Denisa Strmiskovà Studio Transforms Czech Military Fort Into Chic Hostel
A background in film production and exhibition design made the move to interior designer a logical one for Denisa Strmiskovà. “I find these disciplines to be very similar,” she says. “You are always working with stories, people, and space.” Strmiskovà founded her eponymous studio in 2015, three years after graduating from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where she studied scenography. A natural curiosity about materials, details, and narrative has allowed her to move seamlessly between worlds, employing an approach that is less formal and more intuitive, even emotional.
In addition to recent work on television commercials and music videos, Strmiskovà has, in partnership with friend Eva Dlabalová, transformed a 17th-century brick building in Olomouc’s historical center into a 56-bed hostel and café. The project’s name, Long Story Short, has a double meaning: the structure’s history as a fort and military bakery, which the staff is happy to relate, and a lengthy and cinematic hallway that runs from reception to all the rooms. The sophisticated lighting, the endless white plaster contrasted with black details, and the strategic pastels used in the upholstery were derived from her scenographic past. “The lighting design of the corridor is maybe the thing I like most,” the designer admits.
> See more from Interior Design’s list of 40 up-and-comers
> See more from the November 2017 issue of Interior Design
