-
Architects: Policrónica
- Area: 850 m²
- Year: 2024
-
Photographs:Julien Labrousse
Text description provided by the architects. Design studio Policronica has reimagined the interior of a historic building located next to the iconic Elysée Montmartre concert hall at the heart of Montmartre in Paris. Previously abandoned, the 850-square-meter space has been revitalized to reflect the architects' distinctive aesthetic, featuring a monochromatic interior defined by architectural woodwork and custom wooden furnishings. Policronica chose to design and manufacture all of the hotel's elements in-house, including furniture, lighting fixtures, and handles. The project embraces warm and raw materials such as wood, plant fibers, brass, and neutral fabrics, creating a clean, organic aesthetic across all of its 16 rooms.
Nearly every element of the interior was custom-designed and crafted on-site at Policronica's workshop in Lisbon, utilizing locally sourced Eucalyptus wood. This wood, often considered invasive due to its uncontrolled growth and detrimental effects on soil quality, is typically used for papermaking. Policronica worked directly with small forest owners to purchase the trees at higher prices than those offered by papermaking companies. The aim was to showcase, on a small scale, how this material could be repurposed for high-value applications, promoting sustainable and diverse forestry practices.
At its Lisbon workshop, Policronica has developed a fully integrated process that consolidates all stages of production—from raw timber to the finished product or structure—in one location. A multidisciplinary team of designers, architects, carpenters, industrial technicians, and skilled workers collaborates to implement innovative and sustainable production methods. This approach challenges conventional production workflows, which often separate phases such as logging, milling, distribution, and carpentry into disconnected processes.
A standout feature of this project is Policronica's development of solar vacuum wood dryers, which reduce eucalyptus drying times from 18 months to just six days while preventing warping or splitting. Additionally, almost every part of the tree trunk is utilized, minimizing waste and eliminating the repeated transportation typically required in traditional production chains. This results in an exceptionally low-carbon production process. The Hotel Elysée Montmartre embodies Policronica's holistic and sustainable design philosophy and has received international recognition.
