A hotel with a comfortable lounge bar

Opened in June 2019, Hotel Beila (the former name of the town of Bilzen) is the latest expression of an entrepreneurial gene and a building that have both been passed down through the family of owners for five generations. «Bilzen is a medium-sized town in the province of Limburg, Belgium. There were no hotels here in the city centre before we decided to build and manage one ourselves,» says architect Karlo Bogaerts, who masterminded the project. «We wanted it to be stylish and ultra-modern with a lively lounge bar capable of attracting a local clientele and avoiding the depressing sense of loneliness typical of provincial hotels in the evenings.» Once it had been ascertained that renovation would not be a cost-effective option, the old brick building was demolished and rebuilt with a prefabricated steel structure. This brought two immediate advantages: lighter foundations due to the lower overall weight of the building and a significant reduction in construction time. The result is a bright four-storey building (ten rooms with a total floor area of 750 square metres) illuminated by natural light flooding in through the large windows and the multiple-height glazing. Thermal compliance is guaranteed by the 12 cm thick external insulating panels and a final brick cladding. The street level entrance leads into a large brightly lit space where the furniture is used to delimit the reception, lounge, seating areas and patio. The most striking feature is the wall facing the bar, which with its length of 25 metres and height of about 6 metres is illuminated by directional lighting and used for modern art exhibitions. Every six weeks a young artist has the opportunity to showcase his or her work here for free. «Some aspects of the interior design, particularly in the lobby and the guest rooms, were developed in collaboration with the architects from Creneau International,» says Karlo Bogaerts. The finishes were chosen in accordance with the industrial chic style of the project. This led to a preference for visually-appealing materials with an industrial look, such as the oxidised copper effect of the bar counter, the air conditioning ducts, the factory-style ceiling lights and the seats with a tubular stainless steel structure. «The staircase with laser-cut balustrade leading from the ground floor to the first floor is made of untreated natural steel in keeping with its important role in the interior design of the lobby,» continues the architect. «The stairs leading to the second, third and fourth floors are instead made of concrete.» The White, Lead and Mosaico Tris porcelain tiles from Flaviker’s Rebel collection chosen for the entire project prove highly effective at setting the tone and stylistically linking the interiors. The translucent effects and colour contrasts of its surfaces recreate the appeal of recycled metal sheets. Rebel X20 tiles in a thickness of 2 cm were used for the outdoor pavings.