Interior architecture and design firm Fettle worked with development company BLVD Hospitality to redesign Santa Monica’s iconic hotel The Georgian, creating a dramatic appearance with a cosy, intimate feel.
Upon arrival at The Georgian guests enter through the lower and upper restaurant terraces. The original concrete geometric floor pattern has been re-stained off white and racing green and new golden yellow arched backed banquettes line the space allowing for views of the sun setting over Point Dume and the Pacific Ocean.
Internally Fettle designed a brand new emerald marble horseshoe bar which sits opposite the restaurant punctuated by the existing fireplace. The eclectic and custom lounge style furniture creates a casual yet effective restaurant space. Deep greens and berry reds are layered with patterned throw pillows offering a colourful and casual environment during the day, and a rich, moody atmosphere in the evening. Custom made Art Deco inspired chandeliers feature in the restaurant and new bar area. Both spaces also sit on a bespoke geometric floor which took inspiration from old Art Deco mansion houses of Havana.
The relocated reception now sits through an ornate curtain and is a much richer and more secluded area with deep blue walls and brass framed art pieces. The desk is located within a millwork framed opening, giving the space drama and gravitas.
The back half of the raised first floor houses a series of various spaces including a gallery that showcases temporary installations and doubles up as a private dining room and event space. The private dining room is a flexible space which can also be used for daytime meetings but the textured wallpaper and gold drapery creates a moody, romantic environment when the lights are dimmed in the evening.
Upon entering the basement guests pass the new custom designed rose marble topped piano bar into the speakeasy music venue. Racing green leather booths sit against currant coloured art filled walls and a stage is located in the centre of the dining space for live performances.
Here, Tom Parker, Co-founder and Creative Director at Fettle, talks about collaborating with the developer client on this project and how the history and location impacted the design.
How did you collaborate with BLVD Hospitality and what elements of the brief did Fettle lead on?
The team and I got to know the BLVD team well over the last couple of years having met through a mutual friend and had discussed a number of projects in that time. As soon as the Georgian came up in discussion, it felt like a great fit for us to work on together given our experience of often working with historic buildings both in Europe and US. The brief was simple, with the aim of restoring the building to ‘her’ former glory, not necessarily by going back in time but by understanding how an art deco building right on the shoreline in Santa Monica would look and feel in a modern world.
The building has such an incredible rich history dating all the way back to 1933 and its 30’s heyday was our starting point when developing the narrative. We took the lead on threading together the design narrative and guiding how this impacted the interior design of the building. In turn this filtered into all of the branding, uniforms, graphics and touchpoints for the hotel. BLVD are a really inspiring and enthusiastic client and the collaboration with them was really positive and very natural and we were therefore able to bounce ideas back and forward with them as we worked together to develop the hotel’s identity.
How did you decide what original elements of the building to keep?
As the building is a historic property a lot of the exterior elements needed to be kept to attain Landmark and California Coastal Commission approvals. The exterior architectural details needed to be retained and we had to be very selective about retaining and refreshing the existing colour of the building. We painstakingly designed the custom signage for the front of the building and has this approved as part of the permit process and manufactured by a local supplier.
On the interior a lot of the original detailing had been removed over the years but the historic elements which were intact were all retained. We kept the arches in the bar area and rebuilt the bar and overall layout to be symmetrical with the existing architecture to highlight it further and give the spaces a sense of hierarchy and formality. The basement had been changed dramatically over the years but we referenced historic photos as inspiration for the layout, detailing and overall feel. In the bedrooms there weren’t many original details but we kept and redetailed the existing window pelmet boxes by adding a profile detail and reupholstering them.
How did the location and the history of the building influence the design?
The history had a very significant impact on the design. We drew inspiration from a number of historic elements of not only the building but also its changing relationship with the city of Santa Monica over the years. Firstly Rosamond Borde, the developer of the hotel in the 1930’s, was one of the first women to develop high-rise buildings in Santa Monica. The hotel was actually known as the “First Lady ” for this reason and it led us to work towards a distinct, strong feminine feel in a number of the public areas. This manifests itself largely in the eclectic, sophisticated and fresh colour palettes particularly throughout the first floor bar and restaurant.
Secondly, we drew from the diverse history of Art Deco design and Architecture as it moved East to West across the U.S. A lot of the pattern and colour inspiration came from the Art Deco movement in Havana and this can be seen in elements such as the custom entry floor pattern and the tile lips to the bars and millwork items. Interestingly as this Art Deco influence moved further west across the U.S, it picked up more south and Central American influences and this manifested itself in the form of more colourful murals and motifs the impact of which can also be seen throughout our design for the public areas and bedrooms.
In regards to location, the Georgian overlooks the pacific ocean and as such the overall feel also needed to be bright, fresh and somewhat beachy during the day but then dim down to become moody and cosy during the evening. A large percentage of the guests at the hotel are European travellers and as such many of them come to be specifically close to the ocean with great access to the rest of the California coast so this was also an important consideration.
Can you talk about the use of materials throughout?
We used a wide range of materials on the project but some of the more interesting ones included the jet cut terrazzo flooring in a custom pattern in the bar area. On the basement bar top we used a pink marble but the star of that space is arguably the custom drawn carpet which references the history of the Californian railroads as well as some of the brand touchpoints of the hotel such as a mermaid sipping a martini. Some of the more intricate details included the tile inlays in the bar lip which reference the Cuban art deco element of the design inspiration.
What are your learnings from this project?
We learnt that by really tuning in to the story of a building or a community and retelling that story within a contemporary context, spaces can be brought back to life in a very interesting and unique way. The F&B and operations element of the Georgian is also really special and it’s run with an incredible attention to detail in regards activating all of the individual spaces from the art gallery to the meeting rooms and to the F&B spaces so that was really interesting to see.
