Hotel Perk

Designer Lucie Koldová Fotograf Honza Zima

Forgiving readers may forgive the primordiality of the title of our article, but the soundbite of the pun on Šumperk, jewellery and Perk was irresistible. Just as one could not resist the admiring glances and nods of approval when evaluating the thorough reconstruction of the former Grand Hotel, where guests enjoyed the tranquillity of the Jeseníky foothills and the magnificent view of the mountain ridges during the First Republic. We were transported back in time by Lucie Koldová, a designer who managed to create a unique cocktail of functionalist interior with contemporary requirements for aesthetics and modern technology. The uniqueness of the design of the Perk Hotel is proven by the winning of the prestigious Interior of the Year 2024 award in the Public Interior I category.

The functionalist building of the iconic Grand Hotel, which operated on the same site since 1931, comes from the pen of the interwar architect Bohumír Čermák, who became famous as the author of Pavilion G at the Brno Exhibition Centre, Prague's Karlín Palace, as well as distinctive functionalist buildings for the then ASO chain of department stores throughout Czechoslovakia. His buildings with strip windows, on pillars, with a loose floor plan and a roof terrace adorned many cities from Pilsen to Šumperk, and even Vienna and Lima. The then Grand Hotel also shone in the surroundings with its functionalist façade and neon signs. However, its heyday was hampered by the dramatic twists and turns of history and the hotel gradually fell into disrepair.

A new chapter of life began for the building of today's Hotel Perk in 2020, when the reconstruction began, which lasted almost 3 years. The involvement of interior designer Lucie Koldová proved to be a key decision of the investor for the resulting unmistakable look and atmosphere of the hotel, whose handwriting imprinted the hotel with its final face and character. Attention to detail, preference for local craftsmen, perfectly thought-out combinations of materials and colours, as well as top-quality furnishings and the use of modern technologies have brought the interiors of the Perk Hotel into the highest design league. In the rooms you will find chests of drawers and bedside tables from Master & Master, a company based in nearby Zábřeh na Moravě, while furniture from Form Design or Todus also plays its role in the hotel's furnishings. The Brokis lighting fixtures, controlled by custom-made Hager Manufaktura switches, attract their deserved attention in the interior.

A beautiful view of the city can be enjoyed from the wellness centre on the top floor of the building. The wellness centre is also in the handwriting of Lucie Koldová and is anything but ordinary. The most striking proof of this is the use of large original Muffin luminaires, which create the right calming atmosphere, perfect for relaxation. However, the title of the most generous space in the Perk Hotel goes to the reception and lobby bar on the first floor. The hanging lamps, which Lucie designed for the Brokis brand, and a set of seating furniture in pastel colours and soft shades are the unmistakable dominant features of this space. Especially the Cocon armchairs, which Lucie designed for Master & Master, invite you to sit back and relax. The overall composition has an airy, spacious and luminous feel.

The reason why the reception and the lobby bar can be found on the first floor of the building is a kind of natural separation between the hotel guests and the non-guests of the restaurant and café, which are located on the ground floor. The restaurant boasts not only a modern menu with an emphasis on local and seasonal ingredients, but also an imaginative interior. The colour scheme on the ground floor has been chosen in rather darker intimate shades, complemented by grey concrete trowels and black metal and furniture, and thanks to the brick cladding and layered textures it doesn't feel cold or unwelcoming. Today, it is one of the designer's favourite parts of the hotel. "The restaurant was overall complex and I was tweaking the layout in combination with the lights until the last moments," explains Lucie Koldová. The restaurant space is dominated by a long counter that breaks in half to follow the rounded shape of the modernist façade. One half is used for serving food in the restaurant, the other for the café. Although the ground floor is fully glazed, the seating is pleasant. "I wanted to give the restaurant guests a cosy atmosphere, so I chose spot lighting over the café tables," explains Lucie Koldová. Like small artistic artefacts floating in the air, the constellation of Prisma luminaires, which Lucie again designed for the Brokis glassworks, looks like a small artwork. They attract attention and symbolically connect the restaurant with the hotel lobby on the first floor. "The collection of luminaires with metal prisms has a clear point of view, and the atmospheric smoky glass spheres with diffusers have a pleasantly ambient effect in the interior," the designer highlights. The Perk Hotel restaurant seems to want to prove that even in a small town and hundreds of kilometres from Prague, it is possible to run an experiential gastronomy. The tables in the restaurant are meticulously set - from the linen napkin to the leather-cased cutlery to the Figgio Norway porcelain tableware used by Michelin-starred restaurants around the world. But the bet on quality gastronomy and in-house pastry delights is paying off, and it's the locals, in addition to hotel guests and day trippers, who repeatedly find their way to the restaurant and café.

Guests can enjoy a variety of accommodation, from classic double rooms to a panoramic suite with a private terrace and views of the city and the adjacent park. Even in the rooms, the designer wasn't content with standard furnishings. For example, according to her designs, skilled craftsmen in Kozmice near Hlučín made tables and cabinets for the hotel rooms. Even the lighting in the rooms was not left to chance. "I am very happy that Lucie Koldová chose unique lighting fixtures from the internationally known designer duo Muller Van Severen," says Katrin Grund, founder and owner of the MONOBRAND design shop, which supplied the lighting fixtures and lamps for the rooms. "You'll find a whole colour range of these purist lamps in different rooms, from black to bold greens. They beautifully complement the masterpieces used in the public areas of the hotel that the designer created for the Brokis brand," smiles Katrin Grund.

The rooms also feature custom-made berker R.3 switches and sockets in black, but with a special matt finish. "Our Hager Manufaktura custom-made production programme solves exactly these individual requirements for architects and designers around the world," explains Thomas Grund, Managing Director of the Czech branch of the German-French company Hager. "For the Perk Hotel, we have adapted our berker R.3 switches to the final surface. Although we supply them glossy as standard, for the interiors of the Perk Hotel they were made in matt. And I have to admit that this seemingly minor change is very pleasing," smiles Thomas Grund. For the hotel's other, less exposed interiors, the choice fell on the more unobtrusive lumina intense switches and sockets in white, again from Hager. With their shape and unobtrusive colouring, these switches serve reliably in the interior without detracting from the other design artefacts.

The bottom line is that a new gem is rightly on the design map of the Czech Republic, which is well on its way to becoming a favourite of lovers of design accommodation and modern gastronomy. We can only applaud the investors and the creators of the successful reconstruction and tip our imaginary hat to them for the care and perfectionism with which they have approached the return of the refinement and splendour of the First Republic hotel. So let's all go to Šumperk, because you have to see, taste and experience the Hotel Perk!

Monobrand supplied the products: Berker R.3 (black mat), Muller van Severen lighting N° 1,2,3,5 (various colours)

Configure your own BERKER R.3 switch just click HERE.