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The restaurant area itself uses similar lighting effects to the wall at the back of the reception area, with constantly changing colour light effects behind both the seating booths and the bar itself. The changes are subtle and well controlled, although the colour itself is quite strong. With clever lighting of the booths the overall effect is harmonious and it makes a strong contrast with the more stripped back minimalist approach favoured by other, perhaps less confident, designers.
The planning of a very tight space in the ground floor area is very effective with the reception for the apartments unobtrusively positioned. Clever positioning of the Concierge and bellboy desks allows the guest to be welcomed and passed from person to person through to the reception desk area. The whole area is visually busy, with harmonies of pattern and colour set against a strong use of visual set points such as the artwork or the fireplace in the lounge or the blue of the staircase, creating a warm and welcoming interior.
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Entrance to the restaurant is immediately inside the door to the hotel - click to see the exterior of the entrance with the bell hop desk
booths are along the side and the rear - with the rear seating dramatically changing color. Click to see other seating
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The guest lounge is positioned just inside the entrance making for a very useful meeting space. Its entrance being adjacent to the concierge desk gives the hotel a large degree of control over the space, which is also used for the breakfast buffet. Windows on to the street to the front of the hotel are open but the slope at the side takes the pavement up above cill level and passers-by are screened by a stretched net which obscures view in and out, conferring privacy. The use of earth colours adds to the drama of the fireplace and allows the flames to stand out in contrast. Again the strong use of the lighting adds to the sense of theatre created in the space, without robbing it of its intimacy.
"harmonies of pattern and colour ...creating a warm and welcoming interior"
On the opposite side of the entrance is the restaurant, with its own street frontage and outside seating area. Again a strong sense of theatre is imbued through the use of changing coloured light effects. Dawson Design handles colour and pattern throughout the hotel with confidence and panache, but it is not just implemented through the floor and wall coverings but also through strong art and the lighting. The contrast that this provides to the all pervading blandness of many so-called ‘minimalist’ interiors is welcome.
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