Design
A designer hotel
A room straight out of a fairy tale which guarantees a show with its gems of fiber optic light positioned behind the headboard of the glass bed. And like the lighting concept, the patterned rugs and carpets provide contrasts to give the illusion of more space. The effect is guaranteed to have an impact!
The Five Hotel, which opened in Paris last October, has focused on interior design. Colors and lighting have received particular attention to produce a feel of the unexpected and rouse the senses of its guests. Mission accomplished. A guided tour with the architect of a building full of surprises and whose ‘designer’ influences challenge the classic standards of interior design.
Located in the heart of Paris’s Latin Quarter in the 5th district, the Five plays the design card. It offers its guests a universe devoted to the senses and one which has broken the mold of the traditional codes of interior design. Colors and lights are the assets of this ‘high fashion’ space. A big nod goes to clothes designer Christian Lacroix, with whom the hotel’s architect, Vincent Bastie, had collaborated for the fitting out of his Hotel du Petit Moulin, also located at the heart of the capital. ‘Architects and interior designers are turning their hotels into “collections” not unlike those of fashion designers,’ the expert says, amused. His latest creation is a tasteful mix of genres which, in this particular case, has drawn its inspiration from the Japanese confectioners in the adjacent building! Its pastries, as much as décor, have played muse for the architect. A tasty influence which gave rise to a profusion of colors and textures. As far as the new owners are concerned, the hallmark of their hotel is not its geographical location so much as its décor.
Creativity down to the last detail
Nine different designer ‘looks’ have been adapted to its twenty-four rooms: from turquoise, pistachio, mauve and gold to red, orange, chestnut, black and white. Each shade is designed to evoke a specific world. The relatively neutral last two shades (black and white), unlike the others, have led the designer to ‘play on the abstract’. The result: a heavy emphasis on abstract patterns, as evidenced by the rugs and carpets, for example. The décor has been thought out down to the last detail – for the communal areas as much as the bedrooms. For Vincent Bastie, there was no question of getting involved in an ordinary, indifferent venture. In terms of furnishings, the walls and floors are clad in the finest materials and textiles: regular and asymmetric stripes, leather-look, patterned with flowers, waves or polka-dots. Case in point is the ground-floor suite bathed in iced-chestnut tones and dressed in beautiful fabrics by Designers Guild, with its floral patterns and draping veils, ‘as if the room was see-through’, and the pretty garden with its surprising artificial lawn on which a Jacuzzi sits prominently. In terms of objects, there is no question of resorting to the ordinary. Tailor-made only, please! And so Vincent Bastie has called upon the services of artist Isabelle Emmerique to dream up 27 lacquer masterpieces ‘dedicated to the décor of each room. They are original pieces inspired by the fabrics and textures and offer both originality and uniqueness. Each piece is in harmony with the rest of the room,’ the architect is proud to say.
Where the mood takes you
Different moods all in the employ of one original idea: allowing clients to choose their room to suit their mood. The aim is to provide them with a range of emotions to fit the feel of the moment and to ‘appeal to their senses’. And, above all, to make them want to come back and discover yet another universe with each visit. This is why the hotel also offers a choice of diffused fragrances with each room, for total immersion with the surroundings.
This hotel is like a journey at the heart of the sensory experience and the world of design. In that respect, nothing has been left to chance, especially not communal spaces, which also make use of contrasts. Let’s start with the reception hall, which combines opaque white veils and highly modern couches with a black stoneware floor and a surprising gas hearth designed to look like a suitcase by Habitat de l'Est Parisien (French fireplace specialists). Last but not least, we have the breakfast room, where the emphasis has been placed on vitality. Particularly striking is its wallpaper of black and red tones and the cherry-red seating, although it’s hard to ignore the armchairs bursting with colors and floral patterns. A potent vitamin boost for breakfast!
Expanding space
The architect was given free reign: dream it all up. There was only one proviso, which was to give the illusion of more space, especially in the bedrooms. This explains, to a great extent, the choices made in terms of materials and designs. An experienced professional, Vincent Bastie found the solution in the manipulation of different scales. In layman’s terms, this means jockeying objects of different sizes with various materials. His magic wand brought together fabrics, glass furniture (headboard and desk) for transparence to avoid breaking up spaces, and fiber optic lighting.
In this reinvention of space, lighting has been without doubt the most important factor. ‘Light lends a dynamic feel to a static space. The lighting had to produce a surreal, floating kind of atmosphere.’ For the architect, this meant ‘making the room’s occupant remove his bearings from classic standards.’ To achieve this, Vincent has long been relying on fiber optics, the result of which is surprisingly spacious given the small size of the spaces. He has distributed them not only all over the bedroom, but also the bathroom. No less than 50 gems of light are encrusted in each bedroom. We even find them in the top of the glass desk ‘to give a floating sensation, as if the desk isn’t solid’, in the ceiling ‘to create a nice star-lit sky effect’, and, finally, the bed’s headboard. For the bathroom, these jewels of light peer out from between the tiles – just to jazz the place up a bit. The use of fiber optics in interior design is still today relatively marginal, which is a godsend for our master designer who, through his creations, wishes to venture beyond the beaten path and show ‘that we can invent something new, and feel like we are somewhere else entirely’. Mission accomplished: magical nights and daydreams are on the menu in a hotel like no other. Congratulations, maestro!
A very fashionable color for a designer bathroom. And once again, the fiber optics play their part, this time in the tiles, for another marvelous visual effect.
White veils, abstract couch and a lighting concept all straight out of a tale from One Thousand and One Nights tell it how it is: this hotel is like no other. You’ll be dreaming even awake.
An abstract reception hall with ultra-contemporary couches, stoneware flooring and white veils. And let’s not forget the lacquer-work creations by artist Isabelle Emmerique, tailor-made for each room.
A sparkling breakfast room where the contrast of the red seating and black wallpaper injects a vitamin boost to all those who have a hard time getting going in the morning. And as if that wasn’t enough, the architect has added colorful armchairs with floral patterns to jazz up the room. Take note, in the foreground, of the attractive crockery by Garguantua.
The choice of black, a neutral shade, allowed the architect to manipulate abstract schemes. The room’s numerous veils, fabrics, rugs and carpets complement its charming star-lit sky and promise a night straight out of a fairy tale.
The bed seems afloat and weightless, a sensation enhanced by the ropes hanging from the star-lit ceiling and the splendid lacquer creations by Isabelle Emmerique. A magical ambiance which contrasts with the all-black bathroom.