Contract - April 2013 - (Page 67)

4 1 4 Carousel Bar Designer Puccini Group Architect SCNZ Architects 3 2 Client Hotel Monteleone Where New Orleans What 3,200 square feet on one floor Cost/sf Withheld at client’s request Floor Plan 1 2 3 4 For a full project source list, see page 92 or visit contractdesign.com. Carousel Bar Lounge Lounge bar To lobby Cheney Johnston of Follies showgirls from the 1920s who might have patronized or performed at a New Orleans club of that era. Broad enlisted Latvian bead embroidery artist Binka Ragava to infuse the images, printed on canvas, with Mardi Gras–inspired bling. The resulting art personifies the overall tone—decadent and fun while balanced with a classic, feminine whimsy. The art also acknowledges the Carousel’s undeniable position as the bar and lounge’s focal point. “It really complements the carousel,” says Broad. “We needed everything about the surrounding space to relate to the bar’s sparkle and to strike a balance between holding its own and not overwhelming.” The designers amplified the Carousel’s theatricality by neutralizing its immediate backdrop, switching out patterned carpet for a herringbone wood floor, and painting the room’s walls and ceiling a balanced gray to set off the bar’s glow. They clad the bar’s base in new, darker paneling and added mirrors and lights around and beneath its canopy to enhance its sparkle. By replacing vinyl seats with leather and a laminate bar with a distressed pewter bar top, the designers heightened the carousel’s overall impact. A lounge that complements Before the renovation, the adjacent lounge was a dark, low-ceilinged, old-fashioned piano lounge with fixed leather booths. “It was just a black box with no ornament or anything,” says Polacek. Puccini painted the walls soft white with subtle gray accents to pick up the gray of the Carousel Bar room. A new coffered ceiling and modern chandeliers wink at the hotel lobby’s dramatic ceiling and grand light fixtures. Furniture, accessories and rugs—arranged in loose groupings so they can easily be rearranged—are primarily in muted versions of carousel and Carnivale-related shades of purple, teal, yellow, and cream. “Pattern was very important,” adds Broad. “We blew up elements from the carousel—chevrons, stripes, diamonds—and made them into large graphic statements.” These patterns appear in the rugs and in the cut metal screens and railings. Sadly, Bill Monteleone died before seeing his vision fulfilled, but Stephen Caputo, hotel manager, says he would have been delighted with the curated design. Overall the bar and lounge’s interior transformation rates as dramatic, but what significantly changed the space are 14 new floor-to-ceiling windows looking onto Royal and Iberville streets. Now, the bar and lounge is directly connected to the street activity of New Orleans and vice versa. Since the renovation debuted month ago, volume at the bar and lounge has tripled. “People didn’t know the space existed before,” says Caputo. “Now every passerby can see and hear what’s happening from the street, and everyone wants to be a part of it.” c contract http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - April 2013

Contract - April 2013
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Columnist: How Young Practitioners Can Present Themselves As Leaders
Product Focus: Rugs the Right Way
Product Focus: Sitting Pretty
Product Focus: Basking in the Sun
Product Briefs: Hospitality
Das Stue
Carousel Bar
Andaz Amsterdam
W Seattle
Jelsomino
Designers Select: Hospitality
Sources
Ad Index
Installation

Contract - April 2013