Santa Clara 1728, Lisboa

Santa Clara is the latest collaboration between design-led hotelier João Rodrigues and Architect Manuel Aires Mateus. The building sits in the centre of Lisbon over looking the Pantheon and directly above the hustle and bustle of the local flea market. The building itself acquired in the financial crash, has taken years to persuade careful Lisbon lenders, opening the beginning of this year as a breath of fresh air across the city and perhaps the hotel industry.

The building itself is a combination of ancient old walls against new modern design; featuring sinks and baths carved from earthy-coloured limestone and natural raw linens, accessorised with pale wood and Antonio Citterio furniture.

The idea behind Santa Cara is that it sits somewhere between a hotel and a family home. João explains many of the design choices are for good reason. At the large communal dining table, where guests have breakfast, the placement of dishes and seasonings encourage guests to interact. He accounts that there has been many conversations over the table started from a single sentence and gone on for a couple of hours. The food offer is all home-cooked dishes with the freshest organic produce, with even the honey grown in João's family' s farm.

The project has evolved from the pairs previous. It has deeper understanding of materiality and detailing and has really begun to embody the 'Silent living' thread which runs through-out all the properties. Another uniformitity between projects are that the spaces are designed outwardly to work with its surrounding and connect the guests to the outdoors. 'Silent living' is a new way of thinking about hotels, questioning what people want from a hotel. Santa Clara has the absence of a single tv, instead reading corners, framed views and areas for reflection.

This idea has been progressed in the pair's next creative vision: a hotel almost entirely roofless made up of in some areas, 6 high walls, to create different spaces to enjoy and reflect. João has drawn inspiration from Architect Tado Ando and Luis Barragán. I am excited to follow this journey from both a design perspective and how this way of thinking is received. Just like Santa Clara I get the impression the new project will root modernity in its design and finishes yet challenge the idea of a hotel, rejecting the use of technology and place importance on inward thinking and reflection.