Canadian Interiors July August 2018

CANADIAN INTERIORS

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07/082018 Features

23 FIT FOR A QUEEN Canada’s largest hotel east of Toronto, the upgrading and restyling of Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth embraces both its past and its quintessential Montréal character. By Stefan Novakovic.

29 WELCOME TO MY CITY Hotel Monville delivers on its promise to give travellers “more for less.” By Rhys Phillips.

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NEW NOSH IN THE NEW WEST The quality and variety of restaurants in Calgary rival some of the best international destinations. And great design can make or break a new entry, perhaps even as much as the food. What’s driving this lively and competitive scene? By Martha Uniacke Breen.

Regulars

11 CAUGHT OUR EYE 14 SEEN Highlights and insights from IMM in Cologne; and IFFS in Singapore. 18 THE GOODS From tiny dishwashers to reimagined range hoods,

today’s designers bring style, accessibility, and organization to the heart of the home.

40 SEEN This year’s ICFF 2018 Editors’ Awards. 44 SCENE 46 OVER & OUT Canadian design luminaries were asked to reinterpret Nordic sensibilities for the relaunch of a premier Swedish hotel.

COVER – A “come as you are” easy-going vibe pervades Bridgette Bar in Calgary, by Frank Architecture.

Photo by Jamie Hyatt

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Fairmont Hotel Vancouver To update the luxurious Heritage Suites, CHIL Interior Design drew inspiration from a history of luxurious travel, visiting monarchs, brocade fabrics, and royal tapestries.

TV5 Québec FOR. Design Planning gives TV5 a new space designed for inspiration, collegiality and a celebration of francophone identities and cultures.

Inmarsat St. John’s St. John’s-based Carvel & Helm Interior Design helps an international satellite communications company transition from enclosed, disconnected work environments to transparent, team-based spaces.

Espace CDPQ Lemay uses interior design to foster a creative and collaborative environment for a diverse array of Québec entrepreneurs.

The largest international tile and stone show in North America brought exhibitors from both sides of the pond, even from around the equator, to Atlanta for four days in May. www.canadianinteriors.com

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Canadian Interiors magazine is published by iQ Business Media Inc. 101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 302 Toronto ON M3B 1Z3 Telephone 416-441-2085 e-mail: info@canadianinteriors.com website: www.canadianinteriors.com Canadian Interiors publishes six issues, plus a source guide, per year. Printed in Canada. The content of this publication is the property of Canadian Interiors and cannot be reproduced without permission from the publisher.

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Please send payment to: Canadian Interiors, 101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 302 Toronto ON M3B 1Z3 or order online www.canadianinteriors.com For subscription and back issues inquiries please call 416-441-2085 x104 e-mail: circulation@canadianinteriors.com, or go to our website at: www.canadianinteriors.com Canadian Interiors is indexed in the Canadian Magazine Index by Micromedia ProQuest Company, Toronto (www.micromedia.com) and National Archive Publishing Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan (www.napubco.com).

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inside

torial professionals to serve as judges. Their measured and thoughtful consideration ensures we are truly recognizing the ‘best of the best’ in luxury design,” said Kevin O’Keefe, ICFF group show director and senior vice president of Emerald Expositions.

Seen It All

Awards programs in the A+D industry (of which, let’s admit it, there are many) typically utilize the skills and perspectives of trained professionals working in the field to serve as judges. This process has obvious merit: it’s their livelihood to know good from bad. But there are a few award programs out there that utilize a different set of skills when selecting the judging panel: editors of design magazines. And there are good reasons for that approach, too: who else is better suited to bring an experiential lens that is wide enough to include cross-sector comparisons and the deep well of design history. It has been said that editors are “the eyes of the world” and that feels true on both literal and figurative levels: these editors, after all, really have seen it all.

This is one of the things that make the Editors’ Awards at the New York City-based global design show, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), so prestigious. “The Editors’ Awards recognize a very high level of design excellence and creativity, which is why we always ask some of the industry’s most influential media and edi-

And yours truly was asked to be one of the judges for this year’s event. Joining me were: Annie Block, deputy editor, Interior Design; Emma Harris, assistant editor, darc magazine; Pei-Ru Keh, New York editor, Wallpaper; Paul Makovsky, editor in chief, Contract; and Madeline O’Malley, associate market editor, Architectural Digest. Recognizing the best and most innovative design at ICFF was a near Herculean task: over 800 booths were considered for awards in 12 product categories: accessories; carpet/flooring; furniture collection; galleries/artists; kitchen and bath; lighting; outdoor furniture; school design; seating; and wallcoverings. In addition, we selected winners for the Emerging Designer and Best Booth categories.

I’ve moderated many judging panels, but to be honest being on one is way more fun: getting to knock brains and wits and perspectives with fellow journalists whose excogitation and behaviours are similar to mine is both challenging and refreshing. Often when we are ensconced in our bubbles we fall in love with certain things, but when thrown into the ring with other equally passionate and brilliant lovers of design, William Faulkner’s literary advice to “kill your darlings” takes on particular resonance. But as with all editing, the final results were, our group felt, spot on.

09 Peter Sobchak

MADE IN TORONTO, CANADA SINCE 2003.

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psobchak@canadianinteriors.com

416 910 5892 | INFO@BROTHERSDRESSLER.COM

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caught our eye

Nicholas Calcott

Zero Sum Feast Easy to miss but the best part of WantedDesign Manhattan in May was a pop-up gastro-design experience called Zero Waste Bistro, which explored themes of circular economy, new material innovations and sustainable design. Presented by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, the concept was co-curated by Finnish designers Harri Koskinen and Linda Bergroth, and introduced the food philosophy of Helsinki-based Restaurant Nolla, the first zero-waste restaurant in the Nordic region.

A communal table and settings made of Durat Palace dominated the narrow vault, surrounded

by Alvar Aalto’s classic Artek stools and Hand Grenade pendants, and lining the walls was ReWall Naked Board, a material made from Tetra Pak waste. www.fciny.org/zerowastebistro

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caught our eye

Wearing Space Waterloo, Ont.-based artist and architect Philip Beesley has brought his fascination with the field of responsive architecture to the Royal Ontario Museum in a new installation titled Transforming Space. Massive 3D-printed mesh-like structures suspended from the ceiling are embedded with lighting and motion sensors that shift in response to the movements of visitors.

