Design magpies
Bold colours and mismatched furniture add character to the new-look rooms at the Fitzwilliam Hotel in Dublin.
When the owner of the Fitzwilliam Hotel in Dublin, Michael Holland, decided to revamp the jaded bedroom interiors, he called in Project Orange boutique hotel design specialists, whose work can be seen across the world, from The Park hotel in Mumbai and i-Bar in Bangalore to closer to home in the Farnham Estate, Co Cavan.
Project Orange founders, James Soane and Christopher Ash, were part of Sir Terence Conran’s team that first designed the Fitzwilliam interiors a decade ago. After they set up Project Orange, the Fitzwilliam became one of their first clients and they went on to design Citron restaurant in 2002 and the penthouse suite in 2005. Holland had given them free rein in previous projects and, again, allowed the designers creative control with the most recent renovation. The new rooms are a dramatic departure from the restraint of Conran’s original interiors. Using bold fabrics, mismatched furniture and a mix of accessories, such as ornate mirrors and old-fashioned phones, they decided to go for a look that felt confident yet playful.
Christopher explains: “The owners were a little taken aback when they first looked at our designs, but a hotel is a room where you can play the fantasy game because people aren’t committing for life.” When it came to selecting the furniture and fabrics, Project Orange were keen to give the bedrooms a lived-in feel, as if the furniture had been slowly accumulated over time. The deliberately mismatched furniture was custom made by PTT in Nottingham, while the colourful and striking fabrics from Osborne & Little and Kvadrat add drama.
