Client Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels | Date 2016 - 2023 |
Interior Designer Archer Humphryes Architects | Photographer James Newton |
Project Team Keith Bradshaw, Ewan Parsons | |
The main dining room houses a full-sensory experience inspired by a flight on the legendary airliner Concorde. An arresting cast-aluminium scale replica of the aircraft soars across the ceiling, flanked by metallic fins that fan outwards and curve down the walls.
On the far wall, a digital artwork screen simulates the sensation of moving through time and space at supersonic speed. Between the fins, beautifully integrated lighting colour adjusts in sync with the screen, creating a full wrap-around effect.
With an interior reminiscent of a private jet, the private dining room benefits from magical London views from its floor-to-ceiling window. It features a curved panel detail that stretches from the walls to the ceiling, with a rhythmic series of stunning bespoke metallic wall lights, lending the room a refined, luxurious aesthetic.
Weather permitting, the beautifully appointed terrace encourages dining al fresco. Low-level custom lighting on the tables supports an inviting and intimate dining experience, soaking in the incredible views over Hyde Park, Belgravia and Knightsbridge.
The experience of this prestigious hospitality venue begins with the ascent to the top floor in a lift that is a nod to hot-air ballooning. Lined with wicker, it features a red cove detail designed to evoke the heat and light of the balloon ‘burner’. The red lighting detail carries into the upper lobby, where the walls simulate fuselage and backlit apertures take the form of aircraft ‘windows’.
To the west of the lift lobby, the Trophy Room is an intermediary waiting space featuring decorative wooden panels that tell the story of the historic Brooklands racetrack.
A backlit circular ceiling perforated with holes and optional uplighting detail creates a low-key ambience, revealing the warmth and detail in the artwork while setting the scene for a dramatic contrast with the adjacent main dining space.
The glamorous Brooklands Bar features a striking geodetic ceiling that recalls early 20th-century airframe structures, lush banquette seating, and unrivalled views over London’s skyline and nearby Buckingham Palace.
Bespoke lighting pieces are infused with details found in classic cars, including the bar lights inspired by the headlights from a Lucas "King of the Road" Side Lamp Type R440 and the central chandelier modelled on the blades of a Rolls Royce Ghost turbine engine.
A chrome edge lighting detail enhances the curved lines of the bar and seating at ground level.
Custom pendants and wall sconces formed from clusters of overlapping translucent rectangles support the art-deco aesthetic in the adjacent Tasting Room, with its dark-stained walnut panelling and coffered ceiling inspired by The Delage Car, the first car to win at Brooklands racetrack.