La Roqqa Hotel, Porto Ercole
Porto Ercole: hanging gardens between the rock and the blue of the sea.
In Porto Ercole, Hotel La Roqqa stands at the foot of the mountain, in a spot where nature is a physical, powerful, and enveloping presence.
Our intervention was not to impose a design, but to welcome this force. We allowed the Mediterranean maquis, which already dominates the slope with its energy, to slide naturally right into the architecture, creating a total fusion.
It was a gesture of profound respect that annulled visual boundaries, blending the absolute comfort of hospitality with the wild, fragrant, and authentic soul of the Argentario.
The most imposing and complex work hides behind the hotel, where the mountain loomed vertically.
Managing the rock face required an engineering challenge of extreme difficulty to create stable new terraces almost from nothing. On these surfaces, we gave free rein to our know-how in naturalistic design.
Here vegetation explodes in an apparent and studied spontaneity: colorful herbaceous plants and dense shrubs create a “calm chaos” that stitches perfectly back into the existing maquis, transforming an impervious and technical area into a lush, vibrant garden full of life.
On the sea-facing terraces, and particularly on the fourth-floor restaurant terrace, the language becomes more rarefied, cultured, and essential.
Here, a sophisticated minimalism prevails: large pots from the historic Poggi Ugo kiln often host a single sculptural specimen, allowing the material of the terracotta to dialogue with the space. We prioritized species like Rosmarinus, Westringia, and Pistacia lentiscus to reaffirm the bond with the territory.
While exotic accents appear in the private suites, in the common spaces the plant becomes a graphic and silent sign, an ordered elegance that acts as a counterpoint to the untamed nature of the Mediterranean maquis.
The entire landscape project was developed in close synergy with the interior design, curated by the celebrated studio Palomba Serafini. The intent was to ensure absolute stylistic coherence.
The final result is a temple of contemporary style, where the elegance of the outdoor furnishings blends seamlessly with the strength of nature.
We worked through subtraction and harmony, so that luxury would not be ostentation, but the capacity to inhabit a space where the most refined Italian design welcomes and respects the strong and wild identity of the place.