Nearby is a correlated exhibition of work by Dutch haute couture fashion designer Iris van Herpen, with whom Beesley has worked and several of their shared designs are featured. www.rom.on.ca

Above and Beyond No, this is not a rendering. This is what the view from the CN Tower’s 14,000-sq.-ft. main observation level actually looks like, after a $16-million renovation that was unveiled on the Tower’s 42nd birthday. Led by Cumulus Architects, new floor-to-ceiling glass “Window Walls” designed without any vertical mullion support (instead utilizing structural silicone between glazing units) create eye-popping panoramic views extending 74 feet across each of the three different installed sections. www.cntower.ca

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Gateway™ to Freedom

Design: busk + hertzog

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Light the Way 2

By Martin Spreer

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The 125,000 visitors combing the halls of Cologne’s premier furniture show in January were treated to cool exhibits, like Czech designer Lucie Koldova’s Das Haus, a kitchen-deprived interpretation of a contemporary house (why cook when you can go out to eat), and the Pure Talents Contest of international young designers. Lighting, bathrooms and the smart home were the focus for this edition of IMM, and specifiers surely walked away with a trove of ideas.

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Lantern Copper Light | Classicon Designed by Shanghai-based Neri & Hu, Classicon’s Copper Lantern is an updated version of a

1 previous incarnation, and is available in both table and floor versions. The trick achieved here is giving the light a unique and unconventional look that is both modern and traditional. www.classicon.com

Bay | B&B Italia Designers Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien have added B&B Italia’s iconic design to outdoor seating with this collec-

2 tion. Made from fibre braided on a tubular steel frame, the oversized, high backrest armchair and sofa collection is designed for comfort and elegance. www.bebitalia.com Rope Light | AKTTEM Studio Verena Designed by Verena Hennig, this simple, fully dimmable modular lighting system with LEDs

3 encased in a technical mesh is a uniquely versatile architectural lighting solution. The illuminated line can be arranged with multiple hanging strings to create a light curtain or simply put up to resemble a chandelier: adaptability options are almost endless. www.akttem.com DS1000 | de Sede Forget names: for the Swiss it’s all numbers. The DS1000 lounger, designed by Ulrich Kössl and the de Sede

4 Design Team, combines a piping frame with a free floating canvas-cushioned lounger mat, held together by leather belts which also enables the user to adjust the softness of the mat. The end result of this material medley is surprisingly comfortable. www.desede.ch CANADIAN INTERIORS 7/8 2018

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Ivy | Brokis S.R.O. Although best known for the beautifully coloured and hand-blown Muffins and Knot glass lights, Brokis’ decora-

5 tive Ivy lights have a very organic feel resembling lit leaves hanging from a willow tree. Designed by Lucie Koldova (of Das Haus fame), the modular Ivy system is available in three sizes in opal or smoked glass. www.brand-kiosk.com

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Marble Wing | Draenert Sudio Designed by architect and designer Hadi Teherani, the marble wing is a chaise longue crafted from a

6 single natural stone block of Carrara marble. With its timeless modern design and clean lines, solid jagged textured base and its polished seating surface, this limited edition museum piece makes the perfect showstopper for any large contemporary space. www.draenert.de Bundle Sofa | Walter K. A treat to sit on, the Bundle has a sculptured, floating and airy feel due to its delicate and unobtrusive

7 base, soft upholstery and clean lines. Designed by Austrian stars EOOS, the extraordinary comfort was accomplished through turning and folding the fabrics as part of the design concept. www.walter-k.com

Circo Lounge Chair | Ames Sala This funky German furniture label founded in 2006 with Colombian roots tapped German mega-

8 star designer Sebastian Herkner for the Circo. Handcrafted in Colombia for both indoor and outdoor use, it is made from a combination of powder-coated tubular steel and colourful synthetic weave. www.ames-shop.de

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Peranakan Moderne | Ipse Ipsa Ipsum Launched in 2016, this homegrown furniture and accessories brand collaborated with Singapore’s Peranakan Museum to produce a line inspired by the city-state’s unique culture that mixes Chinese and Malaysian traditions and aesthetics. Ipse Ipsa Ipsum (meaning “himself, herself and itself” in Latin) worked with local designers Jeremy Sun and Nicholas Paul to create ornate yet paredback pieces that reference the museum’s vibrant and exquisite artefacts. www.ipseipsaipsum.com

“The Italian Hospitality” | Giulio Cappellini For his second year as an IFFS exhibitor, the creative director invited nine contemporary and innovative Italian manufacturers to incorporate their products into his gallery-like space that emulated an apartment in Milan’s sophisticated Corso Como district. Alongside leading brands in ceramic (Cedit by Florim, Casamood), bathroom (Olympia, Vismaravetro), and lighting (Icone Luce, La Murrina), Cappellini showcased Roberto Beltrami, a young glass master from Murano who has also caught the eye of Roche Bobois.

Folks | Nathan Yong “Being a designer doesn’t mean you earn a living drawing sofas and coat stands. You are required to answer as many questions as possible.” From interviews to business meetings, the Singapore native was spotted everywhere on the show floor. Yong showcased his signature slatted style and affinity for wood through his Grafunkt x Star Wars collection of sculptural stools and side tables, released last year in collaboration with Disney. www.nathanyongdesign.com

Mesa | District Eight This eight-year-old Vietnamese studio oozes industrial cool.

Defined by bold, raw, and handcrafted furnishings, District Eight of Ho Chi Minh City launched its Mesa collection that features a stain-resistant grey squirrel tweed sofa and a blackened oak-and-glass coffee table, both available in various configurations. www.districteight.com

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La Lampe Couture | Maori The latest addition to this Hong Kong/Paris-based outdoor furniture company is a collection of solar lamps by French duo Normal Studio. Taking inspiration from traditional Asian lanterns floating in the sky, Couture is made from recycled aluminum and Batyline Alphalia: a tight mesh by French manufacturer Serge Ferrari which also maximizes the LED’s capacity while emitting a soft, diffused light. www.maiorifurniture.com

West Meets East

The latest edition of International Furniture Fair Singapore (IFFS) showcased contemporary pieces that paid homage to the city-state’s lavish heritage while looking forward to the future, intermingling with — and even attracting — Europe’s design illuminati.

By Diane Chan

Diamond | Koda This local furniture manufacturer with locations across Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and China, was founded in 1972 by IFFS chairman Ernie Koh. Koda introduced two new lines: Diamond (a blackened wood chest, a sideboard, and a coffee table featuring a faceted-look façade); and Lideal (a TV unit and a sideboard), defined by thin strips of rubberwood in monochromatic shades. www.kodaonline.com

Spot | Jattamon Buddharee In the emerging designers section, Thailand’s Jattamon Buddharee—who is inspired by tech visionaries Tim Brown and Elon Musk—displayed her marble and wood coffee table that resolves the conflict of decorative objects taking up valuable space. Spot features a movable tray that doubles as a drinks transporter or small items storage; once removed, the void reveals a shelf below that can secure taller pieces such as vases or bottles.

