Interiors

Back in 1999, Alex Calderwood opened the Ace Hotel in Seattle and forever changed our notion of what a luxury hotel could be. Set up in unlikely city buildings, halfway houses, or civic icons, Ace appeals to the creative class – nothing is stuffy, but everything is quality and storied.

The Bulgari Resort has already been ranked the best new luxury hotel of 2017 by the members-only travel ratings company Luxury Travel Intelligence.
Designed by the renowned Italian architectural firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, the extravagant hotel is the fifth in the Italian brand’s portfolio.

The floor is lined with extra long, Dinesen Douglas Fir planks, creating a seamless interior. The client’s favourite objects are the highlights of each room, explain the architects. So there are pieces by Arne Jacobsen and from Carl Hansen and B&B Italia, all housed beneath the existing, but refurbished pitched roof – a key architectural element the architects decided to retain and celebrate.

Of course, Sony Music‘s Amsterdam HQ needs a vinyl boardroom table that doubles as a DJ booth, and a stairway that is also a bar. It’s work made a bit more entertaining, and I for one, would not mind that meeting being added to my diary. The music biz giant’s new office interior has been created by local design studio Space Encounters...

Recent years have seen the emergence of an exceptional project in Putuo, one of Shanghai’s ten inner-city boroughs. With 'CEG Schwarzwald', the project developers of China Eagle Group (CEG) are sending a positive message for a new consciousness in China. Amidst a forest of 20.000 trees, the 'Schwarzwald' apartment towers offer the unique synthesis of living a modern urban life in a quality environment.

New among Paris’ boutique hotels is Hôtel National des Arts & Métiers. Set somewhere between the Marais and Montorgueil quartiers in the third arondissement, the hotel takes its design cues from the Centre National des Arts & Métiers, a century-old institution devoted to engineering and the teaching of manufacturing techniques.

The Nobu Hotel Shoreditch in London is one of the new hotels that was recently added to the Design Hotels portfolio. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because this property is an extension of the Nobu Hospitality Group founded by world-acclaimed chef Nobuyaki Matsuhisa, award-winning actor Robert De Niro, and Hollywood film producer Meir Teper.