Anyone who passes by NoLo in Milan, the neighborhood along viale Monza north of piazzale Loreto, will not notice so many architectural changes in recent years. The community and the commercial strength of this area, the true soul of this part of the city, are very changing. But the adventurous cavalier Remo Eder introduced the concept of green hospitality (and design hotel) in the area, with the relaunch of the Concorde hotel.

Along viale Monza, a few steps from the Turro metro and the Zelig cabaret temple, the Concorde has always been a popular destination for conference tourism. Now it opens up to the neighborhood, to that multitude of newborn needs that reign in NoLo, such as the habit of going out on foot, looking for places to dine or meet up. Everything points to a unique success for the area, given that already now the occupancy of the rooms reaches 80% and we are only in the first stages of the relaunch.

Nearby to the Central Station, well connected to the city center by the underground located at 50
meters, and located 400 meters from the lively NoLo area of Milan, the four-star hotel reopens to the public
completely renovated in the name of sustainability, energy saving and design way more
innovative. “To reposition the hotel, we focused above all on cutting-edge technology Remo Eder
declared – but above all, guided by the Studio Mamo project, we have chosen to tie ourselves to the
new NoLo district, of which we aim to become the hospitality hub”. The investment in
technology and sanitation and safety systems have made the hotel even more competitive: the systems of
heating and cooling of the structure have been realized with the best energy savings rates
, with the system “4-way” which only few hotels in Italy can boast and which is the most qualifying point
for the hotel. Furthermore, also the home automation system in the rooms and the anti-Covid sanitization systems in the
lifts and other areas of the structure are today the flagships of a location which, already in 2008,
ahead of his time, he had invested in saving energy.

WHAT CHANGES – First of all, the use that can be made of a hotel of this kind, well served by the underground, changes. In ten minutes on foot you arrive at the epicenter of NoLo, piazza Morbegno. The furnishings and the culinary proposal satisfies both the traditional international clientele who come here for the fairs, and the new "platoon" of young activists and professionals who populate the area. Comfortable relaxation and smart working areas dot the pleasant hall. The renovation in a green key (and open to the road without barriers) has also made the seats and the bar more welcoming. A place at the service of citizens, as the general manager Stefano Picarelli says.

“The idea of inserting the hotel in the new Milanese district came from Studio Mamo - said Remo Eder, owner of the Antares Group hotels –and it was precisely around that objective that then has then developed the entire renovation project". Thanks to a general renovation that has renewed the interiors, but which has above all updated the technology, the security and sanitization systems, the Concorde is ready to welcome business customers linked to meetings and events in its new green guise in its rooms that can accommodate up to 200 people, but also those who will choose it for a leisure holiday.

Studio Mamo, with 4 months of work, supported the property with an interior design and renovation project that changed the face of the hotel while retaining its original structure. “We wanted to bring nature to life inside the Concorde, with vertical gardens, bioclimatic pergolas, green design objects and furnishings that transformed the look of the interiors”, specified Andrea Mamo, referring in particular to the more “green” aspect that characterizes the hotel today. The objective of the investment was on the one hand to make the hotel technologically advanced, with a fresher and "Covid-proof" look, and on the other to make it the reference structure of the new NoLo urban area.

The hotel also aims to be a general meeting point in the city with the opening of its restaurant "The GreeneryRestaurant" and its bar to the public and proposing itself as a location for private events.

With an investment of 2 million euros, the revamp project of the Hotel Concorde aimed to reduce management costs but also to drastically limit CO2 emissions. In detail, the works concerned the sanitization of all rooms with titanium dioxide technology, the sterilization of the lifts with UV-C ultraviolet lamps and the installation of a LED lighting system with Dali management, which allows dedicated control of the lighting fixtures. All the carpets and tapestries in the rooms and corridors have also been replaced and all the bathrooms in the rooms have been redone. The restaurant, bar and hall have been refurnished and embellished with original design objects and furnishings that give the rooms a new freshness, such as the walls with vertical greenery and the bioclimatic pergolas inside and out.