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Kitsune | Natadora The Hong Kong manufacturer presented seven elegant lines with design led by Japanese and Portuguese designers aimed at residential, hospitality, and coworking space including a line of sofas and armchairs defined by pinched corners, stitched detailing, and spindly metal legs. Produced in Ho Chi Minh City under Danish management, the pieces are available in fine fabrics or leather from names like Kvadrat and Sorensen, and appear to draw influence from the soft forms and muted palettes of Scandinavia. www.natadora.com

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the goods

Mami Kitchen Knives | Alessi Originally designed by Stefano Giovannoni in 2002, the Mami Kitchen Knives return to the Alessi catalogue in forged steel with matte finish. The new line includes a utility knife, cook’s knife, bread knife, and two Santoku knives, a Japanese instrument used for cutting, filleting, and deboning. The set comes in a knife block by Anna and Gianfranco Gasparini. www.alessi.com

By Shannon Moore

Seasoned with Style

From tiny dishwashers to reimagined range hoods, today’s designers bring style, accessibility, and organization to the heart of the home.

The Boutique Collection | HanStone Quartz Inspired by the world of fashion, the new Boutique Collection brings soft whites into conversation with subtle greys. Manufactured using advanced Breton Technology — a robotic arm that creates deep veining to mimic the appearance of natural stone — the surfaces are non-porous and resistant to heat, stains, and scratches. Available in five styles: lace-like Chantilly; pearly Montauk; wispy grey Monterey; smooth white Soho; and cream-based Yorkville. www.hanstonequartz.com

Mia by Carlo Cracco | Scavolini Mia makes accessible the luxuries of a professional kitchen for everyday users at home. Designed by chef Carlo Cracco, the kitchen features multi-functional appliances and high-tech upgrades including a vacuum-packing machine, food dehydrator, and meal warming lamps. The sleek steel finish of the appliances complements the smooth clay and stone cabinets, providing a professional look without the sterile industrial feel. www.scavoliniusa.com CANADIAN INTERIORS 7/8 2018

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Lullaby | Elica Inspiring homeowners to ditch standard pot lights in favour of reimagined ceiling hoods instead, the Lullaby is a long shelf that floats above countertops, islands, and workstations, offering lighting, air extraction/filtration, and odour control while hiding all units from sight. The large panel is equipped with LEDs that can be adjusted for intensity and tone, while the hood is available in aged oak or white lacquered wood finishes. www.elica.com

Metropolitan Collection | Caesarstone The new Collection brings factory aesthetics into the realm of residential design. The five surfaces are rough, tough, and unpolished, and when installed in a kitchen bring a raw patina with an enviable industrial edge. Inspired by oxidized steel, poured plaster, and raw concrete, each slab is unique, full of character and depth. www.caesarstone.com SapienStone | Ciot Designed specifically for vanities, fireplaces, and of course, kitchen counters, these porcelain slabs fuse ceramic clay with mineral dye to create a natural stone look. The surface is available in nine colours and is highly resistant to chemical products, heat, scratches, and light, making it perfect for high-traffic areas. www.ciot.com

Tiomos Hinge | GRASS Deliberately blending in, the Tiomos hinge is made for minimalist kitchens that pride themselves on cleanliness and sim­plicity. The hinge is entirely hidden from sight and recessed into the cabinet to allow the furniture to speak for itself. It also comes in a variety of options for different construction and installation needs, including blind corners, slanted base cabinets, soft close dampers, and more. www.grass.at

The Marble Collection | Cambria Cambria, a made-in-America natural stone surface provider, recently added three new designs to its Marble Collection. While Bridgewater boasts denim-like blues, Mersey sets white and grey veining against a velvety black background, and Skara Brae blends taupe and moss green against a crisp white. Available in matte or high gloss finishes, the new designs offer a fresh alternative to the muted marbles that we so often see in the modern marketplace. www.cambriausa.com

Bold Table | LAGO The Bold Table challenges gravity through a single off-centre support that bears the weight of its thin tabletop. Comfortable, stable, and versatile, the table is defined by its black “shadow” base that stabilizes the product itself. The table is available in oak wood and XGlass, with a base that can be customized in any of LAGO’s 32 signature colours. www.lago.it

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the goods

KeepHeat | Hoover The KeepHeat oven uses a patented Exeter Technology to cook and keep food warm all in one appliance; allowing users to prepare meals well in advance and keep them at a desired temperature without the risk of overcooking or drying out. Conceived in collaboration with researchers from the University of Palma, the appliance mimics techniques used in professional kitchens, dropping to as low as 62 degrees Celsius when needed. www.hoover.co.uk Bianca Island | AyA Kitchens AyA Kitchens’ Bianca Island is the perfect companion for tight kitchens. With a solid work top, slide-out butcher block, and garbage/recycling station, the island contains all of the necessities for meal prep. Best of all: it contains an intelligent fold-out dining table that can be used or tucked away as needed. www.ayakitchens.com

SurfaceSet | Formica Formica has launched a new laminate collection featuring 32 surface designs in three palettes: the soft and warm hues of a Personal Sanctuary, such as maple, rose, and bronzed steel; the bold primary tones of Spectral, featuring chrome yellow, matrix blue, and colourful paint scrapes; and the look of raw materials reused in Smart Organic, including green slate, weathered fiberwood, and enamel. www.formica.com

Precis Single 25 | Blanco Canada Approximately 3.8 million Canadians live with a disability, and as such, Blanco Canada has crafted a single bowl sink ideal for kitchens that follow the principles of universal design.

The Precis Single 25 is ADA and CSA compliant, featuring a reduced bowl depth for greater wheelchair accessibility. The sink is made from granite composite material in anthracite, cinder, or metallic grey, and can be installed as an undermount or drop in. www.blancocanada.com

Slimline Dishwasher | Miele Considering many people live in small households and apartments with minimal kitchen space, it’s surprising that compact dishwashers aren’t more common. Enter Miele’s Slimline Dishwasher: a 45cm wide appliance that’s small but effective, featuring a cutlery drawer and room for nine place settings. Stamped with an A++ energy efficiency rating, the dishwasher even contains a neat auto-open drying feature, allowing hot air to escape at the end of a cycle without risking moisture damage to nearby countertops, cupboards, and floors.

