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      Eight cleverly organised homes with rooms divided by storage solutions

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      For our latest lookbook, we’ve collected eight homes that make the most of space by using storage units and shelving as room dividers.

      The examples below show how much-needed storage space can be integrated into a home’s design to form partition walls between rooms or create different zones within one space.
      Many of the designs feature different storage arrangements on either side of a wall to suit the rooms it is functioning, such as kitchen cupboards, hallway shelving, dressing area wardrobes, desks and fold-out tables.
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring wood-lined kitchens, board-marked concrete living rooms and interiors that pair together red and green colours.
      Photo by Marcela GrassiLoft in Poblenou, Spain, by NeuronaLab

      Local architecture studio NeuronaLab inserted a blue unit with wardrobes into the centre of this renovated Barcelona apartment, separating a bedroom, study, and open-plan kitchen and living area.
      As well as dividing the ground floor spaces and providing storage, the unit also has built-in stairs leading to a second bedroom on a mezzanine level.
      Find out more about Loft in Poblenou ›
      Photo by Tololo StudioYamaguchicho House, Japan, by Slow
      A black wood storage unit creates a dividing wall between the living area and the skylit entryway at Yamaguchicho House, which was designed by Japanese practice Slow.
      The unit was elevated from the ground to help spread natural light through the space, and a television was mounted on its side facing a sofa.
      Find out more about Yamaguchicho House ›
      Photo by Kevin KunstadtSterling Place apartment, US, by Light and Air Architecture
      This two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn was transformed by New York studio Light and Air Architecture to have an open-plan layout with ample storage.
      Custom-built shelving and cupboards made from Baltic birch form opaque and see-through dividers, separating the kitchen, bathroom and living room.
      Find out more about Sterling Place apartment ›
      Photo by Shinzawa IppeiHouse in Nakauchi, Japan, by Snark
      Architecture studio Snark created a timber-framed home in Maebashi, Japan, for a family of four, adding a shared children’s room on the first floor.
      Wooden built-in storage was designed to separate the room into two private spaces, with ladders leading to individual sleeping platforms above.
      Find out more about House in Nakauchi ›

      Studio studio apartment, Australia, by Catseye Bay
      Designed by local design firm Catseye Bay, wood storage solutions were added to this studio apartment in Sydney to create informal space dividers and replace bulky furniture items such as wardrobes and bookshelves.
      The largest unit in the home conceals a bed, providing bedside shelving on one side and clothes storage on the dressing area side.
      Find out more about the Sydney studio apartment ›
      Photo by David FoesselLa Tournette, France, by Freaks Architecture
      An arched storage unit sits at the centre of La Tournette, a Parisian workshop that was converted into an apartment by French studio Freaks Architecture.
      The mobile unit separates the kitchen and living areas and can be adjusted to accommodate different living arrangements. It has shelving on one side and a fold-out dining table on the other, which can be turned to form an extra kitchen counter.
      Find out more about La Tournette ›
      Photo by José HeviaPalma Hideaway, Spain, by Mariana de Delás
      A diagonal partition wall with shelved storage cuts across the Palma Hideaway apartment in Palma de Mallorca, which was transformed by architect Mariana de Delás.
      The angular shape of the storage wall separates the hall and kitchen on one side from the bedroom on the other, where it features a built-in desk and wardrobes.
      Find out more about Palma Hideaway ›
      Photo by Lisbeth GrosmannFlinders Lane Apartment, Australia, by Clare Cousins Architects
      Local studio Clare Cousins Architects aimed to create extra bedrooms without losing living space when renovating the Flinders Lane Apartment in Melbourne.
      The studio created a hoop-pine plywood platform and storage wall with cupboards and shelves, forming two separate bedrooms boxed off from the open-plan living room and kitchen.
      Find out more about Flinders Lane Apartment ›
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring wood-lined kitchens, board-marked concrete living rooms and interiors that pair together red and green colours.

