THE MONTPELLIER CHAPTER, CHELTENHAM |
Friday 13 Jan 2012
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Located in a Conservation Area in the chic Montpellier district of Cheltenham, this mid-19th century Grade II listed building has been beautifully refurbished to combine traditional standards of luxury with a distinctive contemporary British style for the Chapter Hotels.
Under the client's brief of ‘Contemporary England', the vision was to resuscitate the building's time-expired accommodation, simplify circulation and extend the building with contemporary additions, transforming it into a luxurious new destination hotel. Make worked closely with the client to rationalise and enhance the hotel, applying a sensitive design approach to unify the Grade II listed building with contemporary new amenities and develop their brand.
Our main architectural aim was to unify the hotel's various disparate elements into a functional whole, while creating a balance between original features and modern additions. This rationale is applied to the interior design. Rooms in the crescent are notably different to those in the original villa. All rooms have unified elements incorporating bespoke European Oak joinery designed by Make, sanitaryware by Villeroy and Bosch and brassware by Zuchetti.
Public areas feature bespoke joinery and furniture designed by Make as well as proprietary accessories selected by the practice. Furniture pieces by the award-winning British designer Matthew Hilton include his signature Hepburn sofas in the reception area, I-beam tables in the library and desk chairs in each bedroom. Graduate students from Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design were commissioned to sculpt and photograph individual pieces for each of the bedrooms, to add a flair and identity that is unique to the Montpellier Chapter hotel as well as to each room itself.
In addition, the hotel boasts a thoughtfully curated art collection put together under the guidance of Central Saint Martin's, comprising over 160 pieces by leading contemporary artists and students encompassing prints, oil on canvas and sculptures. The hotel's entrance lobby is enlivened by a specially designed oak reception desk created by the sculptress Alison Crowther, and a glass chandelier was designed for the newly restored conservatory by artist Isabel Hamm.