Vincent Callebaut Architectures Creates a Futurist "Metamorphosis" of Luxembourg's Hotel Des Postes

Written by Niall Patrick Walsh

Vincent Callebaut Architectures has released details of their competition-winning “Metamorphosis of the Hotel Des Postes” in Luxembourg City. The Paris-based firm’s proposition centers on propelling the historic site into a contemporary era, and to “reveal the intrinsic heritage qualities of the building.”

The scheme, which centers on the historic stone and concrete Hotel Des Postes designed by State Architect Sosthène Weis between 1905 and 1910, will be transformed by the addition of a domed “chrysalis” volume in the heart of the building’s courtyard.

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The fruits of a design process begun in 2016, the team has produced a chrysalis covered with a solar dome, “conforming to the contours of the inner courtyard” creating sheltered, airtight, naturally bioclimatized spaces. Sitting at an intersection between history and modernity, the metamorphosis seeks to reinforce the existing identity of place, while “transforming the historic building into a showcase of contemporary, ecological architecture.”

The reworked program for the Hotel des Postes will feature a basement-level coffee shop and Post-Store underneath a double-height ceiling, accessed via a structural glass staircase. On first floor, a brewery and restaurant will open out onto the Place Royal-Hamilius, where it will overlook a Norman Foster-designed plaza.

The upper floors are dedicated to co-working office spaces, alternating between the existing structure and new chrysalis volume. From the sixth floor upwards, a series of spaces including a kitchen-garden, rooftop terraces, and restaurants offer panoramic views across the city.

The most significant alteration to the existing structure will be to the courtyard volume, with the restoration of historic facades, ledges, and window frames complimented with the recovery of interior elements such as two stone and wrought iron staircases, and the signage of the historic elevator.

Encompassing the space will be a solar dome deformed by a chrysalis tower, “establishing a seductive dialogue with the massive stone vessel” surrounding it. The chrysalis will be constructed of a light, metal-framed grid shell and honeycomb beams to let maximum light into the yard.

In keeping with an environmental “cradle to cradle” economy, the scheme will integrate extensive green features, such as the solar, wind, and biomass energy, natural ventilation, and evapotranspiration of plants.