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      Bofink Design Studio creates “beefy” interior for members’ club in Stockholm

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      Stockholm-based Bofink Design Studio has turned the Börshuset cattle-auction building into a members’ club, updating its Jugend interior with plywood panels that evoke animal skins.

      Located in Stockholm’s historic meatpacking district Slakthusområdet, the 1912 building had its interior extensively renovated in the 1980s but Bofink Design Studio’s refurbishment has revealed its original details.
      Parts of the walls are deliberately left raw”Hidden behind all the layers of paint, plastic, linoleum, woven wallpaper, floor screed and plasterboard walls were beautiful surfaces such as the terrazzo floors, tiled flooring, wall murals and wood panelling,” interior architect Jenny Askenfors told Dezeen.
      The building’s main Börssalen hall – which measures 140 square metres – was designed for trading cattle, but was barely used for its original purpose and instead quickly converted into a workers’ canteen.
      The main 140-square-metre hall was revamped”Over the years, the building has housed a police station with jail cells, and, among other things, a bank, post office, hotel, and restaurant,” Askenfors said.

      The studio made several interventions to restore the 3,600-square-metre building to its architect Gustav Wickman’s original design in the Jugend style – the German branch of the art nouveau movement.
      “We removed a floor level in the old Börssalen to recreate the double-ceiling height and to reveal the beautiful bullseye-shaped windows, hidden in the smaller rooms on the top floor,” Askenfors said.
      “We also discovered some old murals around the windows, which were carefully restored.”
      Bofink Design Studio recreated a mezzanine floor and added a spiral staircaseBofink Design Studio’s design retains part of Börshuset’s upper floor, recreating an original mezzanine level. It is designed to accommodate the members’ club and community workspace A House.
      A spiral staircase formed of patinated metal connects the main hall and the upper floor, where the studio has added a balcony balustrade in laser-cut metal.
      “We left [the staircase] outdoors for a while, which gave it a nicely patinated surface,” Askenfors said. “The old hotel rooms on the upper floor kept their layout and now serve as office spaces. The bank vaults have been turned into smaller meeting rooms.”
      Moulded plywood panels decorate the main hallBofink Design Studio drew on the industrial history of the surrounding area when choosing the materials for the interior.
      “The walls in the corridor have hand-painted panels that allude to the tile-covered walls that are common in the Slakthusområdet district, and the Börssalen space has moulded plywood panels that look like stretched animal skins,” Askenfors said.
      Vintage furniture was sourced for the projectOther materials used for the interior include stainless steel, concrete, tiles, terrazzo, mirror, wood, cork and leather. The studio also deliberately left much of the interior in a raw state.
      “Part of the old wood panelling was discovered behind plaster boards – it’s been preserved in the condition we found it in to highlight its history,” Askenfors said.

      “World’s largest wooden city” set to be built in Stockholm

      “The woven wallpapers were torn down, but haven’t been plastered over, telling us something about the passing of time,” she added.
      “The raw walls become an architectural map while also creating contrast and giving the space character.”
      Börshuset’s colour palette has warm brown and tan coloursNature and animals inspired the colour palette for the interior, which features plenty of warm brown, tan and red hues.
      “Meadow green, oxblood red, cowhide brown, butter yellow, milk white, flower meadows, clover orange and earthy colours that evoke the cattle and nature,” Askenfors said.
      The restoration unveiled decorative wall paintingsBy filling the space with vintage furniture, sourced together with vintage studio Temporärt, Bofink Design Studio underlined the importance of the building’s past as an inspiration.
      “With ‘beefy Jugend’ as our watchword, we searched far and wide for designs that highlight the building’s history,” Askenfors said.
      “A great find was the wall fixtures in the Börssalen space, which we discovered on a sourcing trip in the Netherlands.”
      Wooden furniture was sourced with vintage studio TemporärtThe animal theme continues with the furniture, which is intended to evoke the livestock once housed in the neighbouring area.
      “‘Beefy’, chubby sofas in leather, with animalistic and powerful characteristics; substantial wooden armchairs upholstered with animal skins, organic shapes, bentwood; chairs and tables in the Jugend style and gigantic plants to bring the outside in and honour the livestock,” Askenfors said.
      A House is part-owned by real estate developer Atrium Ljungberg, which is redeveloping the wider meatpacking district surrounding Börshuset and is also behind Stockholm Wood City, the “world’s largest wooden city”.
      Also in Stockholm, 3XN recently designed a stepped building with a spiralling “innovation hub”.
      The photography is by Viktor Tägt.

