Mediterranean inspiration

Given its location in the town of Vietri sul Mare on the Amalfi Coast, it is hardly a surprise that the spirit and structure of Lloyd’s Baia Hotel should be so strongly influenced by the sea. This splendid four-star hotel overlooking the Gulf of Salerno was recently renovated by the practice Raffaele Carrella Architecture and Design with the aim of creating modern, essential and bright interiors.
Immersed in the splendid Mediterranean landscape, Vietri sul Mare was declared a UNESCO Heritage Site along with neighbouring towns in 1997 and has been home to this luxury hotel since 1955. Amenities offered by the establishment include a number of sea view terraces, a private beach accessible by panoramic lifts, a fitness area and three restaurants specialising in local cuisine.
The new rooms welcome guests with an exclusive, warm atmosphere that reflects the colours of the surrounding landscape: deep sea blue, coral red and the yellow of the gorse that grows so abundantly along this stretch of coast. These bright colours are a key component of the innovative and modern interior design, rendered all the more elegant by the skilful use of very pale walls that brighten the rooms and enhance the custom-designed furnishings consisting prevalently of bleached oak.
The entire lighting project combines functional requirements with emotional appeal.
By maintaining a harmonious balance between the volumes, colours, materials and lighting, architect Raffaele Carrella gave the rooms a strong identity while paying tribute to the local traditions of decoration and craftsmanship.
The guiding concept followed by his practice draws inspiration from the world of fashion and art and applies it to the hotel sector. In Vietri the architect’s search for aesthetic and functional excellence focused on the age-old production of high-quality ceramics. Starting out from simple terracotta items such as dishes, pots and roof tiles, the town’s craftsmen gradually honed their skills and began producing handmade majolica tiles called « riggiole » which were used on floors in churches and aristocratic homes.
This relationship between art, craftsmanship and architecture is much in evidence in the Lloyd’s Baia Hotel thanks to collaboration with the Salerno-based company Francesco De Maio, which produced artisanal majolica tiles of rare beauty designed to convey a unique sense of sophistication. The Classico Vietri collection was chosen by the architect and client with the aim of maintaining
a strong link with the town’s cultural, artistic and craft heritage. The guest rooms, corridors and bathrooms are lined with splendid carpets of hand-painted tiles produced using age-old techniques passed down through the generations. The colours, ranging from dark blue to azure, from copper green to orange and yellow, help to decorate the spacious and brightly lit rooms. The floors reflect all the skill of the master decorators as well as the sunny Mediterranean spirit of Vietri sul Mare. This enables time-honoured traditions to be revisited in keeping with new tastes and contemporary trends. The architect commented: « Our country can boast cultural and urban elements of outstanding interest, as well as companies and craftsmen renowned the world over for their skill and professionalism. For this reason I believe we must do everything in our power to promote Italian companies and products both in Italy and abroad. »