Roman Holiday

South African designer Tristan du Plessis has brought his brand of gritty glam to Italy’s capital, discovers Piet Smedy

Take me through your initial approach to the project – what was your first impression of the space and how did it inform your design process?

Coming from South Africa, it was amazing to work on a project where the building, a former hotel, was over a century old, as we don’t really have many buildings that old back home – so we really went to town showing that off. Layers of plaster were stripped off to reveal ancient brickwork. I wanted to expose the bones as much as possible.

What are challenges that come up when you’re gutting a building that’s over a hundred years old?

Our design process was reactive. We completely overhauled and stripped down the hotel. Reallocating the floor plan was extremely difficult, as we were working with walls that weren’t straight. Which means that every room in the hotel has a different feel to it, which is special.

Being in the historic Regola neighbourhood, there’s a lot of traditional Rome at play, but at the same time, you’ve introduced a bold edginess to the interiors.