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      Beacon House extension by Office S&M features bubblegum pink tiles

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      A London house extension designed by Office S&M features a ceramic facade with the same pink glaze used for Tube station tiles on the Hammersmith and City Line.

      Office S&M designed Beacon House, a single-storey rear extension, for a Victorian terraced house in Tottenham, north London.
      Pink “pillow-shaped” tiles clad the extensionIt creates a larger kitchen and dining space for a couple and their two young children.
      The architects chose “pillow-shaped” tiles for the extension’s facade, giving the structure a puffy aesthetic.
      The pink glaze is the same used for tiles on Hammersmith and City Line stationsThe bubblegum pink glaze is specifically used on Hammersmith and City Line station tiles, to match the colour that indicates the line on the London Underground map.

      Here, it was selected to complement the original brickwork and reflect the clients’ love of municipal architecture.
      Pale green window frames contrast the pink”Alex and Ella showed us examples of public buildings they grew up with and ones they visited on their travels, which included sun-bleached climbing frames, tiled swimming pools, leisure centres and stations,” said Catrina Stewart, co-founder of Office S&M along with Hugh McEwen.
      “Just like with these buildings, they wanted their home to be both robust and joyful,” Stewart told Dezeen.
      The extension creates a generous kitchen and dining areaThe extruded clay tiles, handcrafted by manufacturers Materials Assemble and Teamwork Italy, contrast with the pale green colour of the window frames and downpipe.
      “Ella grew up in west London and her dad used to take the Hammersmith and City line every day; the pink tiles reminded her of home,” added Stewart.
      Curved details include a kitchen island and the wall wrapping a downstairs WCThe renovation also involved improving the building’s performance, making it better insulated and ventilated, and bringing a contemporary feel to the interiors throughout.
      The design features the bold colours and graphic style that have become Office S&M’s calling card, as previously seen in projects like Mo-tel House and Graphic House.
      As with Graphic House, the interior features several bespoke elements that inject a sense of the owners’ personality. Stewart points to the kitchen island as an example.
      Bold colours feature throughout the houseThe central focus of the extension, it features a resin and timber worktop made by surface design studio Mirrl, using a technique inspired by Japanese lacquer craft Tsugaru Nuri.
      “A bespoke pattern was created, referencing the clients’ memories of pastel hues and fading colours found along the British seaside,” Stewart said.
      The hallway includes monochrome tiles and a round yellow mirrorTiled surfaces and curved details feature all over, continuing the aesthetic of the building’s exterior.
      Examples of tiles include a yellow-grouted kitchen splashback, the monochrome flooring in the entrance hallway, and the soft yellow and pink surfaces in the first-floor bathroom.
      Pale pink and yellow tiles were installed in the first-floor bathroomProminent curves include the kitchen island, as well as a rounded wall framing the downstairs toilet and a yellow-framed hallway mirror.
      “Many of the municipal buildings that they showed us were associated with a story or a memory,” said Stewart.
      “The subtle references in their home serve as a reminder of these stories and experiences.”
      The three-bedroom property is home to a couple with two childrenThe colour scheme naturally progresses through the building, with richer tones at the front of the house and lighter tones as you move through to the top-lit extension.
      Local craft makers were involved in many of the smaller details, from the baby blue banquette upholstery in the kitchen, to the hand-painted gold number fixed to the front door.
      The photography is by French + Tye.
      Project credits
      Architect: Office S&MStructural engineer: Foster StructuresContractor: YG BuildersFurniture build: YG BuildersKitchen surfaces: MirrlGlazed pink external tiles: Materials Assemble, Teamwork ItalyGlobal paints: YesColoursUpholstery: Studio SwadeGold number sign: Mark Errington

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      Post Company and Lázaro Rosa-Violàn turn 17th-century convent into Lisbon hotel

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      Design studios Post Company and Lázaro Rosa-Violàn have combined historic features and contemporary touches for the Locke de Santa Joana hotel on the site of a convent in Lisbon, Portugal.

