2014 the Chinese year of the horse, and what a year we have found it to be. Unawares, it came galloping up on us, and before we knew it we had been whisked away to some pretty extraordinary places. One such place was the uber-luxurious 5-star Cava & Hotel MasTinell, where we were given the opportunity to supply some of our stunningly sexy Totem lamps.

The Hotel can be found in the middle of one of Spain’s wine routes, on the outskirts of Vilafranca del Penedes, a small town less than 50kms from BCN airport.  The hotel’s avante garde design was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal of Architecture in 2011 and in January this year, the hotel also picked up the Spanish Association of Wine Cities (ACEVIN), Best Tourism Establishment in Spain’s Wine Route award.

By any measure, this is a very special hotel. Its sinuous form resembles bottles of wine stacked in a cellar. The organic shape is an obvious reference to Gaudi, right down to the curvaceous mosaic-tiled roof.

There are 12 guest rooms (one single, 10 double and superior rooms, plus one suite). All have sweeping views over the vineyard and winery. The in-house En Rima Restaurant has Jaume Balada behind the stoves, cooking up traditional Catalan and Mediterranean cuisine. Balada, a fan of the international Slow Food Network, utilises only the best local and seasonal produce. This is teamed with the quality cava produced on site.

Equally important is the hotel’s environmental credentials, including a rainwater collection system, cross ventilation, and solar filtration via the latticework design on the circular windows.

The interior of the hotel preserves the same principles, since it has a biomass boiler, LED lighting, furniture and decorative elements that are made from natural raw materials, certified for their low environmental impact.

LZF was proud to play a part in this sustainable ethos, supplying the hotel with a very sexy Totem lamp, designed by the very sexy Mariví Calvo and Burkhard Dämmer. As with all our timber lighting, we use only FSC Certified veneers and low VOC adhesives and coatings.

We think you’ll agree when you look at the images, the Totem is a perfect vertical counterpoint to the hotel’s horizontal curvilinear form.

Any destination that manages to combine great design, sustainability, wine culture, relaxation and slow food, is super fine by us.