Ett Hem: How Studioilse Made Domestic Life the Basis of a Stockholm Hotel
Ett Hem starts with a deceptively simple proposition: a hotel can take its cues from the way people inhabit a good house. Studioilse's original 2012 project in Stockholm converted an Arts and Crafts building into a twelve-bedroom guesthouse. The important change was not merely a new set of furnishings. It was a different relationship between the spaces, the people working in them and the guests who arrive.
The hotel traces the original residence to 1910 and credits Ilse Crawford with guiding its transformation from the beginning. That existing domestic character provided an alternative to the conventional sequence of grand reception desk, lobby and formally separated restaurant. The scale of the building could become an advantage, encouraging a more personal rhythm of occupation. [1] [2]
Rooms that support different kinds of use
Studioilse describes flexibility as central to the original concept, including a less rigid division between areas occupied by staff and guests. In design terms, this shifts attention away from the photograph of a perfectly arranged room and towards the question of what can happen there during the day. A successful interior has to accommodate changes of pace, mood and company.
The kitchen is a clear expression of that principle. Ett Hem presents it as a central part of the house, with meals prepared around local and seasonal produce and dining available to hotel guests and other visitors. Food preparation is therefore part of the identity of the place. A kitchen can make hospitality visible and understandable in a way that a more distant service arrangement cannot. [1] [3]
A material palette that invites occupation
The property's Small Luxury Hotels description records a combination of cane, wood, leather and velvet, with contemporary and vintage elements used together. These materials offer different kinds of contact and different ways of ageing. Their interest is not dependent on an immaculate, uniform finish.
This is where a domestic approach becomes more demanding than simply choosing comfortable furniture. Objects of different periods need enough room to retain their character, while the overall arrangement still has to function for people who do not know the house. Texture and proportion can provide coherence without requiring everything to match. The result is an interior that can feel collected rather than installed in one gesture. [4]
The garden as another shared room
Ett Hem's own description presents the courtyard garden as a place for conversation and rest. Its relationship to the house extends the range of social spaces without requiring a change in the underlying idea. A guest can move from shared interior life towards a quieter outdoor setting and remain within the same domestic scale.
The hotel also describes its rooms as being inhabited by art and objects with their own histories. Taken together with the garden and kitchen, this suggests a form of hospitality built through continuity: meals, books, conversation and retreat are parts of the same place. The design supports these activities rather than allocating a separate, highly branded experience to every one. [5] [6]
A principle that could grow
Ett Hem has expanded beyond its original twelve-bedroom form. Studioilse documents the adjacent Ett Hem Residences as a separate 2023 project, intended for longer stays in another converted Arts and Crafts building. It retains an emphasis on informality and flexible use, while responding to a different duration of occupation.
The distinction between the original hotel and later residences is important, but their connection is equally revealing. A strong interior idea can be developed without simply repeating the same rooms. Ett Hem's lasting contribution is a way of organising hospitality around everyday life: give people useful spaces, a choice of company or privacy, and materials that reward attention. The sense of being welcome then becomes something the design helps people experience, rather than a message the decor has to announce. [1] [7]
Comments