      A 17th-century convent building has been renovated and integrated alongside newly constructed additions to form part of the hotel.
      The Locke de Santa Joana hotel occupies a 17th-century convent in LisbonAmerican studio Post Company designed the interiors of the rooms, while Barcelona-based Lázaro Rosa-Violàn oversaw the design of the hotel’s public spaces.
      Locke de Santa Joana is the latest and biggest property from Locke Hotels – set across nine floors, it contains 370 units comprised of hotel rooms, apartments and suites, as well as a range of public spaces.
      The studios refined and highlighted existing architectural details”The hotel was originally a convent built in the 1600s – in designing the rooms, we wanted to marry this rich history with the contemporary culture of Lisbon,” Post Company partner Jou-Yie Chou told Dezeen.

      While the rooms’ interiors are largely clean and minimal, Post Company refined and highlighted architectural features including archways, pillars and mouldings.
      “We wanted to create a dialogue between the rooms’ architectural ‘bones’ and their interiors,” said Chou.
      Contemporary furniture and lighting elements were added to the roomsThese historic details were complemented with modern furniture, lighting fixtures and decorative elements added in natural tones.
      “Chairs in the kitchens and living spaces have a clear foundation in pews or church furniture, but still read as modern,” said Chou.

      Archiloop converts 12th-century Italian monastery into hotel Vocabolo Moscatelli

      “Mohair and boucle upholstered furniture in sinuous shapes lend geometric friction, while clean, minimal millwork is softened by over-stuffed textiles,” Chou continued.
      Fabrics, ceramics and stone finishes were sourced from the surrounding area, including rugs and textiles from local makers, as well as a Portuguese stone, Rose Aurora, for the washbasins and a local limestone for the bathroom floors.
      Glass and wood partitions were used to divide spaces within suite-style roomsEach suite-style room has its own living area and burnt orange kitchenette alongside a bedroom, which was divided using a glass and wood partition screen.
      “Glass and wood partitions provide design interest and functionality all at once,” said Chou.
      “They offer both privacy and room definition, creating a residential feel while still allowing light to permeate the room.”
      Lázaro Rosa-Violàn oversaw the design of the public spaces including a cafePublic spaces within the hotel include restaurants, cafes, bars, a co-working and meeting space, as well as a gallery to display pieces found during the renovation of the convent.
      There is also a courtyard pool at the centre of the hotel, framed by dark wooden decking.
      Terracotta pots and mosaic tiles were incorporated throughout the hotel’s interiorLázaro Rosa-Violàn continued the natural, rustic colour palette of terracotta, yellows, greens and blues used in the rooms for the shared spaces.
      “We tried to evoke warm, contemporary spaces while still taking inspiration from the colour tones of the existing architectural elements,” studio founder Lázaro Rosa-Violàn told Dezeen.
      Blue and white mosaic tiles were intended to reference the hotel’s location in PortugalCeramics feature heavily throughout the hotel, with large plant-filled terracotta pots and mosaic tiles traditionally associated with Lisbon lining the walls and tabletops.
      “When talking about Lisbon, the first thing that comes to mind is the distinctive tiles adorning the city’s buildings,” said Rosa-Violàn.
      “We’ve incorporated this element in a modern and contemporary way, combining them with rich textures, patterns, natural materials and colourful fabrics, accentuating the historical architecture.”
      Since its first location opened in 2016, Locke has expanded to include 17 sites across the UK and mainland Europe.
      Other Locke Hotels recently featured on Dezeen include Locke am Platz in Zurich and Locke at East Side Gallery in Berlin.
      The photography is courtesy of Locke Hotels.

