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Inside each retro-chic tent is an homage to the Beverly Hills Hotel itself. The pink banana-leaf wallpaper is a fresh take on the iconic green Martinique print featured in the hotel’s Fountain Coffee Room and hallways. The pink version of the wallpaper by CW Stockwell was specially unearthed from the company’s archives to clad the cabanas—the first time the print has been used at the hotel since it was first hung in the 1940s.
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The Hotel Bel-Air opened in 1946 and to this day remains a lush and discrete haven. Champalimaud refreshed the interiors, creating new spaces that seamlessly transition into the surroundings and distinctive Spanish Colonial architecture. Today, the whimsical, verdant Hotel Bel-Air continues to shine as a singular icon of Southern California. Portuguese-born, North America-based Alexandra Champalimaud has made her mark in the world of hospitality, having redesigned some of its most iconic institutions — New York’s Waldorf Astoria and Carlyle hotels and London’s Dorchester, to name a few. Art Deco’s geometric legacy was a starting point, says Champalimaud Design partner, Winston Kong. “The challenge,” notes Kong, “was to create a space that will resonate with current and future residents, and stay impactful five, ten, twenty years from now.” Odds are, the challenge was met.
Designer Q&A: Jaya Ibrahim
Achille Salvagni Debuts Book, Alexandra Champalimaud Receives FIT Prize, and More News in New York - Architectural Digest
Achille Salvagni Debuts Book, Alexandra Champalimaud Receives FIT Prize, and More News in New York.
Posted: Mon, 18 Nov 2019 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Life has been an extraordinary adventure for me,” says Alexandra Champalimaud, “and the experience has enriched my work.” The internationally acclaimed designer grew up in Portugal, with time spent at boarding schools in England and Switzerland. She married into one of Portugal’s leading families, and was launching her interior design career when, on the eve of the nation’s 1974 revolution, she and her family fled the country; they left in the middle of the night and moved to Montreal. Inspired by designers as varied as Eileen Gray and David Hicks, and the rigor of Mies van der Rohe, Champalimaud won prestigious commissions, including the law office of Pierre Trudeau, the charismatic former prime minister of Canada.
Mid-century furniture, warm wood surfaces, and spacious travertine patios invite guests to enjoy sweeping canyon views.
But the socially distanced era, they say, has changed the dynamic of the firm in positive ways. … There might be others who, in my presence normally in a conference room, they might not want to be quite as involved,” says Champalimaud. “But when their job is to talk about X, Y and Z of this project, they do so. … They have to be more expressive to get their ideas across.” Bakos agrees, adding that there’s a benefit to client meetings where the entire staff is able to sit in on Zoom and pick up on nuances that would normally go unheard behind conference room doors. The island—on which no cars are allowed—is a bridge walk or quick paddle away from Bray, an adjacent town known as a foodie destination, thanks to its smattering of Michelin-starred restaurants. But for many an interiors buff, it is the estate's Wedgwood Room that will likely be the property's knockout.
Since then, the studio has relocated to New York, and today, Champalimaud has been joined at the helm of the studio by partners Ed Bakos and Winston Kong. Champalimaud quickly developed an appreciation for the beauty of tradition and heritage mixed with a touch of the unexpected – and she uses this understanding to create spaces that intrigue and surprise yet remain grounded in their context. “There is a depth of knowledge regarding a space’s history, culture, and sense of place with a worldly perspective,” says the designer of her approach. Our New York-based studio is dedicated to expressing the individual character of each space through extraordinary design. Like all other New York–based design firms, Champalimaud has been working from home for months now. There are difficulties, and both Bakos and Champalimaud expressed enthusiasm for a return to in-person design meetings.
The elegant furniture she designed for him was recently auctioned to benefit his foundation. In 1993 she relocated to New York, where her team of specialists has grown to 40 and is still expanding. Two-thirds of their work is in resorts and hotels, the rest in high-end residences. “I’ve lived on four continents, speak four languages, and that makes me comfortable doing design pretty much anywhere in the world,” says the widely traveled tastemaker. And history is certainly something that the Monkey Island Estate has in spades.
