THE BRIEF

We were appointed to redesign the Deluxe guestrooms at The Capital Hotel, a five-star hotel in Knightsbridge owned and operated by the Warwick Hotels and Resorts Group. Our brief for the new design was to reflect the local area and capture the essence of London, while retaining the hotel’s much-loved traditional British charm.

We began by researching the history of Knightsbridge and what made it this affluent area it is today. This led us back to the Great Exhibition and the resulting creation of the Pre-Raphaelite art movement, which became a major influence on the design direction.

STORYTELLING THROUGH DESIGN

There are two distinct schemes across the new Deluxe guestrooms, both take their colourways directly from oil paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Widely regarded as the founder of the Pre-Raphaelites, Rossetti and many of his peers lived and worked in the area around the Capital, within the Kensington & Chelsea borough.

Both Deluxe schemes facilitate the bed as the natural focus, as guests enter their rooms. The upholstered headboard is inspired by the form of the windows of nearby Harrods, while the overlaid antique mirror feature above echoes the reflective floral sections in the wall panelling artists William Morris designed for the V&A café.

Framed bespoke artworks feature a mix of colourful abstract elements inspired by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, alongside imagery of The Great Exhibition, Harrods and the V&A, referencing the history of the area and reflecting London landmarks in the vicinity of the hotel.

EXPANDED SCOPE AND REAPPOINTMENT

In addition to the guestrooms, the corridors leading to the Deluxe rooms and the impressive wrap-around Squires staircase have also been refurbished. The public areas have a connected design to the Deluxe guestrooms and have been directly inspired by a landscape painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais.

We commissioned photographer Adam Burton to capture images of woodland which were then knitted together and filtered in the style of Millais’s painting to create a bespoke wall covering for the stairwell. Twenty-six photographs were used to create the single wall mural image, evoking the feeling of travelling through a woodland scene when climbing the stairs.

Since the Deluxe guestrooms and public areas have completed, and thanks to excellent feedback from both guests and the in-house team, we’ve been reappointed to redesign the hotel’s Superior Rooms and Junior Suites.