Liberta Modular System | Richelieu Liberta invites users to create highly versatile open shelving structures using unique configurations to fit any type of space.

Cut from aluminum and easily assembled and mounted, the shelves are at once strong and durable. They can even be paired with glass shelves, decorative panelling, and discreet lighting for a variety of styles and tastes.

www.miele.ca

www.richelieu.com

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Stéphane Brugger

Fit For a Queen

Canada’s largest hotel east of Toronto, the upgrading and restyling of Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth embraces both its past and its quintessential Montréal character.

By Stefan Novakovic

Standing in the great hall of the reimagined Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, little evidence remains of the slightly staid, ageing interior that welcomed the grand hotel’s last guests before its 2016 closure.

Renovated and reopened, Montréal’s largest hotel now returns to the downtown core with a new aesthetic, and a much closer relationship with the city around it.

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Designed by Sid Lee Architecture in collaboration with Architecture 49, the hotel now greets visitors with an unapologetically contemporary — yet historically sensitive — new face. Commissioned by property owners Ivanhoe Cambridge and operators Fairmont Hotels, the 7/8 2018 CANADIAN INTERIORS

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This page Suite 1742, where John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their iconic 1969 Bed-In for Peace, has been turned into an interactive art exhibit. But other than rearranging the furniture in the same way Lennon and Ono had for the bed-in (such as the bed against the main window), the designers did not recreate period décor, instead drawing inspiration from places the couple had lived in or visited, such as London, New York, Tokyo and New Delhi.

$140-million renovation saw each of the 21-storey hotel’s 950 rooms restyled with contemporary furnishings and finishes.

In every guest room, boldly coloured and geometrically patterned accent walls offset what is otherwise an elegantly subdued interior. Appointed

by Design 360 Unlimited LA, the furniture features mid-century modernist detailing that speaks to the history of a hotel that first opened in 1958, and later garnered international attention for hosting John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s highly publicized ‘Bed-In For Peace’ in 1969.

Memory of that seminal sleep-in remains embedded in the hotel’s heart. Suite 1742, where John and Yoko’s protest captured the late ‘60s zeitgeist — and briefly, the world’s attention — has been rebuilt as a functional memorial to the legendary couple. Resisting the urge to make the space a mere simulacrum of the past, Sid Lee, in collaboration with art consultants MASSIVart, have imbued the hotel’s contemporary aesthetic with subtle tributes and historic touches.

Reproductions of the famous handwritten ‘Hair Peace’ and ‘Bed Peace’ cut-outs adorn the window once again, while the words of Give Peace a Chance, which was recorded in the suite, are inscribed repeatedly on the walls, suggesting a war memorial: wishes for peace are emblazoned in lieu of the names of fallen soldiers.

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Downstairs, the spaces surrounding the luxurious great hall are characterized by an elaborate interplay of geometric patterns, richly textured finishes and decorative elements. Occasionally flirting with flamboyance, the interiors nonetheless retain a sense of cohesion amidst a multitude of design elements. Moving from the great hall through the cocktail bar, restaurant, and cafe, new communal spaces animate the ground floor with expansive windows and new street-level ingresses.

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Opening page: Improvising with 1960s aesthetics, the Grand Hall has now become a public street inviting Montréalers and visitors to explore the hotel. Above: A new type of public space for the hotel, the Agora tries a pretzel-twist of imagining futurism as if seen through the lens of the past. Below: Rosélys Restaurant is a blend of Parisian elegance and English flair, balancing masculine and feminine features with a crisp geometry based on chevron and curve patterns.

As Sid Lee’s Jean Pelland puts it, “the hotel literally opens onto the city.” The designer adds that “one of the principal goals of the renovations was to create stronger connections with the street, and make the hotel more a part of Montréal.” Although the hotel’s 1958 exterior asserts a quietly elegant International Style aesthetic across the upper levels, the ground floor always felt somewhat insulated from the surrounding urban fabric. Now, the three new spaces engage passersby from the street while bringing intimate urban views to diners, transforming a somewhat monolithic street-level presence into a more vibrant and welcoming destination.

Through it all, there are subtle hints of The Queen Elizabeth as it once was. On the ground level, the old escalators remain, while the configuration of the second floor is only partially changed. Although many of the spaces remain where they were, the second and thirdfloor business amenities have a brand new look.

On the third floor, the playful CoLab 3 collection of themed thirdfloor meeting rooms is inspired by modern co-working spaces. The flexibly configured individual rooms include fun — if not entirely functional — details like a ping pong table, or a set of swings. Emerging onto a generous terrace, the second floor’s Square Victoria Lounge is more understated.

Formerly a mechanical space, the 21st floor has been transformed into a communal lounge, which slides into a more private and restricted space for Fairmont Gold Club members. Here, the designers faced the challenge of working with a very low ceiling clearance of about eight feet (not that you’d really notice). “At a certain point, we decided we had to emphasize the horizontality of the space, with a long, open layout that draws the eye across the room, instead of up

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This page The third-floor business campus, named CoLab 3, contains 13 rooms inspired by the world of start-ups, with gadgets such as erasable whiteboard walls, stick-on sheets, touchscreens and video walls. Opposite top Espace C2 is a new 13,000-sq.-ft. glass volume on the 21st floor intended to target conference crowds, and can accommodate up to 220 guests. Opposite bottom Adjoining CoLab3 is a new private outdoor terrace for group networking.

at the ceiling,” explains Martin Leblanc, senior partner at Sid Lee Architecture. It works, creating a feeling of openness and comfort which belies the structural restriction.

Above it all, the newly completed Espace C2 conference venue tops the iconic hotel with an elegantly restrained glass canopy. Opening the space to panoramic views of downtown Montréal, the angular roof structure houses a conference centre embedded within the 1958 structure’s topmost floor. Hosting up to 220 guests, the 13,000-sq.-ft. space offers a more industrial aesthetic. Exposed brick and concrete are accented by heavy grout, with the rougher textures pleasantly balanced by opulent flowing curtains and a clean glass envelope.

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Across its 21 floors, the reinvigorated Fairmont Queen Elizabeth unfolds in a playful medley of styles and design elements. At the hands of lesser designers, throwing together a seemingly cacopho-

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Adrien Williams

nous collection of design elements would make for busy, incoherent spaces. Luckily, Sid Lee Architecture just about have the nous to pull it off, integrating a slightly daring array of finishes and furnishings into a cohesive whole. In any given space, individual design elements draw the eye but almost never compete against one another.