The mother-and-daughter duo behind luxury architecture and interiors studio Thorp
But Champalimaud, who spoke French, began looking for work as a designer. She found it, eventually starting her own small firm, an endeavor that brought her to New York in 1994 to reimagine the Drake Hotel. In the States, a promising career received an injection of rocket fuel. Nevertheless, this emphasis on comfort and modernity comes down to aesthetics once again. "In general, there's been this idea of how these hotels in the English countryside should be approached," Kastl says.
At one point, it was acquired by Charles Spencer, an ancestor of Princess Diana. The island currently boasts two buildings with a Grade I listing—the most important indication of a building's historic worth in the United Kingdom. "Its scale and proportion is graceful," Champalimaud founder Alexandra Champalimaud tells AD PRO, adding that its "steps are like white icing." The design principles used to create inviting hotel spaces can be applied across many other sectors, from new builds with a distinctive yet timeless personality, to residential spaces designed to feel like luxurious retreats from the everyday. “Clients choose us as they are looking for a testament to lifestyle, luxury, and timeless design,” explains the designer.
Alexandra Champalimaud
Beverly Hills Hotel unveils newly renovated spa with design details by Champalimaud Design spabusiness.com news - Spa Business
Beverly Hills Hotel unveils newly renovated spa with design details by Champalimaud Design spabusiness.com news.
Posted: Wed, 24 Feb 2021 08:00:00 GMT [source]
"The interiors in the room are original and date back to 1735," Kastl explains. "There's stunning wood paneling that goes high up the wall and the most beautiful plasterwork all painted the classic Wedgwood blue," he adds. "The importance of that room is key to the property." The Monkey Room, a dining area named for its painted ceiling, is the estate's other standout space. While the story behind the paintings is a bit opaque, it is thought to have been intended to make fun of British politicians in its original day, and has helped give the building its name. One of the studio’s recent residential projects, for example, is 77 Peak Road, a cliff-top mansion set amidst a lush forest in Hong Kong’s prestigious Victoria Peak.
The keystone property is right in the center of midtown Manhattan and no stranger to locals and foreigners. The design group did another amazing work allying the hotel’s history with the Art Deco influences of the Rockefeller Center neighborhood. Stepping foot in the New York Palace’s repositioned reception area, guests leave the frenzy of mid-town Manhattan behind, and step into a place of luxury and refined calmness. For those interested in contemporary interior design projects, this is the crux of the matter. Kastl and Champalimaud are resolute in their belief that in such projects, story and history are essential.
With a strong french-inspired design, the group made every space unique and sophisticated, giving one the feeling of being in a fairytale instead of a hotel. Many stylish notables like Coco Chanel, Oscar Wilde, and Tory Burch have made hotels their residences. While living in a hotel is not as popular as it once was, it is now de rigueur that opulent resorts feel less formulaic and more like a high-end home. Their guests, in turn, find inspiration in these masterfully designed interiors, so much so that it’s not uncommon that a souvenir from their stay might be a piece of furniture from their suite. Rising to the occasion are many of the world’s leading interior designers. The New York Palace is another of their greatest interior design projects.
Inside, Champalimaud Design’s timeless elegance acts as an antidote to the famously fast pace of life in Hong Kong – think cascading chandeliers, handcrafted millwork and delicate timber screens, and rare marble. When she finished school, Champalimaud pursued her innate love of design at the Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva in Lisbon, learning about visual art, architecture, history, and a multitude of applied arts. She describes it as a “transformative experience” that set a strong foundation for her design career. Champalimaud’s eponymous company has designed some of the world’s most iconic hotels, from The Plaza in New York and the Bel-Air in Los Angeles to the recently completed Raffles in Singapore. On the latest episode of the Business of Home podcast, Champalimaud shares the story of her meteoric rise and she and her firm’s CEO, Ed Bakos, discuss how they’re addressing the challenges of the COVID-19 era.
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