Contract Textile International

The Penthouses @ The Wyndham Grond Hotel, Chelsea Harbour

Company News - Volume 4/ Jan-Apr 2011

It’s not very often that these kinds of extensive refurbishments come up on an already unique, exciting location. One that gives a designer such scope to do something really special.   

I was appointed as Interior Designer by the owners of the hotel to redesign the public areas, Leisure centre and Penthouse floor into a deserving five star luxury hotel. The brief was to take the tired and anemic interior that it presented and inject it with a shot of vitality and style. 

In this article, we’re focusing on the Penthouses @ Wyndham Grand

Chelsea Harbour because there is a lot to talk about in these four suites. The hotels existing penchant for fashion design and the famously chic Chelsea Harbour area led me to the very distinctive individual penthouse schemes. 

There are four very strikingly different suites, an executive lounge and three executive meeting rooms, all with spectacular views of the River Thames and the London skyline. All of the suites are signalled by their name woven into the carpet outside their respective doors.

Perhaps it’s the wet miserable climate that we must suffer throughout the year that draws me towards warmth when designing interiors. The Kensington Suite, although not the largest suite, leaves one feeling warm and fuzzy inside, yet calm and sophisticated all at the same time. It’s a combination of the warm colour in the walnut panelling, the open flueless fire and the very deep urbane colours in the pinstripe fabrics that exude these feelings. One is reminded of a smartly tailored suit with a heavy woollen scarf for comfort. This is carried through into the large bathroom suite & open walk-in wardrobe where we have used the pinstripe pattern in lots of different ways. We used smart Paul Smith designed fabrics from Kvadrat to deliver this look.  

Leaping out of refined luxury into a world of glamour and bling, The King’s Suite, the largest of the suites, we find ourselves surrounded by luxurious decadence. Taking inspiration from patterns and fabrics akin to Vivienne Westwood or John Galliano’s lines, there’s a mixture of printed silks, velurs and velvets all mixed up with iconic cheekiness. 

The master bedroom has a dramatic upholstered headboard in the pattern of the Union Jack flag, a subtle tribute to Westwood. Flock patterned wall paper hangs in both bedrooms where silver painted scrolled French furniture and embossed silver chairs sit side by side with punkish tartan fabrics and bold brightly coloured accessories. The polished black and white marbled bathroom continues this heightened sense of luxury where a bespoke wall sculpted image of a king’s crown hangs above an infinity bath and if you’ve had a tough day you’ve got your own sauna to melt away all that stress.

The Savile Suite is pure in its classic styling. There’s elegance to this suite that you really get a sense of when you walk through the large double doors into the open plan living and dining area. The compact blueprint of the suite is counteracted by an open raised curved seated area that you sink softly into. The open shelving which forms the back of the half moon seating lends itself to housing all the most recent architectural, fashion and interior hard backs that one can consume in an evening. Snugly designed into this cradle of comfort is the Ambilight flat screen tv, music surround sound system and open fire.

It’s unfortunate that on this occasion the inspiration of The Savile Suite, Alexander McQueen, alive when we conceived the scheme, has alas now passed. It was the use of paisley in his fashion lines which caught our imagination and we brought this pattern into the full height upholstered headboard in the bedroom. Aged leather upholstery, floral and striped silks with polished metal studding on furniture also binds this classic endearing interior.  

The fourth penthouse, The Abingdon, is yet again unique in its furnishing. Silver leaf wall panelling, mirrored furniture and the use of a strong black and white polka dot pattern set the tone for this beautifully airy suite.  Sweetness and light is the feeling you get and a lot of it comes from the inspiration of this suite which was Biba, the sixties fashion phenomenon. 

It’s a rich mixture of reflective finishes with black and white bold patterns which really makes it a lively, exciting space to find yourself in. The bathroom has full height brown marble tiles and elaborate Italian fixtures that dress the vanity. There is also a strong influence of Art Deco styling in the overall scheme. A walk-in wardrobe is nestled behind a full height diamond mirrored headboard and the simple geometric patterns typical of the Art Deco style are used in the artwork and cushion fabrics. 

The Executive lounge extends the theme of the hotels ‘well travelled’ clientele with a 3 dimensional globe map on one wall & a commissioned metal sail boat table sculpture acknowledging it’s unique harbour surroundings. This top floor lounge services the Suites and the executive meeting rooms on this floor & is open to the public. 

The other areas in the hotel are still undergoing their transformation but so far the feedback has been really positive and we are confident that the end result will be worthy of the grand ‘make-over‘ that the Wyndham Grand Hotel, Chelsea Harbour utterly deserves... 

Maria Rice for ADI Studio has also just completed another large refurbishment project on The MacDonald Townhouse Hotel in Manchester (formally The Princess Hotel) which is now open to the public.