Natalia Miyar completes debut hotel project
For her debut hotel project, architect and designer Natalia Miyar has brought new life to a Grade II listed former family home in London‘s Grosvenor Square, which opened in May as The Twenty Two.
For the design of the hotel, which houses 31 guestrooms and suites – including a mews house with its own separate entrance – as well as a neighbourhood restaurant and private members’ club, Miyar pays homage to the grandeur of the Mayfair mansion through opulent, Maximalist interiors inspired by 18th century France.
Miyar collaborated closely with owner Navid Mirtorabi to channel his vision for the hotel, taking cues from the classical French elegance of Château de Malmaison, home of Joséphine Bonaparte. Echoes of this style are reflected in the lobby’s monochrome cabochon marble floor, whilst a palette of rich hues runs throughout.
“My love for colour and materiality has met with Navid’s vision for a hotel that is a hideaway for the creative and curious at heart who pass through Mayfair,” says Miyar. “We focused on materiality to help create Navid’s vision for the hotel, which is aimed at a relaxed and vibrant clientele: lots of rich velvets, piping and fringe, vintage crystal chandeliers and bevelled mirrors, not to mention saturated colour themes.”
Also paying tribute to 18th century French Neoclassical design are the restaurant and private dining room. Three shades of blue were chosen to highlight aspects of the architecture and 19th century panelling, while bespoke chandeliers in cadets of handblown blue glass adorn the ceilings. This whimsical interpretation of a chandelier was designed in collaboration with bespoke lighting specialist Tyson, a skilled British craftsman who produces pieces in his Sussex workshop. Vintage mirrors and artworks were sourced from France.
The Twenty Two’s bedrooms and suites meanwhile serve as a modern imagination of the Parisienne style, featuring sumptuous drapery of regal proportions in Turnell & Gigon silk and vintage chandeliers that cast light on specially commissioned passementerie by Samuel & Sons and Les Passementeries de Iîle de France.
The one-storey Mews House is a playful bolthole with tented bedrooms decorated in Napoleonic campaign style. The room is adorned from wall-to-ceiling in bespoke wallpaper by Iksell and fabric to match to achieve this tromp l’oeil effect, with blue striped fabric and polished floors completing the interior. The Heritage Suite draws on exotic landscapes with walls lined in a custom Moghul inspired wallpaper by Iksell. Fabrics are by Jiun Ho and Pierre Frey, passementerie by Clarence House, Samuel & Sons and Les Passementeries d’Ile de France. And the hotel’s Terrace Suite is a sophisticated homage to tailoring and couture. The French association of red and black plays out over centuries of style and tradition, from the Napoleonic military uniform to the runway colours favoured by Dior, with fabrics and upholstery all in Designer’s Guild velvet.
Amongst the communal areas, the Living Room is a relaxed space with upholstered seating and a palette of turquoise and red with accents of black. French sculptor Marie Christophe has created a fanciful turtle lighting, which adds a poetic note with a hint of bohemia. Decorative arts specialist Fromental collaborated on the hand-painted wallcoverings, which are framed by a decorative border within 19th century panels. At the centre of the room, the bar boasts a red marble counter that contrasts with turquoise, rust and green.
The Dining Room, a members’ space for evenings only, is inspired by the Skandia auditorium in Stockholm – designed in the early 20th Century by Gunner Asplund, where the ceiling disappears into the illusion of a night sky lit with Ony stars and lights. In homage, Miyar designed the banquette seating in a deeply saturated red velvet to wrap around the room, which is carpeted from wall-to-wall in a bold leopard print by Pierre Frey. Club chairs and cascading gilded lighting complete a sense of high drama for the evening atmosphere.
The intention for the Music Room meanwhile was to create a lavish space at the heart of the hotel that comes alive at night with great acoustics, extravagant furnishings and a stadium-worthy sound system. Mirrored tables and clubby pouffes finished with silk passementerie sit beneath a glittering disco ball, casting light on walls decorated in a rich saturated red velvet and striking leopard print carpet by Pierre Frey. Miyar also decided to introduce scatter cushions in jewel tones, which are the only accent colours in sapphire and gold.
Rounding out the offering, the Vault Bar’s takes its main source of inspiration from the original military-style Napoleonic tent. The room is partially lower ground, which creates a sense of intimacy enhanced by the acoustics of the pitched ceiling. The seating, walls and ceiling in the same striped fabric are complemented by brass campaign style lanterns and tables with a honed Nero Marquina Marble top and a black metal base.