“Throughout the hotel, there are a lot of design elements,” says Leblanc, assessing the project as a whole, “but we were very deliberate about how we placed them, with elements carried over from one space to another, to give it a sense of unity.” More than anything, it’s the geometric floor and wall patterns that tie it all together, while more subtle repetition of furnishings and material finishes throughout The Queen Elizabeth serve to underscore a sense of place. The results may be more Kate Middleton than Elizabeth II, but all the same, the place is fit for a queen.

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Welcome to My City

By Rhys Phillips

Hotel Monville delivers on its promise to give travellers “more for less.”

Adrien Williams

way

The newly opened Monville Hotel is a new-build boutique hotel addressing Montréal’s busy rue de Bleury but with its longer façade sliding down narrow rue de la Gauchetière. It is a fine example of a return to hotels intended as defining moments within the cityscape. Atop a minimalist, street-hugging glazed podium, a narrow, 16-storey precast concrete slab weaves a simple black and white trompe-l’oeil pattern that ensures visual attention while subtlety referencing, says architect Maxime-Alexis Frappier of ACDF Architecture, the city’s history for finely stitched suits. Its relatively low density location ensures the hotel serves as a landmark.

om

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This spread and previous page: An Anglophone mix-up for the French words meaning “my city,” guests to the Monville enter through a vestibule with angled ceilings before arriving in the soaring triple-height lobby, where along the windows, oak-clad fins both channel and shield views inside from the street. The steel screen shields the elevator core from the lobby, while abstractly recalling Montréal’s distinctive exterior staircases. A monochromatic palette and custom furniture make the rooms feel uncluttered and airy. The façade is comprised of prefabricated concrete panels, each window demarcating a single suite.

But for Frappier, it’s the lobby that provides a hotel its defining character. Not only a place to see and be seen, it is that vital urban space where strangers meet the city. Not incidentally, Monville’s European model of primarily small affordable rooms means the lobby must be a welcoming social space, even a casual working space, something like a gourmet coffee bistro on a grander scale. Entered through an eroded entrance off de Bleury, the revealed lobby explodes open with its threestorey height and the architect’s deliberate moves to introduce monumental grandeur, albeit stripped down.

an angle. This skew, the architect says, helps mediate the inside/outside relationship adding a bit of peek-a-boo mystery. Between these engaged columns, custom furniture provides tables and chairs suitable for a little laptop work.

Within the central nave, a large chesterfield in Montréal’s official plaid, modern wing back chairs, a long table with stools and groups of midcentury style armchairs create clustered spaces for meeting, work, or just socializing. But at the far west end, things turn a wee bit more profane. A lozenge-shaped bar, made from the same gleaming white terrazzo as the floor, loops organically around one of the columns providing seating for 30 patrons. The bistro-style Gourmet Monville café, with seating along the north aisle next to the bar, terminates the nave.

The defining intervention is 12 massive paired columns that march down the lobby. That the effect resembles the soaring naves of so many of the city’s historic churches is no accident, says Frappier.

Painted white for the first storey then black to the ceiling, the oversized but simple columns suggest more a spare Romanesque pedigree than Gothic’s decorative tendencies. Custom lamps by Montréal’s Lambert et Fils spring out from the columns where white meets black, a gesture to introduce more human scale.

Along the narrow south aisle paralleling de la Gauchetière, the glass curtain wall is broken by a march of massive vertical oak fins set on CANADIAN INTERIORS 7/8 2018

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Along the wider, more animated northern aisle, only a small reception desk is visible on entry to encourage Monville’s guests to use the hotel’s state-of-the-art, “40 second” self-check-in kiosks. These are tucked below a floating oak box containing in part a second level quadrilateral shaped “library” overlooking de Bleury. At the bar end, three additional minimalist oak boxes are stacked to the ceiling with precarious cantilevers. These contain upper mezzanines, a DJ booth, and a wash-

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room corridor. In between the boxes is the elevator lobby, screened by a porous veil of black steel, a simple device used in several iterations in the lobby. This detailing, says Frappier, abstractly references Montréal’s ubiquitous exterior metal staircases. Along the north wall, between the boxes and even onto the ceiling, Montréal-based rock music photographer Valerie Jodoin Keating has provided a whimsical mural using vintage black and white photographs of the city’s daily life.

Most of the 269 rooms are modest in size, entered directly through their bathrooms but made to seem larger by their floor-to-ceiling/wall-to-wall window. Again, rich oak paneling incorporating a canted headboard for a king-sized bed stretches along one wall. Each room’s smart TV can be synced with personal digital devices or used to order room service, the latter delivered by an already very popular robot.

Owned by Old Montréal’s historic boutique Gault Hotel, Monville is intended as the flagship for a future “collection” of hotels already in development in Ottawa and Toronto that demonstrates that a modest hotel can be stylish and comfortably functional while enhancing its urban environment.

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Michelle Johnson

New Nosh in the New West

Above A mix of a sophisticated ‘60’s lounge and your uncle’s eclectic basement, rich wood paneling, textured plaster, mixed metals and luxurious textiles create a distinctly residential feel in the Wednesday Room, by McKinley Burkart.

By Martha Uniacke Breen

Despite its small size relative to other Canadian cities (with a population of slightly over one and a half million, according to the most recent figures), Calgary’s restaurant scene has a level of sophistication that rivals international cities many times its size. From tiny boîtes to hotel lounges and high-end restaurants that offer up every kind of cuisine you might desire (and a sizable number of innovative or simply offbeat concepts you may never have thought of), hospitality has become one of the most competitive and dynamic industries in the city.

Great restaurants ultimately live or die by the quality of their food, of course, but great design is a key part of what makes it a place you’ll want to try, stay in, and come back to. And no less than the cuisine, the design of some of the best restaurants here could compare favourably with those in New York or London.

The quality and variety of restaurants in Calgary rival some of the best international destinations. And great design can make or break a new entry, perhaps even as much as the food. What’s driving this lively and competitive scene?

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Michelle Johnson

Above Eve Café, the first of its kind for major retailer La Maison Simons, is nod to French style with an injection of rich, textural finishes and residential-inspired accents that creates an entirely different experience from shopping. Above Right With subtle retro influences, McKinley Burkart picked a palette of simple materials like wood panelling and black marble tile for the third Village Ice Cream location.

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Below For Two Penny Chinese, the Sarah Ward Interiors team drew inspiration from 1920’s Shanghai, a period known for blending traditional Chinese architecture and streamlined Art Deco, or “Chinese Deco.” A palette of teal and dusty rose are brought into the interior in the form of sumptuous velvets and textured leathers, alongside seafoam green tiles and natural wicker caning juxtaposed with rounded Deco motifs.

