ArchShowcase 
Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. The Prestige Hotel in Penang, Malaysia by Ministry of Design Pte LtdAugust 28th, 2019 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Ministry of Design Pte Ltd A Touch of Magic in a Tropical, Victorian Eden The hotel features 162 rooms, an all-day dining restaurant, a rooftop infinity pool, events pavilion and terrace, and a vibrant Victorian dining and retail arcade. The first of its kind in Penang, The Prestige Hotel is a destination in itself offering an authentic travel experience and is part of the prestigious Design Hotels™ portfolio. Transposed Heritage : Innovating yet remaining rooted in culture & location The Prestige Hotel is located in Georgetown, set amongst the beautiful and intricate 19th century English colonial buildings found in this UNESCO World Heritage site.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd
 Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd The Prestige Hotel is a new-build, joining other Victorian buildings, which still house banking and commercial facilities, in a tropical climate where lush vegetation abounds. Uniquely one of a kind, the Prestige Hotel draws upon the cultural relevance of its colonial past whilst layering local botany, etched in sophisticated architectural and design philosophies to deliver a distinctive hotel stay experience.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Lifestyle Arcade unifying the hotel reception with other retail outlets Introducing a buzzy lifestyle arcade at the drop off, we planned the ground floor layout such that the Reception, Glasshouse Restaurant and retail spaces (e.g. retail tenants include San Francisco Coffee, a fine dining restaurant, local clothing brand, dessert café, florist and pharmacy and the interior retail spaces are designed by the tenants) are designed as standalone stores. This shop-in-shop concept to break down the linear scale, resulting in a delightful check in, eating and shopping area reminiscent of the historical English shopping arcade.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Elements of visual animation and illusion: Smoke & Mirrors While the colonial Victorian heritage and tropics are key elements of the design concept, the studio considered a particularly difficult condition of the site, i.e. its long narrow proportions which potentially made navigating the hotel’s retail arcade or its long guestroom corridors a monotonous experience. To overcome this, the studio introduced elements of visual surprise, notions of magic and illusions, with the end goal of creating delightful spaces and memorable guest experiences.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Elements of visual animation and illusion: Smoke & Mirrors This element of visual illusion (e.g. appearing & disappearing, or levitation) is subtly introduced throughout the 162-room hotel; ranging from transformation of familiar heritage floor patterns, furniture design such as the custom reception desk that seems to magically balance on balls, and hidden doors in guestrooms that open to reveal toilets and pantries. At the Ground Floor drop-off, one subtle intervention to unify the Reception with the Glasshouse Restaurant and retail spaces, is the black-and-white floor pattern, which seems to magically “appear and disappear” before your eyes.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Reception Area In the reception area, we introduced several tongue-in-cheek references to magical illusion, where guests navigate a custom designed white marble-clad maze with brass trimmings on the floor, to get to the reception. The custom reception desk made of mirrored stainless steel, magically appears to balance on chrome spheres, and a cloud wainscot adorns the curved wall behind the reception desk, showing a modern whimsical take on Victorian interiors.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd WELCOMING GUESTS to a contemporized and magical quasi-colonial universe Named “The Prestige” to conjure brand imagery of elegance and sophistication, it also takes cues from the movie The Prestige starring Christian Bale, which was set in the Victorian era, (similar to the area’s context) about the illusory art of magic.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Modern Victorian layered with Local Botany The inspiration for The Glasshouse came from the English Victorian conservatory (a sunroom with glass walls and intricate wrought metal lattice patterns). The studio applied the lattice pattern to the metal framed walls and glazing of the Glasshouse restaurant (seats 110 diners), presenting it as a delightful garden conservatory for breakfasts, lunches and dinners. The Head Chef, Mr. Shafiq Rizhar Rozali, formerly from Sheraton Hotel and China House (Penang), specializes in modernizing local favourites with international flavours. His recommended “musthaves” are: “Nyonya Ulam Rice”, featuring roasted chicken with local spices, salted egg, poppadum, cucumber, eggplant, anchovy crumb and chili shrimp paste on the side, and “Crispy Chicken Gochujang”, crispy deep-fried chicken with honey Gochujang paste, mashed potato, butter broccoli and scallions.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Transposed Heritage : A TROPICAL EDEN A mix of real plants and tropical prints were used for the sofa cushions to add to the allure of being in a “Tropical Eden”.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Transitting From One Zone To Another Uniquely planned to be experienced in 2 zones, the Glasshouse offers a variety of seating areas, either on forest-green leather banquettes, facing the street for people-watching, or on white wicker chairs facing the lush landscaped alfresco areas at the back.