DESIGN – Great attention to the design elements for this necessary revamp of the Concorde building, which is now very brightly lit in the evening, a beacon of beauty on viale Monza. Moroso, a company celebrated globally by Udine, took part in the restyling of the Hotel Concorde, contributing to characterize the various common areas of the hotel with its products: from the lobby to the lounge area, up to the gallery. The protagonists of the lobby and bar are the Impossible Wood seats, with an essential profile, together with the sculptural Armada armchairs, both designed by Doshi Levien. The lounge area is instead enriched by the iconic Shadowy armchairs by Tord Boontje and by the Yumi armchairs, an orderly representation of a harmonious folded arch, designed by Bendtsen Design Associates. The Sama carpets, round in shape and made exclusively for Moroso by the historic supplier Golran, complete the space. Finally, in the gallery passage area, there are the Husk armchairs, a project designed by Marc Thorpe and an integral part of the M'Afrique outdoor collection, produced by Moroso in Dakar, Senegal.

The restructuring of the Concorde at NoLo, for which 2 million euros have been allocated, aimed at reducing management costs but also at drastically limiting CO2 emissions. All environments were sanitized with titanium dioxide technology, the elevators were sterilized with UV-C ultraviolet lamps and a Dali-managed LED lighting system that allows dedicated control of the lighting fixtures. The restaurant, bar and hall have been refurnished and embellished with original design objects and furnishings that give the rooms a new freshness, such as the walls with vertical greenery and the bioclimatic pergolas inside and out. The project also envisaged the inclusion of 50-inch smart TVs in the rooms which, with Chromecast technology, allow guests to access all platforms from their mobile phones. There are also card readers that take the various customers from the lifts directly and only to the floor where their room is located, in the name of safety.

The team of Biscarini Milan, made up of architects, designers, engineers and craftsmen, is able to offer a tailor-made project that can meet the customer's needs. Green and metal, aluminum and wood structures were designed for the reopening of the Concorde in NoLo. As far as furnishings are concerned, the company selects some of the most prestigious Made in Italy design brands to make a garden or living room elegant and welcoming or to change the look of the interior space.

For the Hotel Concorde, as appointed interior contractor, Caporali Group carried out the complex restyling project working both on the interiors, i.e. in the rooms and common areas, and on the external façade. In detail: in the bedrooms and corridors of the Concorde, the company took care of the making and assembly of the new curtains, the removal of the carpet, the laying of the new floors, the creation and installation of the new skirting boards, the wall coverings and carpentry works for TV walls. In the hall, the company has made the layout modification by carrying out plasterboard work on the ceiling and on the walls, producing and installing the new reception desk, placing the decorative sheet metal cladding on the existing pillars, creating and installing the seats in the niche of the lounge area with the related cushions and carpets at the entrance.

Attractive furnishings for the new generation of creatives who populate the neighborhood where Concorde stands in Milan. One of the main objectives of the renovated Hotel Concorde is to become an integral part of NoLo, the Milanese area that has undergone a careful urban recovery in recent years which in 2019 definitively transformed it into a well-defined neighborhood. New, multifaceted and lively: this is how the emerging area of Milan is defined today. The acronym NoLo, or North of Loreto, refers to New York's SoHo and intends to indicate an urban area fervent with creativity and populated by young people, hypsters and artists who want to renew its face through art, design, fashion and openness many new activities. The Concorde is located in the immediate vicinity of this area in great artistic and cultural ferment and aims to become its reference point for hospitality, given its proximity to what was once called the Greco-Turro area.

In the project for the renovation of the Hotel Concorde in Milan ADtel she took care of the IT and telephony part as an operator specialized in the development of broadband throughout the national territory. General hydrothermal, specialized in the sector of thermo-hydraulic and air conditioning systems, has redone the sanitary water system serving the rooms and a total renovation of the air conditioning system in a green vision.

M&G Engineering Consulting instead followed the redevelopment project of the BEST WESTERN Antares Hotel Concorde with the renewal of the mechanical systems for the distribution of winter and summer air conditioning in the common areas and in the 120 rooms that make up the accommodation facility.

Photo Hotel Concorde: Christian D'Antonio (The Way Magazine) and Azimak Comunication.

Published by www.thewaymagazine.it