In Sleeper 47 (March/April 2013) we featured a preview of Luna2 Studios, illustrated with renderings. Now fully open, photography of the hotel has been released. 

In 2007 interior designer Melanie Hall opened Luna2 Private Hotel, an ultra-modern five-bedroom property named after the first spacecraft to land on the moon. Aimed at a super-sophisticated target market of ‘jet-setting lunatics’, it was unlike any hotel Bali had seen before and didn’t feature any of the neo-Balinese styling that had become popular on the Island of the Gods. Luna2 Private Hotel was simply a peek into the design ethos of its owner – a quirky mix of nostalgia, futurism and fun.

Six years on, Hall is back with her second project – a ‘studiotel’ located next to its beachfront sister property – and her ‘funked-up modernism’ is still very much alive and well. “I didn’t feel any need to challenge the ubiquitous ‘modern Bali’ approach to design; many are doing that so well,” Hall explains. “This is my thing; I am entirely addicted to nostalgia, by which I’m referring to the great modernism of the past, futurism, and, yes, I do like to have a bit of fun in the process!”

The fibreglass façade of Luna2 Studios, which Hall recalls as the most painstaking part of the hotel to design and produce, epitomises her ethos and offers a glimpse of what to expect inside. “It is inspired by a Verner Panton fabric from the Sixties,” she says. “Of course, we redesigned the pattern to make it our own.” The subtle design was then playfully christened ‘Bubble-icious’ and repeated throughout the building on curtains, carpets and opaque glass dividing screens.

But it is in Luna2 Studios’ lobby, which features a large artwork inspired by the primary colour motifs of Piet Mondrian, where Hall sets the tone for the rest of the interior. “The whole building is in primary reds, blues, greens and yellows, allowing each colour to breathe individually in each space,” she explains. “The lobby and the pool, which is colour-blocked with Bisazza mosaics, are the only spaces where all four colours meet.”

The 14 studios, including three grand studios and one sunset studio, are decorated in one of Luna2’s four accent colours: Mayfair blue, Bond Street green, Piccadilly yellow or Strand red, the four most expensive properties on the Monopoly board. “You will also recognise these four bold colours from Lego, Twister, the Rubik’s Cube and of course Piet Mondrian,” Hall explains. “They’re entirely nostalgic, yet I would like to think I’m using them in new ways.”

Each studio also features modular furniture custom-designed and produced by Hall herself, complemented by hand-picked designer pieces, including Passion dining chairs by Philippe Starck for Cassina, Hal cantilever chairs by Jasper Morrison for Vitra, Louis Poulsen and Tom Dixon lamps, Brionvega retro TVs, and contemporary artwork by artists such as Stuart McAlpine Miller, the artist-in-residence at The Savoy. “Each piece of art was either commissioned by me or it had to match my interiors, by way of colour and mood,” Hall remarks. “My own designs need the timelessness of great classics from the past to add interest, and I’ve also included some respected contemporary designers.”

In the rooms, which can only be booked by members of the exclusive Luna2 club, Hall hopes to open her guests’ eyes to a more colourful life, while at the same time ensuring the vibrancy of the design is balanced with intimacy and privacy. “The colour scheme is vibrant and fairly new because I believe our Luna2 club members are ready for change,” she notes. “But I also do my utmost to make each room feel inviting, adding interest with a multitude of textures: walnut veneers, glossy lacquered paint finishes, stainless steel, leather, woven fabrics, wallpapers and printed glass.”

Of course, if privacy isn’t what they’re after, guests also have access to the 30-seat poolside restaurant Orbit, Hall’s favourite spot. Bright white with splashes of sunflower yellow, it’s the space Luna2’s imaginative owner feels most reflects where she is now in design. “It’s a small tribute to the late Fifties and early Sixties and is refreshingly new without being over the top,” she says, adding that the underground Pop! Lounge Bar, featuring retro shades of purple, shocking pink and pan-am turquoise, comes in at a close second.

“Pop! allowed me to unearth the ‘groovy baby’ side of myself that is rapidly developing,” she remarks. But more importantly, it’s a heartfelt tribute to her late father, architect Alan Chambers, who inspired her addiction to modernist design. “I am finally re-creating his lit-up dance floor that I remember well as a child.”

Her father may have provided the initial inspiration for the modernist feel of both Luna2 Private Hotel and Luna2 Studios, but there’s no doubt that Hall has added her own unique twist. With its quirky features, up-to-the-minute innovations and, above all, a sense of humour, Luna2 Studios, rather than being prescriptively modernist, is a second look into the imagination of its fun-loving owner. “Life is not meant to be taken too seriously after all!” she mischievously concludes.

 

Words: Elly Earls

Photography: Courtesy of Design Hotels