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What does it take to design a memorable interior in this demanding atmosphere? We asked three of Calgary’s top restaurant design specialists to describe their process, and offer some insights on how the city attained its rep as one of the trendiest restaurant destinations in Canada.

McKinley Burkart “Nowadays in town, if you don’t have a great restaurant design you’re in trouble,” says Walker McKinley, who with partner Mark Burkart launched McKinley Burkart about 20 years ago. McKinley believes that at heart, what’s driving the city’s hospitality industry is a population that’s overwhelmingly white-collar, well-educated and well-heeled. “Because of the oil and gas industry, which drives a lot of the city’s economy, it’s always been a wealthy city, and a well-travelled one. So they’re very international, and have welldeveloped tastes.”

Jamie Anholt

McKinley Burkart is one of the elder statesmen of the Calgary restaurant design scene, despite the relative youth of its proprietors. The partners started working together while still undergraduates, and began specializing in resto design at the very start: one of their first commissions, while still in school, was to design a couple of new restaurants for some friends. The friends’ enterprise eventually morphed into the Concorde Group, today one of Calgary’s largest and most successful restaurant groups, and continues to work with the designers as the fortunes of both firms have advanced.

“A restaurant is really a form of theatre, where you can set up a whole experience,” observes McKinley. Creating an entire narrative inside the world of the restaurant is in some ways as complex as dramaturgy, he says. “We are really very collaborative with the clients from the beginning, at every level: from the owners to the front of house people, the chefs, everyone who will be involved. We get into the entire program, with the geography, the cuisine, the site, the overall atmosphere, in order to develop a cohesive theme.”

Phil Crozier, Photophilcro

One of the firm’s newer projects, The Wednesday Room, illustrates this immersive approach. “We wanted to take a ‘nostalgic approach to something never experienced,’” says McKinley. “That may sound strange, but it’s a typical experience for many Millennials, who have been deeply exposed to the past, but never actually lived it.” Located in the basement of an older office block, the lounge evokes a’60s rec room, or a clandestine hideaway where Don Draper might rendezvous with a mistress, midweek. Exposed-stone and wood-panelled walls, furnished with retro groupings next to a fireplace, make it feel like a mid-century home – or, as he says, your uncle’s basement, complete with Stanley Kubrick movie memorabilia. “But it’s also a celebration of the whole idea of the lounge,” says McKinley. “This kind of ‘mashup’ is very typical of our work.”

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Along with the design proper, the company operates three in-house supplementary divisions that work with the clients and the design team to build a complete, self-contained package encompassing every aspect of a restaurant’s visual presentation. Little Sister, an inhouse branding and graphic design department, produces the imagery, logos, menus and physical manifestation of the theme; Tableau, its furniture procurement, design and manufacturing arm, manifests the physical creation of the interior.

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Above The library inspired bar is the focus of Proof, while a trio of glass and brass clamp lights by Lindsay Adelman are suspended over the leathered black marble bar top. Above Right The design of Donna Mac focuses on strong geometric forms and the material rawness of hickory, leather, cork, and brick: textures that give the space warmth.

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Below The clearly unpretentious tone of Bridgette, completed in the fall of 2016 by Frank Architecture, is conveyed through the use of vintage furniture oriented around a suspended wood-burning fireplace, exposed construction material and an unusually low green marble bar.

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There’s also a third division called Black Chamber, which McKinley describes as a “think tank,” focused on the softer, blue-sky aspects of design theory, which conducts research across an eclectic range of sources: from international design and other influences to chefs, deejays, economists, and even lawyers, seeking to find clues to the future in ideas, trends and tastes. “It’s very experimental, seeking new ideas from wherever they may be,” he says. The collective result is a strong narrative that resonates with target patrons from the moment they step inside, or perhaps even from the moment they alight from a cab out front.

Phil Crozier, Photophilcro

Phil Crozier, Photophilcro

Sarah Ward Interiors Designer Sarah Ward acknowledges that Calgary’s general population, which skews towards young, energetic and well-educated restaurant patrons, tends to attract restaurateurs who are interested in pushing the envelope in both cuisine and design, and who find a ready and demanding, audience. “The scene has quite rapidly exploded; we have a very sophisticated group of restaurant owners here who are really interested in advancing the level of design in the city.”

Ward spent the early years of her career working in every aspect of design from retail to residential to commercial design, excellent groundwork for her eventual focus on hospitality. “Once you get started in this area, it’s hard to pull away,” she says. “They’re fantastic projects to get consumed by.”

The initial approach from the client may consist of a fully-fledged concept, or merely samples of an atmosphere or idea that needs development. The first and most critical stage happens long before Ward and her team begin to sketch out ideas, with a series of indepth interviews and brainstorming sessions with the client. “You have to be very aware at this stage. We spend a lot of time just listening.” Germs of ideas begin to emerge, and are developed further through wide-ranging research from a variety of sources: inspirations from cuisine, design history, and cultural and iconographic details that will help the concept coalesce into a visual theme.

“Sometimes it’s guided by a regional cuisine, or it might be a certain narrative. A good example of this is Proof Cocktail Bar, where we wanted the space to feel like a local bar on a street corner, or even the basement of a home.” With its concrete walls and floor, exposed ducts and moody, industrial-inspired lighting, Proof looks the way Miles Davis’ trumpet sounds.

Implementing the concept of a new restaurant is at least as closely controlled a process as developing the theme in the first place, she explains, even down to details such as the design of the tableware. “In hospitality, you expect to work more closely with trades and millworkers because of the nature of the interiors, but sometimes it might even be to the point of re-educating the trades to certain textures or details that we want: installing tiles just slightly crooked, or finishes that are slightly rougher, to make it feel less perfect, more relaxed.”

Jamie Hyatt

Frank Architecture

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“When you’re a young, fresh firm, you bring a lot to the table,” says Kelly Morrison, who along with Kristen Lien and Kate Allen, form the three-woman team of Frank Architecture and Interiors. Morrison 7/8 2018 CANADIAN INTERIORS

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dates the genesis of Calgary’s blossoming restaurant scene to a cultural shift that coincided with the economic downturn of 2008.

“There was a big drop in oil prices, which of course affected us directly, so smaller restaurants became very chef-driven. They had to try and push harder, just to survive. So they became seen as not just a food experience, but a whole experience.”