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Lift Lobby Taking the lift to the room levels on L2-3, and to the Event spaces on L4, is a confluence of modern Victorian layered with local botany. The lift lobby surprises with a champagne bronze tinted feature wall with etched patterning inspired by Victorian grilles and a window portal which frames the lush plants outside.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd IDENTIFY the icons of Penang etched on the champagne -bronze lift car interiors In the lift car, we custom-designed a floor-to-ceiling polished tinted metal wall, graphically presenting more than 20 unique features of Penang in an aesthetic that is reminiscent of Victorianlike wallpaper. The graphic pattern comprises etched outlines of heritage buildings, famous landmarks (e.g. clock tower and statues) and the local botany of Penang (e.g. coconut trees, birds of paradise, hibiscus and Penang palm trees. Guestrooms: Elements of visual animation and ILLUSION: Smoke & Mirrors We alternated dark and light color schemes along the guestroom corridors, to break down the potential monotony of the corridor experience. Mechanized light features were placed at regular intervals, to rotate and cast shadows of intricate lattice patterns to animate the guest journey. This visual animation and trickery (smoke and mirrors) was thus borne out of a response to the unusual specificity of the site. The Rooms There are 3 main room types in total: the standard room named the Deluxe, the Premier Deluxe Suite, the Loft Suite. Also, there is a 4th room type, which is a unique Deluxe Trio room which features a smaller bedroom for a child travelling with parents, for additional privacy.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Bursts of Botanical Some examples of subtle visual trickery that surprise in the room include beds that seem to levitate and hidden doors that reveal toilet cubicles and hidden pantries.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Premier Deluxe Suite Our modern take on Victorian wainscoting, was to craft angular trapezium-shaped lines, which provide a contemporized backdrop for the room.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd The Hero Piece A key feature in the Premier Deluxe Suite is the custom-designed Shower and Wardrobe Enclosure, crafted with champagne bronze tinted metal and glass. This is a hero piece which takes aesthetic cues from the elaborate magic props used in performances such as Houdini’s escape box.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Framing An Illusion Another custom-design piece is the vanity mirror frame. Abstracted from Victorian mirrors (usually heavy and elaborate) and modernized with its angular form, polished brass and integrated light, this feature plays on optical illusions and perceptions, appearing as two mirrors but floats as a frame on top of horizontal mirror wall.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Loft Suite The Loft Suite, designed for travellers on longer business trips or couples, features a generous lounge on the ground floor and a separate bedroom area on the mezzanine level.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Hidden Pantries Besides featuring a custom designed clock at the sofa area, which doubles up as a wall feature, making a fractal pattern out of the angular wainscot lines, the Loft Suite also features hidden pantries that are revealed behind the wainscot wall.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Roof Deck The roof deck on Level 4 houses a generous events area.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Olivia & Julia Named after the lead characters in The Prestige movie, the Olivia & Julia outdoor gazebos feature lounge settings for sunset cocktails.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Angier & Borden Function Rooms The Angier & Borden Function Rooms can host indoor events for 110 guests; they feature mullions with fluted glass, providing privacy while maintaining light and porosity.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Black-and-white floor pattern One subtle intervention to unify the L4 Function spaces with the L1 reception, is the black-and-white floor pattern, which seems to magically “appear and disappear” before your eyes.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd Infinity-edge roof top pool The infinity-edge roof top pool, is an excellent place to watch the sunset with a cocktail in hand, as it fronts Church Street Pier and overlooks the water. We not only designed the boundary walls and raised them, for greater privacy, it also designed landscaping to shield sunbathers from.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd GYM A fully equipped gym, amidst chandeliers and mirrored ceiling panels to create the optical illusion of infinite space. A holistic experience The entire Hotel experience was carefully created and curated by Ministry of Design. We are responsible for the holistic brand strategy, interior design, landscape design, signage design, installation art, and graphic design throughout the entire Prestige Hotel. The hotel logo takes its reference from Victorian crests to recreate a modern family crest, in this case, also playing with optical illusion by using lines to suggest the presence of negative spaces. The 1st “P” refers to Prestige; the 2nd “P” hinges on the idea of seeing double yet also situates the hotel in Penang.  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd  Image Courtesy © Ministry of Design Pte Ltd
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Categories: Event space, Guest House, Hotel, Lobby, Reception, Restaurant, Retail, Room, Swimming Pool, Terrace |
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