Harmonious interplay of rectilinear forms:

The restored Baja Club Hotel run by the Mexican Grupo Habita company is located right on the promenade in the laid-back seaport of La Paz and combines traditional elements of a colonial-style villa with modern architecture set off by materials and colours readily associated with the national culture. Selected handle models by FSB in bronze finishes that exude great warmth create points of special focus as well as being compellingly slimlined. Fittings from the FSB 1004 series based on a blueprint by David Chipperfield lend a note of supreme quality whilst also providing hotel guests who use them with a distinctly haptic experience.

Fascinated by the question of how old and new can be merged into a single entity, the architect Max von Werz has, with his Baja Club Hotel in the Mexican city of La Paz, created a place that makes clear reference to past ages. A low, gleamingly white building in the colonial style has now been augmented by a stepped four-floor new-build structure. The two L-shaped buildings join to form a fusion of old and new enclosing a verdant court yard within. Various sections of the hotel are interlinked internally by a sculptural spiral staircase and, from a number of terraces, afford breathtaking views out over the Pacific Ocean. Whilst the exterior has been lent an elegantly minimalist appearance, the spaces within, conceived by interior designers from the JAUNE practice in France, forge links with Mexican building traditions and craftsmanship in general. The hotel’s colour scheme cites details from the original property such as hand-crafted terrazzo tiles, a traditional timber framework or hand-blown glass luminaires in transparent and amber tones.

Products by FSB have been incorporated at various points in the project as sources of heightened visual accentuation. Bronze variants of door and window fittings from the FSB 1004 range of products have been selected whose lambent colouring and lightly patinated waxed finish superbly matches the vibrant Mexican materials that define the project. “Hotel guests are able to discover and veritably feel their extraordinary quality and classy materiality,” the architect enthuses. He goes on to describe the blueprint authored for the celebrated architectural hardware manufacturer from Brakel by David Chipperfield as being “timeless and ingen- ious”. FSB 1004 is underpinned by a clearly-delineated formal concept that meets all functional requirements whilst also boasting great logical clarity. With its pared-down styling and warmth of material, the hardware fitted echoes the spirit of the overall concept for the Baja Club Hotel down to the last detail.

About FSB
FSB has been focusing on perfection for more than 140 years now and has long since become a byword the world over for perfectly engineered hardware, of the highest quality both functionally and visually, for doors, windows and barrier-free sanitary fit-outs. Architects and builders’ clients relish reaching out for products from Brakel in recognition of FSB’s great design expertise and profound understanding of the requirements of modern construction. Everything in any way associated with handle cul- ture in built spaces is catered to from a single source.

Franz Schneider
Brakel GmbH + Co KG

Anne Levy
Nieheimer Straße 38
33034 Brakel
Telefon: +49 5272 608-105

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