Decofication
Tibro
Decofication is a redesign project of Tibro’s central hotel, aiming to renew the building’s architectural expression through a Miami- and Las Vegas–inspired façade transformation and extension.
The project originates from a local real estate magnate’s fondness for Miami and Las Vegas. He believes that Tibro would become a more vibrant and visually appealing place if it incorporated more influences from these American cities. Rather than attempting to identify an inherent beauty within Tibro’s existing building stock, the project instead embraces the magnate’s appreciation for alternative architectural expressions, as such qualities were hard to find within the local context.
The commission included developing a proposal for a new colour scheme for the hotel, a new hotel sign and entrance, and, at a later stage, a design sketch for an extension comprising ten additional hotel rooms. At present, the hotel has been repainted and is awaiting the installation of signage. In the longer term, there is an ambition to realise the extension in conjunction with the completion of Tibro’s new city centre development plan.
The project originated from the project “Tibro Train Track” consisting of 17 proposals for Tibro’s abandoned railway area. One of these, proposal no. 10, comprised a market hall intended to function as a social gathering place in the city, initiated by one of Tibro’s larger property owners. When it became clear that the implementation of this plan would require a longer time horizon, the commission was reformulated to instead focus on the existing hotel. In this way, Decofication can be seen as a further development of proposal no. 10 within the framework of Tibro Train Tracks. Today, the hotel is newly repainted, reopened, and accommodates, in addition to hotel operations, a restaurant and a nightclub.
The design process was characterised by several public stages. Initially, the first sketches were presented in the local newspaper. At a later stage, as the signage proposals were further developed, the current design was selected through a local public vote conducted via Facebook.
