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By David Kaufman
Photography by Miguel Costa
From Lisbon to Porto, Portugal has recently emerged on the cutting edge of contemporary hotel design. And over the past year, the trend finally reached the nation's fertile countryside with the opening of the Aquapura Douro Valley resort and spa. Located in one of the most widely acclaimed wine producing regions in Europe, the new retreat includes 50 rooms, three restaurants, two bars, a library, tasting room, and full-service spa—set amid an elegant, 19th century manor house and a clutch of thoroughly modern new additions overlooking fields of grape orchards on the southern bank of the River Douro.
The project—the first of roughly seven properties set to open in South America (Brazil) and Europe (Lisbon, Prague, and Budapest) in the next four years under the newly formed Aquapura Hotels & Spa brand—was a five-year labor of love bringing together a trio of top local design minds: architect Luis Rebelo de Andrade, interior designer Nini Andrade Silva, and young designer Giano Goncalves, who developed the interiors for the property's 21 private villas. Rebelo de Andrade took the lead role in developing Aquapura, drawing his main inspiration, he says, from the historical significance "and natural beauty of the site itself."
Making the most of its existing structures—most notably the central manor house—he set about tripling the size of the property (originally about 16,400 square feet) with a few key additions, including the 22,000-square-foot spa, business center, and an annex connecting them to the house. Rebelo de Andrade calls it "an intervention" between the new and the old, albeit one which "was camouflaged in order to retain the balance between scrubland, vineyards, and the old house." Inside, he and Silva have employed classic and modern materials to enliven the new spaces.
In the restaurants, polished stainless steel chairs contrast against rich lacquered black tables; bronze lacquered furniture mixes with muted steel lamps in the astounding 19 different room types; and bronze glazed tiles and mirrors and mother of pearl tiles bring shine to the bathrooms and spa, respectively. Throughout it all, original artwork and accessories from Asia help mix East with West—all thoughtfully positioned to expand the resort's overall aesthetic while, as Rebelo de Andrade says "never compromising the beauty of the existing nature."
For the design team, creating the Aquapura was, at its core, about developing a resort with a true sense of soul. "Everything in the resort starts from the same place," says Silva, who scoured both Asia and Europe for inspiration and furnishings. "I sought to create points of contact between the various spaces for a feeling of continuity."
For more information on Nini Andrade Silva, visit www.niniandradesilva.com, and for more information on the hotel, visit www.aquapurahotels.com.
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Vintage Retreat
Feb 6, 2008By David Kaufman
Photography by Miguel Costa
From Lisbon to Porto, Portugal has recently emerged on the cutting edge of contemporary hotel design. And over the past year, the trend finally reached the nation's fertile countryside with the opening of the Aquapura Douro Valley resort and spa. Located in one of the most widely acclaimed wine producing regions in Europe, the new retreat includes 50 rooms, three restaurants, two bars, a library, tasting room, and full-service spa—set amid an elegant, 19th century manor house and a clutch of thoroughly modern new additions overlooking fields of grape orchards on the southern bank of the River Douro.
The project—the first of roughly seven properties set to open in South America (Brazil) and Europe (Lisbon, Prague, and Budapest) in the next four years under the newly formed Aquapura Hotels & Spa brand—was a five-year labor of love bringing together a trio of top local design minds: architect Luis Rebelo de Andrade, interior designer Nini Andrade Silva, and young designer Giano Goncalves, who developed the interiors for the property's 21 private villas. Rebelo de Andrade took the lead role in developing Aquapura, drawing his main inspiration, he says, from the historical significance "and natural beauty of the site itself."
Making the most of its existing structures—most notably the central manor house—he set about tripling the size of the property (originally about 16,400 square feet) with a few key additions, including the 22,000-square-foot spa, business center, and an annex connecting them to the house. Rebelo de Andrade calls it "an intervention" between the new and the old, albeit one which "was camouflaged in order to retain the balance between scrubland, vineyards, and the old house." Inside, he and Silva have employed classic and modern materials to enliven the new spaces. In the restaurants, polished stainless steel chairs contrast against rich lacquered black tables; bronze lacquered furniture mixes with muted steel lamps in the astounding 19 different room types; and bronze glazed tiles and mirrors and mother of pearl tiles bring shine to the bathrooms and spa, respectively. Throughout it all, original artwork and accessories from Asia help mix East with West—all thoughtfully positioned to expand the resort's overall aesthetic while, as Rebelo de Andrade says "never compromising the beauty of the existing nature." For the design team, creating the Aquapura was, at its core, about developing a resort with a true sense of soul. "Everything in the resort starts from the same place," says Silva, who scoured both Asia and Europe for inspiration and furnishings. "I sought to create points of contact between the various spaces for a feeling of continuity."For more information on Nini Andrade Silva, visit www.niniandradesilva.com, and for more information on the hotel, visit www.aquapurahotels.com.
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