Around the same time, adds Lien, Calgary began to become aware of — and to celebrate — its entire local culture, spurred by its energetic and charismatic young mayor, Naheed Nenshi. “It’s become a city of mostly young entrepreneurs, bringing a strong influence to the local culture. And a lot of these young entrepreneurs are seeking out smaller design firms like ours, since we’re young entrepreneurs ourselves.”

Architecture school classmates, the three partners cut their teeth on early Concorde Group projects such as Model Milk, National and Clive Burger, getting an early sense of the restaurant-as-stage-set and a wholly conceived experience. “Model Milk is a great example of that,” explains Morrison. “The open kitchen at one end is like the stage, with all the seating like the audience, where you can look over at any time and watch the chefs in action.”

Jamie Hyatt

Like designers in every idiom, the trio aver that the concept starts with the client’s idea — “We have a very open door when it comes to new ideas” — but in practice sometimes that requires imagination and a bit of sleuthing as well as a keen sense for what will bring in an audience. “We like to take an idea and dive down into it to see what we can relate it to. A good example would be Bridgette [another Concorde Group project, which opened last year]. The client came to us wanting an approachable space where people would feel welcome, enjoy good food, great music, a friendly atmosphere.” An inviting idea for a new restaurant perhaps, but not much for a designer to hang her hat on. “So we thought, what can we compare that to? We kept coming back to the idea of a backyard barbecue, so we conceived the idea of a neighbour’s house. It’s in a great older building with lots of character, so we set that off with a soft mid-century colour palette, casual furnishings and materials, and a welcoming character generally.”

The designers also note that in the competitive Calgary scene, innovation and a keen awareness of what’s happening internationally is compulsory. “Hospitality is a very dynamic industry; we do a lot of research on projects all over the world to keep current on what’s going on elsewhere,” Morrison observes. “Our clients in the hospitality field have been to restaurants and hotels everywhere internationally, so they expect that level of design from us.”

“We’re also constantly researching new products and new materialities,” says Lien. “There are so many new types of cooking, customer experiences, and design innovations. That’s actually what keeps our jobs fun and constantly interesting.”

This page Evoking a Parisian brasserie aesthetic, Royale employs leather and velvet for the banquettes, and marble table tops and polished brass accents for the 50-ft. long cast zinc bar.

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seen

ICFF 2018 EDITORS’ AWARDS Each year, ICFF convenes the industry’s top editors and invites them to scour the floor of the Javits Center to choose the best and most innovative designs at the fair. The winners were announced at the end of the first day of the fair on the ICFF Stage with the judging committee personally presenting each winning brand its coveted award.

By Peter Sobchak

FURNITURE CARPET/ FLOORING

2018 Collection | Fogia Walking that tightrope between good design and nostalgia mining is tricky for even one product, but to execute it well for an entire collection is how you win accolades from the design media. Taking 1970s-era colours, shapes and fabrics and tempering it with Scandinavian minimalism, Swedish furniture brand Fogia did exactly that with a 2018 collection that includes 14 items, such as shelving, chairs, rugs and more by notable designers and studios like Luca Nichetto, Note Design Studio, Stefan Borselius, and Diiis. www.fogia.se

CANADIAN INTERIORS 7/8 2018

Empire Collection | Aronson’s Floor Covering The new Empire Collection of handmade carpets marks the company’s first designer collaboration from interiors star Ghislaine Viñas. For the In The Hood collection, Viñas didn’t have to go far for inspiration: the four designs are an abstract, geometric interpretation of four neighbourhoods near Viñas’s studio, as evidenced in the names (Vestry, West Side, Tribeca, and Freeman Alley). https://aronsonsfloors.com

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LIGHTING

KITCHEN & BATH

Beam and Glow | Pelle ICFF was the launch pad for a brand new collection of fixtures that combine vibrant colour with formal minimalism in a series of vertical and horizontal structures reminiscent of “objecthood” found in the Minimal Art Movement. Using optical grade resin lenses, each light is framed in bent aluminum that is anodized or stained with a hand-applied finish. www.pelledesigns.com

Inciso | Gessi Marking the Italian bathware company’s first collaboration with American designer David Rockwell, the formal gestures of early plumbing fixtures and the architectural sensibility of modern metalwork inspired this solid brass collection of faucets and accessories. www.gessi.com

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OUTDOOR WALL FURNITURE COVERINGS

Poltrona Arreio | Sergio J. Matos It takes a long gaze to unpack all of the material references going on with this chair: 10 leather straps designed to mimic those that attach a saddle to a horse’s body also reference the Brazilian tannery industry; the steel structure is meant to evoke the landscape of northeastern Sertão; and even the rustic nature of its totality is meant to reference Brazil’s Armor Movement of the 1970s.

Mexican Cacti | Newton Paisley A relative newcomer from Britain, Newton Paisley is a fabrics and wallpapers passion project of conservation biologist, Susy Paisley, who hand-draws each pattern. Her passion for nature extends beyond the aesthetic: for every metre of fabric sold, 100 square metres of wild habitat is preserved through a collaboration with World Land Trust. Several lines were shown at ICFF including Mexican Cacti, which recall the flora and fauna of Mexico. www.newtonpaisley.com

www.sergiojmatos.com/

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EMERGING DESIGNER

BEST BOOTH

WT Collection | Eny Lee Parker The beauty and simplicity of both the booth and a small handful of products such as her Oo Lamps and BB Stool are what won Parker an award in the Emerging Designer category. Her technique, as well, caught the editors’ attention: using a traditional method of potter’s wheel fabrication to craft a collection of modern terra cotta items. www.enyleeparker.com

Editors like straight shooters, and New York-based Concrete Collaborative did exactly that with their booth design: a simple story told in an unpretentious way, “we make unique and sustainable concrete products.” www.concrete-collaborative.com

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The Livin’ is Easy

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Hail Caesarstone

Caesarstone hosted a cocktail party at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts to launch the new Metropolitan collection of its quartz solid surfacing material.

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1—Sergei Trunov, senior project manager at electrical and mechanical engineers Smith + Andersen; figure3’s Michela Kochanski, project designer, and Katherine Friedbacher, team lead. 2—Jason Branco, sales rep, and Laura Potkidis, architectural sales rep, at stone and tile supplier Ciot; and Christian Rocca, architectural sales, Caesarstone. 3—Junior designers Christy Stopfel, Bartlett+Associates; Alicia Correa, Justine Villaneuva and Danielle Toner, Cecconi Simone; and Cole Barkman, interior designer, Red Studio Architects. 4—Caesarstone marketing’s Sabrina Mammone, intern; Felicia Augurusa, specialist; and Elizabeth Margles, VP. 5—Caesarstone’s Sam Cinelli, Ontario regional manager; Stephen Mick, CFO; and Larry Town, VP sales.

