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Romeo Roma Hotel named laureate of the Prix Versailles ‘World Architecture & Design Awards’ 2025

The renowned Prix Versailles Awards are organised in association with UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA).

Rome’s architectural layers—Baroque buildings atop Renaissance & medieval structures, themselves atop Roman predecessors—includes a final layer of verticality: ceilings of painted trompe l’oeil arches, heavenly vaults and celestial chambers populated with saints, martyrs & putti.

From the beginning of her career. Zaha Hadid sited her buildings in the air - floating buildings on shadow, light and space. Hadid, and the city’s architects of the Renaissance & Baroque that preceded her, aspired to the air, the skies, and the heavens.

In designing the restoration & renovation of Palazzo Capponi, Hadid and her team at ZHA started where Baroque architects ended their palimpsest—at the vaulted ceilings.

While its core dates from the 16th century, the palazzo includes wings added in 1950s when its interiors were also converted to government administrative offices in the modernist styleWith little of the original interiors remaining, Romeo continued the rich tradition that custodians of Italy’s grand buildings have followed for centuries—commissioning the pioneering architects of their time to create captivating interiors showcasing the expertise of skilled craftsmen working in the finest materials.

If walls are not parallel, the vaults above distort. ZHA evolved this concept necessitated by the palazzo’s irregular geometries: vaults intersect at angles, generating moments of wonder.

The palazzo’s core and its later additions are listed by the government department responsible for historical buildings—dictating its walls could not be altered to incorporate mechanical & electrical services. A second skin has been meticulously crafted for the hotel interiors, creating a cavity between the existing structure and interiors to house the services for each room. While only a few centimetres in width, this cavity extends centuries in time, continuing the palazzo’s 500 years of reinvention.

Photo: Chris Dalton