guestrooms comes from what appears to be an air-conditioning slot but actually throws an even light across the room. Even the showers have a light source recessed in the ceiling mounted showerhead illuminating a cascade of sparkling droplets.

Further lighting is non-standard. One side of the bed may be a suspended Parentesi lamp for Flos by Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzu and on the other side a flexible, dip-moulded vinyl, Softy lamp by Laurens van Wieringen. Another third party lamp used is the W084 by Ilse Crawford; a different Anglepoise-style desk lamp also produced by Wästberg.

Hotel Skeppsholmen is a property of its place, defined in a large part by the work of Claesson Koivisto Rune. Their interiors capture the cosy feeling of an inn with a contemporary aesthetic.


Hotel Skeppsholmen
Gröna gången 1,
111 86 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel +46 8 601 30 05
www.hotelskeppsholmen.se

Rooms 81 guestrooms
Dining Restaurant & Lounge Bar
Facilities Meeting spaces: Mässen function room Skridskopaviljongen, The Skating Pavilion