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The Design Exchange’s fourth annual Design Auction attracted an enthusiastic horde of designers, DX patrons and fashionistas vying for coveted finds, arrayed along the perimeter of the Trading Floor, from firms such as Arc’teryx (clothing); Bang & Olufsen (consumer electronics); Cutler and Gross (sunglasses); and EQ3, Flos, Molteni and Walter Knoll (furniture).

1—The Kidd brothers: Charles, financial services manager, Pickering Honda; and Hugh, OCAD industrial design grad and design sales associate at home-goods retailer Hopson Grace; Nancy McConnell, owner, Gibson’s Cleaners; and her daughter, Linley, business analyst at Deloitte. 2—Ben Rahn, principal at architectural photography studio A Frame; fashion writer and editor Ceri Marsh; James O’Connor, sponsorship VP at A&C (formerly Arts and Communications Counselors); and his life partner, Michael Taylor, partner at Taylor Smyth Architects. 3—Eric Sze-Lang Chan, the digital artist known as “eepmon,” who created the Synthesis Parka for Canada Goose; and Yenting Chen, founder of bespoke menswear firm Duly Equipped. 4—Interior designer Meg Ryley, principal designer at residential design firm MCR Interiors; and her client, Natalie Aziz. 5—Fashion lawyer and trademark agent Anjli Patel; Shauna Levy (daughter of Steven), DX president and CEO; and Sandra De Luca, principal at furnishings retailer South Hill Home. 6—Auction co-chairs Isabella Romano, founder of real estate marketing firm Ohme; and interior designer Erika Floysvik, founder of Fia Interiors. 7—Energetic auction emcees Shai DeLuca-Tamasi, who heads his eponymous interior design firm; and Shoana Jensen, CityLine lifestyle expert.

8—Oriana Loduca, principal at interior design and styling firm Design Inc.; Stephanie Gallo, creative director at Statum Designs (part of the team that created the Hudson’s Bay blanket-wrapped storage ottoman, one of the evening’s auction items); and Lisa Reichardt, designer at finishes specialist Swift Design Consulting.

Sile and the Family Stone The grand opening of Cosentino’s Surfaces showroom in 2014 helped confirm the Castlefield Design District’s stature as a designer resource destination.

The newly redesigned showroom opened, in June, as Cosentino City, artfully displaying the company’s Silestone, Dekton, Sensa and Natural Stone brands.

1—Eduardo Cosentino, EVP of Global Sales and CEO of Cosentino North America; and Silestone Global Brand Ambassador, Cindy Crawford. 2—Peter Tim, owner, Crown Marble & Granite, whose firm fabricated the stone and Dekton surfaces in the new showroom; and Lynn Thomas, manager at Irpinia Kitchens. 3—Karen Kang, national director, global exhibitions, IDS Canada; book designer Rob Gray of his self-named DesignWorks Studio; and his wife, interior designer Theresa Casey of her Casey Design Planning Group. 4— Susan Slat, designer, and Tania D’Uva, controller, Downsview Kitchens.

Hail and Farewell to Intercede

Micheline Bartlett, who presided over Intercede Design for 37 years — making her firm one of the longest-lived interior design practices in Toronto — was honored with a surprise retirement party attended by staff and clients at Drechsel Studio in Toronto. She had sold her business to Greg Quinn, owner and principal of XDesign. He plans to operate the two businesses autonomously, each maintaining their existing names and clients, under XDesign’s roof.

1—Moises Bartlett, husband of Micheline, was an Intercede project manager; the two met when he was Canadian Airlines’s facilities manager and she was designing their downtown Toronto ticket office; Micheline Bartlett; and Brian Liss, owner of the Liss Gallery in Yorkville. 2—Intercede’s long-time accountant, Elliott Kosher, chartered accountant and partner at Segal and Partners; and Maria Biber, Intercede senior associate; and XDesign’s Greg Quinn. 3—Celia Spaulding, higher-education facilities consultant; Sally Curtis, Intercede office manager; and Enrique (husband of Maria) Biber, sales exec., financial services, IBM. 4— Intercede’s Denise Curtis (daughter of Sally), admin manager; Alejandra Ramirez, junior designer; and designers Christine Filicetti, Ted Choi and Pericles Voulgaris.

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Bent René Synnevåg

over & out

Cool North

Canadian design luminaries were asked to reinterpret Nordic sensibilities for the relaunch of a premier Swedish hotel.

By Peter Sobchak

holm’s business district, close to the central station and fronting a noisy, busy street. It is in the 159 rooms and 10 suites that the hotel’s name bears its fullest expression. “The inspiration for the design of the rooms was very much influenced by the beauty of the Nordic landscape and how light interacts with form. We wanted the experience to be calming yet poetic, believing that while one travels, one’s senses are heightened and most often extenuated and needing silence and a place to rejuvenate,” said Tong. “Design elements do not hammer you over the head demanding your attention.”

In late May, as daylight was inching towards midnight sun levels, the new Nordic Light Hotel in Stockholm was re-opened after extensive renovations. The new concept is a contemporary interpretation of Nordic design by Bergen-based architect Todd Saunders — yes, that Canadian ex-pat of Fogo Island Inn fame.

Saunders had overall responsibility for the new architecture and design, in particular the hotel lobby, restaurant and dining bar. It is here that his distinctively Canadian-inflected modern aesthetics is reflected the clearest, through material choices like pale ash wood panelling throughout the lobby and restaurant, accented by white marble and a palette of calm, gentle natural tones.

While Canadian talent abounds, several Nordic designers were selected by project partner Studio Markus Bergström to develop a line of customized furniture that continues the contemporary interpretation of Nordic design for the hotel’s community areas, and included designers such us Jenny Nordberg, Amanda Karsberg and Johannes Norlander.

Elegant and monochromatic, the monumentality of the interior public spaces are balanced by an aesthetic as clean as the Nordic cuisine on the menu at Lykke & Löjromsbaren, the hotel’s new dining bar, built around in-season ingredients such as vegetable primers in the spring, mushrooms, crayfish and lobster in the fall and slow cooked and fermented dishes in the winter.

The hotel rooms, designed by Toronto-based John Tong of +tongtong, are a distinct counterpoint to the hotel’s location in StockCANADIAN INTERIORS 7/8 2018

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“Designing Nordic Light was all about using natural, locally sourced materials to create a unique design. The result is a space that celebrates traditional Scandinavian design through a distinctive, modern vernacular,” said Saunders.

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