Animals and nature have been the theme of several projects Bernadotte and Kylberg have undertaken over the years. And so it is this time too, as they have taken on three suites at Reserve Eriksberg, a nature reserve and safari park in Blekinge.
Eriksberg Nature Reserve is today Scandinavia's largest safari park, within a fenced area of 925 hectares. The aim is to promote and preserve wildlife, nature, and biodiversity. Here you will find, among others, fallow deer and red deer, Père David's deer, European bison, wild boar, and mouflon sheep. A hotel is also part of the concept. The operation has received multiple awards, including Best Hotel in Sweden and Northern Europe's most luxurious nature reserve. In addition, it has received the award for "Restaurant of the Year for Game".
Eriksberg is a unique and beautiful place in Blekinge. It’s a complete nature experience on nature’s own terms. It is precisely this encounter with nature that we want to celebrate by blurring the lines between indoors and outdoors, says Carl Philip Bernadotte. Each suite has been given its own theme, inspired by Eriksberg’s rich flora and fauna.
Our mission has been to create and implement a total interior design vision for the new Arken building's three suites on different floors. The suites have been named Urberg (bedrock), Skog (forest), and Himmel (sky), reflecting Eriksberg's soul and natural diversity. In this project, we have designed everything from furniture to light fixtures and rugs. We hope and believe that visitors will enjoy the suites as much as we have enjoyed creating them, says Oscar Kylberg. Eriksberg Arken is a freestanding, three-story wooden building where Bernadotte and Kylberg have set the theme for all 23 rooms: bedrock, forest, and sky. Preserving Eriksberg's DNA has been important throughout the entire hotel concept. One of the more spectacular features is a tree root, two metres in diameter, which now hangs as a ceiling lamp in one of the suites. The root is from Eriksberg and has been carefully selected to fit into the environment. The same applies to the tree trunks and wooden floors found in some rooms. Commissioned by Bernadotte and Kylberg, the acclaimed pattern designer Martin Bergström has also been part of the work, creating unique wallpapers for each respective suite.
We want to blur the lines between being indoors and outdoors and make nature accessible 365 days a year in a comfortable and natural way
– Martin Bergström has been here at Eriksberg collecting plants and details which he has now used to design new wallpapers for the suites, says Per-Arne Olsson, CEO of Eriksberg Hotel & Nature Reserve. The new hotel building has a strong focus on sustainability and is intended to give the feeling of a boat that has landed in the courtyard environment, where guests embark on a journey into the future and experience the animals and birds in their natural habitat. All hotel rooms have a view of Eriksberg's savannah and some rooms have glass floors, with feeding of the wild animals beneath.
– We want to blur the lines between being indoors and outdoors and make nature accessible 365 days a year in a comfortable and natural way, without disturbing the animals and nature. Here our guests are truly in the middle of nature, concludes Per-Arne Olsson.
THE 3 SUITES: • The Mountain Suite focuses on the mountain, its character and colour palette. Warm metals and glass create contrast. • The Forest Suite takes us into a John Bauer fairytale. Wild flora and fauna meet noble materials and contemporary elegance. • The Sky Suite turns our gaze upwards; magnificent plumage and dramatic light phenomena have been the inspiration.
