hospitalitystyle.com

(February 2011) posted on Thu Feb 17, 2011 EST

One strong accent statement is enough to modernize hotel and restaurant interiors—if it’s the right one.

By Mary Scoviak

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Even if FF&E budgets weren't tight, hospitality design trends would be leading away from overcrowding. Too many details, too many accents look as cluttered and fussy in a hotel or restaurant as they do in guests' homes. Instead, hospitality designers are introducing just one or two unexpected accents that make guests look twice.

Some examples shown in the gallery above:

• The mirrored ceiling and the ice-like table candleholders in Tihany Design's concept for Atmosphere, the restaurant atop the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, Dubai.
• Studio Asia's architect Carla Baratelli's use of Trend Group's glass mosaic tiles and agglomerates to transform columns into op art sculptures at the new Citizen Kofi Entertainment Center in Accra (designed in collaboration with architect Elvis Awuni)
• Interior designer François Frossard's mod flowers blooming on the front of the bar at Butter NC (a former Charlotte, N.C. mill renovated into a bi-level nightspot by Hendrick Construction)
• At Thailand's new Best Western Phanganburi, a bed scarf that reverses the color theme of the focal wall with gilded molding (and, of course, those swans crafted from folded linens)

What makes these diverse solution so workable for contemporary hotel design is that they elevate something functional into something interesting and memorable. These designers thought about all of the opportunities and made every square inch or centimeter their canvas without overloading these spaces. There's a lot to be said for discipline.