Mama Shelter will launch its latest hotel in July 2023 in Dijon, the capital city of France’s Burgundy region.

The 120-room property will be located next to Saint-Bénigne Cathedral in the former health insurance offices, a brutalist building from the 1960s. In constructing the hotel, designers and architects sought to honour the building’s history and respect the rules of the French building code, while also playing around with the existing structure.

In the hotel’s lobby and restaurant, this careful design process results in spaces decorated with frescoes by Beniloys and golden ceramics by Arnold du Bazar d’Alger, positioned alongside cut-out silkscreens by Atelier Bingo. In the restaurant, attention is also drawn to two symmetrical carpets by Laureline Galliot where jacks clash, a reference to the archaeological digs that took place during construction.

“On the one hand, to avoid wandering around in a space that was too vast, we made the ceiling as dark as possible and put lights at eye level,” explains Benjamin El Doghaïli, lead architect of the Mama Shelter design studio. “Authentic grape harvest baskets were turned into light fittings and a chandelier was hung with 136 pieces of enamelled ceramic reminiscent of traditional roofs, a unique object made by the Faïencerie de Charolles, a local company. In the lower part of the ceiling, a romantic score is played, with alcoves lined with Juliette Seban’s toile de Jouy, inspired by the paintings of Jérôme Bosch, gargantuan allegories.”

El Doghaïli continues: “My aim was to capture the Burgundian landscape and invite it into the walls of Mama. To be inspired by the undulating vineyards, the geometric patterns of the polychrome glazed roof tiles, known as “toits vernissés” – or “glazed roofs” – which are the hallmark of this region. Tasting the wine, caressing the bottles to transcribe my emotions born of a terroir shaped by generations of craftsmen, growers, to humbly add my stone, that’s how I thought of this Mama with the help of revered artists and craftsmen.”

The property’s black and white carpeting is designed by Lila Mercier, intended to represent Burgundian vineyards, and the patterns and colours on the caning on the headboards in guestrooms represent the glazed roofs found in buildings around Dijon. “This Mama is a spoiled child, playful, adorned with warm colours, terracotta, powder pink and green. Each of its rooms and suites is distinguished, for the first time at Mama, by separate toilets, Tom Dixon basins, large showers and, in some cases, baths. Further details that affirm its personality include a charming bench, a desk with a chessboard-shaped top that can be removed to play… even in bed. But above all, they are flooded with natural light, generous, magical, which ennobles every corner, gives relief and depth, even to the concrete,” the architect concludes.

The hotel’s additional amenities take the form of a 202-seat restaurant, which will serve up local cuisine in surroundings adorned with Toile de Jouy-inspired décor. Mama Shelter’s signature restaurant opens up onto two outdoor areas: the veranda terrace and the planted patio. Another highlight of the property will be Mama Shelter’s  private 28-seat CineMama, where guests can hold private screenings or video conferences, as well as two karaoke bars, four meeting rooms and a petanque court.

Cédric Gobilliard, Managing Director of Mama Shelter, comments: “I can’t wait! This motto of Philippe le Hardi, Duke of Burgundy, reflects our impatience to open our latest Mama in Dijon. Mama and Dijon share the same values of warm hospitality, festivity and enjoyment. Mama Dijon hijacks the strong symbols of this wine region with humour, impertinence and respect to reveal it to its French and foreign guests.”