Extending over an area of 9,500 m², including 4,400 of terraces, with eighty-three rooms, of which sixteen suites, The Maybourne Riviera is a project that already impresses from the numbers of its spaces. The second element that amazes is the place where the hotel is located: a rocky spur in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin overlooking the Mediterranean and offering, from the top of its three hundred meters high, a 180 degree view of one of the most sumptuous panoramas of the French Riviera. It is therefore no coincidence that The Maybourne Riviera has been ranked the best hotel in France and has reached the 26th position at The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2023 awards.

The starting point of this project cantilevered between the cliffs of the glittering Côte d'Azur was an already existing hotel, which the Wilmotte & Associés studio was commissioned to modernize and rehabilitate. To this end, the site and layout of the buildings have been completely redesigned. Not an easy task, given the steep terrain. As pointed out by the team of the studio, the main challenge was to rebuild the volume of the hill with an intervention as little invasive as possible. Of the original structure has been maintained only the “triangle” building, whose position on top of the rocky spur allows to reduce the volume of the complex and to access a remarkable view from the rooms.

Anchored to the cliff wall there are then seven “crystals”, corresponding to suites, so to say, “prehistoric”, set in the rock. From here a direct connection leads to the “Corniche”, that is to the rocky cornice configured as a panoramic walk. This has been completely redesigned and now appears arranged  in terraces at the foot of the spur, recalling the design of the restanques originally present on the site. To connect the three levels – the “triangle”, the seven “crystals” and the “Corniche” – a backbone consisting of a battery of three lifts and several connected staircases was built.

As for the design concept, the inspiration comes directly from Modernism and its development in architecture in the French Riviera during the twentieth century. White, mineral and graphic are the adjectives that best fit this style, from which Wilmotte & Associés drew heavily. Unlike the Maybourne group’s London hotels, this hotel is characterized by typically modernist clean lines and cut glass, which give rise to an elegant temple of art and design. The large floor-to-ceiling windows that run along the exterior of the building and the white color that characterizes it allows the light of the crystalline French Riviera to filter inside.

The unity between the two sections of the building, the upper and the lower, is given by the emphasis placed on horizontal lines. The ends of the slabs on the floors of the main building were refined and placed in greater evidence by the glass railings on the long balconies. This model is echoed by the folds of the panoramic terraces that, as contour lines, accentuate the horizontal nature of the building and its being in harmony with the surrounding landscape. The link with the latter is further strengthened by the use of white cement, creating an illusion of continuity. The impression of vertigo and the dramatic spectacularity of the site are emphasized by the accentuation of the overhang of the main building, suspended in balance on the cliff.