02 Dec Please Touch: A Visit to Sivak+Partners’ Unique Hospitality Project

A stark, yet intriguing contrast, this 1,400 sq ft hospitality project by Alexey Gulesha from the Ukraine-based design studio Sivak+Partners in Odessa, Ukraine is inspired by 80s era James Bond films. According to designer Gulesha, it’s intended to create a luxurious atmosphere with cozy minimalist furniture that stands out from the rough cave-like walls. Using a method he calls “tactile contrast”, Gulesha redefined comfort, and chose earthy interiors paired with uncommon materials for this space.

Using these unexpected materials such as metal, wood, stone, or glass—the goal was to remind people not to judge a book by its cover, or in this case, a piece of furniture by the way that it looks. Instead, he wanted to remind people to focus on the way that the pieces feel. For example, he explains, —“the Cini Boeri armchairs look like a cold piece of glass, but they are surprisingly comfortable when you sit in them. The glass is curved so ergonomically that it even seems soft.”

The bed and bathtubs overlooking the beach effortlessly emerge from the floor, rather than being separate pieces, as though they were natural hot springs. The toilets operate from the bath area, with a smart glass wall dividing the space that becomes opaque when the area is in use. The highly minimalist office space has no drawers and only has the capacity to process basic needs such as emails or phone calls to draw visitors away from work and instead entrance them in the spell of the beach and the natural landscape. Hidden behind the workspace is a shelf meant to be a metaphor between “—human technology and the power of nature”, Gulesha says. 

Lastly, visitors can sit back and relax in the designated lounge area, or fix themselves up in the kitchen, while enjoying how everything in the space seems to flow together perfectly.