Casa do Conto (or House of Tales in English) is more than your average hotel. It is a place where you go and do not want to leave your room. I won’t write a full review of the hotel, as this is not the place for it, but if you are planning a trip to Oporto — as you should — stay there!
The R2 ceilings give it an extra layer of whimsicality. On the studio’s website you can read about the process of getting the letters into the concrete:
“the phrases were set into concrete panels using Styrofoam letters placed in a formwork. The use of concrete set limitations such as type size to ensure legibility, as well as depth of the letters which was conditioned by the steel bracing of the concrete slabs. The design and execution of the project took nearly three months.”
Every room has a story from different author related to the city and its architecture. Which makes you want to explore the building, and come back to stay in different rooms.
You can see some pictures of the process at R2 Facebook page. Architects: Pedra Líquida.
[This entry was originally published by Tânia Raposo on 23 March 2013. It was expanded with additional images provided by 205TF on 30 January 2018.]