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      IM Pei retrospective shows “architecture and life to be inseparable”

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      A retrospective of architect IM Pei at the M+ Museum in Hong Kong, aims to examine his architectural projects in social, cultural and political context.

      Named IM Pei: Life is Architecture, the exhibition, which according to the museum is the first full-scale retrospective of the Chinese American architect, documented Pei’s seven-decade long career.
      IM Pei: Life is Architecture is on show at M+ Museum in Hong KongCurated by M+ Museum design and architecture curator Shirley Surya and Nieuwe Instituut director Aric Chen,  the exhibition features more than 400 objects, including original drawings, models, photographs, films, and documentation that has never been exhibited before.
      The curators approached the exhibition through six chapters, summarising Pei’s life and work that “not only define his unique practice, but also place his architectural projects in dialogue with social, cultural, and biographical trajectories, showing architecture and life to be inseparable”.
      “Though one of the world’s most famous architects, IM Pei and his contributions are relatively little understood,” said co-curator Surya. “We hope this exhibition will further shed light on a figure who influenced countless individuals, cities, and, indeed, the world.”

      it features more than 400 objects, some of which have never been on display beforeThe exhibition begins with an introduction of Pei’s upbringing and architectural education, which laid the foundation of his future practice of confronting tradition and modernity across various cultures.
      It then follows with his lesser-known period of working for Webb & Knapp in New York, the largest real-estate development company during post-war America, where he contributed to the regeneration of US cities in the 1960s.
      A mockup of the Musée du Louvre pyramid occupies the centre of the exhibition. Photo by Wilson LamOne of them is Bedford-Stuyvesant Superblock in Brooklyn New York, one of the largest African-American communities in the country at the time, where Pei proposed integrating landscaped paths, parks, and playgrounds to the gridded streets for the local community to gather and social.
      “For Pei, the success of urban redevelopment was inseparable from broad programmatic thinking intended to alleviate social and economic ills,” said Surya.
      The curators believe Pei’s work should be studied moreAt the centre of the exhibition stands a mockup of Paris’s Musée du Louvre pyramid, perhaps Pei’s best-known project, on a  base displaying media coverage of the project from the time of its construction.
      According to Surya, Pei is understudied but often reported, which informed the curatorial direction of the exhibition.

      10 of IM Pei’s most significant buildings

      “It’s interesting to argue the value of architecture lies in theories or in production,” Surya told Dezeen. “Our angle here is it’s as a production.”
      “It’s no longer just about how you design it, but what it looks like, how it was conceived, how did it get manifested, what does it mean to the public, it’s not just about a formal analysis, is it this ‘-ism’ or that ‘-ism’, he doesn’t play that game, he just built,” she continued.
      The exhibition highlights Pei’s contribution to urban designThe exhibition concluded with a chapter called Reinterpreting History through Design, which aims to demonstrate how Pei’s made modern architecture relevant to different histories and traditions.
      This section included the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, where Pei aimed to create a form that can translate to a monumental scale for the large museum.
      Informed by Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, its formal, spatial, and material simplicity was appropriate for the context of Qatar, a young nation with no particular architectural tradition for a building of this scale.
      Pei’s Museum of Islamic Art aims to be both traditional and modern. Photo by Mohamed SomjiSome projects are repeatedly mentioned across various chapters, as intended by the curators to show consistency in Pei’s work.
      “We want people to see the process of each theme crosses geographies and periods, there’s a consistency – a commitment to city, to history and tradition and how you approach it, some projects recurs,” said Surya.
      “Pei drew from the regional while shaping the global. His work articulated artistic and cultural ideals while forging urban skylines—negotiated through dialogue and collaboration, and with results that innovated architectural forms and feats of engineering,” she added.
      The photography is by Dan Leung, courtesy of M+, unless stated otherwise.
      IM Pei: Life is Architecture is on display from 29 June 2024 to 5 January 2025 at the M+ Museum. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Benjamin Hale Architects extends light-starved Victorian home upwards and outwards

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      Welsh practice Benjamin Hale Architects has added two modern extensions – one made from pale brick, the other from black zinc – to a Victorian-era home in south London.

