The St. Regis San Francisco has unveiled an elegant update of its guestrooms, meeting spaces, lobby, and bar as part of a multi-phase property redesign. In addition to the property-wide new design elements, the space has been reconfigured to encompass a dynamic new restaurant slated to open in Spring 2022.
In keeping with the hotel’s celebrated art collection, the design refresh integrates new pieces in the reception, bar, and dining spaces. In the reception area, a painting titled “Solitude” by Randy Hibberd depicts an abstracted city nestled within the San Francisco. Gold accents depict hints of golden sunlight reflecting off the Bay.
London-based design firm Blacksheep graced the reception area with enlivening touches, such as a signature contemporary chandelier, metal detailing and the curved framing of a decorative wall installation that mirrors the sweeping forms of the main bar. In the dining area, a dreamy landscape titled “Mountain Mist” by Janie Rochfort reflects a unique watercolour style, rich olive greens and lighter pinks, that captures the fluid colours of a sunset reflecting off San Francisco’s hills. Much like the artwork in reception, Rochfort’s painting illustrates a distinct sense of place, from the misty fog to the robust surrounding geography that contribute to San Francisco’s distinctive character.
The revamped guestrooms and suites uphold the modern sophistication and rich heritage that are the hallmarks of the St. Regis brand while capturing San Francisco’s unique innovative spirit, rich history, and natural beauty.
Toronto-based Chapi Chapo Design, a multidisciplinary design firm whose principals were instrumental in the original design of the hotel, imbued the guestrooms and suites with new energy by leveraging new customised furniture, exclusive to the hotel, and thoughtful choices in colour palette and materials. Headboards, picoted with rich leather panelling suggestive of a luxury sports car interior, house outlets that power the sophisticated technological upgrades. San Francisco’s iconic hills and valleys are subtly referenced in the wall covering’s soft curves, while California’s glorious panoramas, as captured by landscape photographer Ansel Adams, are visible through layered smoked desk glass.
Honouring the California Gold Rush of 1849 that put San Francisco on the map, a colour palette of silver, copper and iron adds an alluring lustre to the rooms’ ambience. These subtle references to San Francisco’s history are balanced by distinctive, custom 3D computer graphic applications created by Christo Saba. The artwork by Saba pays homage to the innovative spirit of San Francisco with subtle visualisations of past luminaries and today’s tech industry giants.
In addition to the guestrooms and suites, the redesign by Chapi Chapo also enhanced The St. Regis San Francisco’s 15,000ft2 of meeting and event spaces, creating sophisticated yet approachable areas designed to facilitate conversation and collaboration.
The reimagined St. Regis Bar experience creates a welcoming atmosphere that epitomises Northern California luxury, with rich textures and soft metallics that pay tribute the city’s unique vistas. The characteristics of the region, from the city’s rolling hills and cable car lines to the mountain ranges and serene landscapes of Napa Valley, informed Blacksheep’s design.
With floor-to-ceiling windows, the bar and dining spaces bring in gentle natural light and frame dynamic street scenes. The design speaks to a place where technology and design merge with storied architecture and the remnants of a bygone era, with patterns and linework gesturing to engineering feats of the past and hinting at the city’s later incarnation as a modern tech hub. A colour palette of Pacific Ocean blues and warm pastels evokes sunrises and sunsets over the Bay.
The mood is light in the main bar, where a sweeping brass trellis inspired by the city’s iconic trolley lines rises overhead from the back bar before forming a series of beautifully illuminated display boxes and floating glass shelves. The bar’s illuminated backdrop, visible through the large windows, is artfully placed to capture the gaze of guests in the lounge and to beckon passersby. Dark green and dusty rose-pink upholstery is set off by sharply defined black furniture legs. Custom tables with sculptural stone bases and brass detailing add contemporary touches in counterpoint to the modern noir ambiance, with traces of the past suggested by the bar’s sophisticated shapes and millwork.
