38|REPORTAJE T he Boscolo Group’s B4 Hotel is in Milan, near the Rho-Fiera and Fiera Milano City exhibition centres and close to the future site of the Expo 2015. The new hotel was designed to overhaul, eliminate and renew the criteria for the whole cate- gory of “business hotels”. In a hotel there are no discord, only overall harmony in the design and management of the many aspects and details of which it consists, which in turn converge and create a universe of consistency. Therefore: the space, lighting, colour, use of technology, the service catering, advertising, special use of channels for courting popula- rity are some of the various building blocks which have to be designed to fit together in order to build a world in which all elements are of the same kind, to transmit a single, recognisable message. The communal areas of the B4 were redesigned by Simone Micheli to make hybrid spaces, with various functions to satisfy the most diverse guest re- quirements. All of the spaces are linked, fluid and interactive. The entire structural and functional system of the ground floor is made up of sculptures that look like trees: varnished, polished, acid green or bright red, which are in strong contrast with the Luserna stone floor that stretches uninterrupted over the entire surface area. Sculptured arm- chairs, some with extra-big backrests, are dotted around the hall, forming relaxing - waiting islands. Huge, futu- ristic and really imaginative lampsha- des hang from the ceiling, taking up the entire double height space of the entrance. The lighting design uses strips of recessed Pixel Plus LED luminaires to pick out the islands, and to mark the paths to be followed. Going up to the first floor, via the stairs or the pano- ramic lifts, one’s gaze takes in colours and shapes designed to generally relax the senses: the fluid dynamism of the hall seems far away and the atmos- phere is now serene and snug. The corridors are lit using recessed Express 3 W warm white LED luminaires. The conference rooms, technologically designed to meet many functional re- quirements in terms of lighting design, space and aesthetics, are on the first and second floors. There are three small meeting rooms, also available for use as priva- te meeting rooms, and a large plenary session room, which seats up to 450 people. Thanks to a system of internal sliding walls, the room can be split into smaller rooms for between 125 and 200 people. The island’s false ceiling, detached along the perimeter of the walls, is suspended in a halo of light, produced using Ledstrip luminaires,