HOTEL MONOPOL LUCERNE
2023 
Adaptive Reuse, Hospitality Design Study
Client: Hotel Monopol
Partner: Eda Özgener
Visuals: Dashvisual 
 

Overview
The transformation of Hotel Monopol reimagines a historic 1899 railway hotel into a dynamic, hybrid hospitality hub at the heart of Lucerne. Located opposite the main railway station, the project responds to the changing relationship between travel, work, and urban life. By bringing together locals and visitors, it turns a traditional hotel into an open, community-anchored public space.

Design Approach: Learning from the Tourism Timeline
To develop a responsive design framework, the project began with a study of the historical evolution of tourism and its spaces. Tracing the shift from necessity-based travel and early railway tourism to the rise of mass tourism, short-term rentals, and today’s digital nomadism revealed how guest expectations of privacy, utility, and space have continuously evolved. This research informed a dedicated design guide for the guest rooms, setting out spatial rules built around flexibility, multi-functionality, and efficiency. Instead of the static layouts of conventional hotels, the guide reflects how guests actually live today: working, cooking, resting, and socialising within a single footprint.

Modular Spatial Strategy
Following this guide, the guest rooms are reorganised into an efficient modular system. Wet rooms are reduced to a compact 2.4 m², returning space to the main living zone. Overlapping circulation paths, integrated kitchenettes, and foldable furniture maximise usability in a small footprint. The system scales across single rooms, double rooms, and junior suites, offering an adaptable model for contemporary urban lodging.