The Brief
Standing on the picturesque seafront at Brighton, No. 124 Brighton is one of four hotels owned by Guesthouse, a company that specialises in chic boutique hotels in buzzing towns. Located on Brighton’s Kings Road, the enchanting hotel enjoys sweeping sea views. The historic Regency building was originally two hotels, one Georgian and Grade II listed and one Victorian. Requiring a complete renovation that involved the joining together of the two properties, as well as the building of a contemporary extension at the back, the project took three years to complete.
The design brief was heavily influenced by the hotel’s surroundings. ‘All of our hotels are shaped by their environment and location – it’s a key part of our ethos,’ explains Chloe Alexander, Associate Interior Designer at Guesthouse. ‘We always invest a lot of time at the start of a project researching the local area. With Brighton, this was particularly significant as it was one out of two of our hotels that marked a new design era for us, both setting the design direction for future properties’ When it came to the design, the Regency architecture was at the heart of the inspiration. ‘There’s a strong influence from Moorish shapes and chinoiserie elements, which we wanted to celebrate. Brighton itself is such a vibrant, eclectic place and we really wanted to reflect that in the design brief’,’ says Chloe. Design was at the forefront of the decisions about the flooring too, but practicality regarding the high traffic areas was also a consideration.
The Project
The carefully considered interior includes distinctive furniture such as distressed leather armchairs and softly curved sofas, sumptuous tactile fabrics and quirky, individual accessories such as bespoke helter skelter lights. The colour palette was inspired by the Bloomsbury Group, who were based in nearby Lewes, with quintessential shades such as inky blues, rose pinks and zingy oranges showcased in the public areas, while the bedrooms are more muted.
Artisans of Devizes’ products play a leading role in the public areas. ‘They’re at the forefront of our layout,’ says Chloe. Wychwood Tumbled and Etched Limestone makes up the front terrace area and Calacatta Oceana Oro Hexagon Mosaic is featured with a brass logo inlay. In the reception lobby, Limoges Limestone in a Vintaged Finish with Tora Blue Cabochon insets makes a classically elegant and graphic flooring and flows through to the circulations spaces and public bathrooms evoking a cohesive feel. ‘The lobby and circulation spaces all have all classical features - we were very much leaning into that as much as possible,’ explains Chloe. ‘The reason that this design was chosen was that that part of the building is Victorian so we were trying to mirror existing grand Victorian entranceways.’ The flooring is definitely a case of form and function. ‘We always look for something hard wearing in those high traffic areas and we worked with Artisans to ensure everything had a good slip rating, although the main drive for the design decision was to mirror Victorian lobbies.’
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Artisans of Devizes’ products also take centre stage in the courtyard space known as the ‘Winter Garden’ at the heart of the hotel. Here, a feature fireplace in an intricate design was inspired by the decorative plaster fireplaces found in the riads in Marrakesh. It comprises a mix of stone and porcelain tiles by Artisans, including Buscot Limestone in a Honed finish, Avant Garde marble in a Honed finish, Piccolo Matt Cotto Light and Piccolo Matt Graphite porcelain tiles. ‘Artisans were incredibly helpful with the fireplace,’ says Chloe.
At the entrance to Pearly Cow, the restaurant below the hotel, Artisans of Devizes’ reclaimed Formation stone was chosen in Salmon Pink, a muted pink, and Bianco, a warm cream, and laid out in a chequerboard pattern. ‘We found it quite a challenge to find a hardwearing stone that had some colour in it,’ says Chloe. ‘It was really important to differentiate the entrance to our restaurant from the entrance to the hotel and also find something that was hard wearing. Formation had a beautiful tone to it and the beautiful colour was the main drive behind it.’