      The end-of-terrace house is located in Dulwich and previously featured a dim and dated interior.
      The ground floor extension accommodates a new kitchenWorking alongside local interior designer Hamish Vincent, Benjamin Hale Architects set out to bring natural light back into the plan and “engender a sense of calm and domesticity” throughout.
      The practice started by adding a pale, clay-brick volume to the rear of the property, incorporating a neglected alley that sat to the side of the plot.
      Skylights and Crittall doors help brighten up the room”An underused side return or side alley is a traditional feature of many traditional Victorian terrace homes,” the practice’s eponymous founder told Dezeen. “However, being on an edge plot offered a considerable advantage in this instance.”

      Inside, the extension contains a modern kitchen complete with oak cabinetry, pale terrazzo flooring and a central counter with a built-in cooker, where inhabitants can prepare meals.
      Fluted tiles decorate the breakfast nookA breakfast nook was set up towards the back of the room, its cushioned seating bench set against a fluted tile wall.
      Sunlight streams into the room from a skylight created in the room’s upper corner and the Crittall doors that open onto the garden.
      Eye-catching furniture pieces appear throughout the formal dining areaA new doorway links the extension to the formal dining room, where Vincent introduced a bold medley of furnishings. This includes a stripy timber table and a chandelier composed of a cluster of spherical bulbs.
      As many of the home’s original period features had been removed over time, Benjamin Hale Architects reinstated a grand marble fireplace in the room.

      Will Gamble Architects modernises London Victorian house with “soft minimalism” interiors

      Ornate coving was also fitted around the ceiling of the adjacent sitting area, which hosts a sofa and sculptural armchairs upholstered in creamy boucle.
      An oak staircase with a slatted balustrade leads up to a zinc-clad dormer roof extension, added at the request of the owners who wanted the home to have extra sleeping quarters.
      The space – which now serves as the primary bedroom – has wooden panels running around its perimeter and a large picture window that offers far-reaching views over the streets of Dulwich.
      Wooden panels envelop the principal bedroomEnsuite facilities were integrated into the room alongside a freestanding bath, snugly positioned beneath the roof’s eaves and illuminated by a small skylight.
      The project also saw Vincent infuse the property’s existing bedrooms with warmth and tactility, adding weathered stone pots, lantern-style lights, tobacco-hued surfaces and more.
      The room also has its own standalone bathThis isn’t the only Dulwich residence to recently undergo a revamp; a few months ago architecture studio Proctor & Shaw built a concrete extension for a terrace home in the affluent neighbourhood, better connecting it to its 57-metre-long back garden.
      The photography is by Pierce Scourfield.

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      Dezeen Debate features “an elegant melange and a triumph of design sensitivity”

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      The latest edition of our Dezeen Debate newsletter features a refurbished apartment in Milan by design studio David/Nicolas with interior details by architect Gio Ponti. Subscribe to Dezeen Debate now.

      David/Nicolas has redesigned the interiors of a 1920s Milan apartment, originally designed by architect Mario Borgato and refurbished by Ponti, blending contemporary details with original features.
      Readers praised the apartment, calling it “an elegant melange and a triumph of design sensitivity” and adding “I love that wood panelling with artistic detail.”
      Skyscraper by Pei Architects follows “Toronto’s rich tradition of concrete”Other stories in this week’s newsletter that fired up the comments section included a skyscraper in Toronto, Canada, by Pei Architects, recently unveiled Saudi Arabian stadiums that are set to host the 2034 football World Cup and US start-up Friend’s plans to launch an AI-powered necklace wearable that aims to fight loneliness.
      Dezeen Debate

      Dezeen Debate is sent every Thursday and features a selection of the best reader comments and most talked-about stories. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Debate or subscribe here.
      You can also subscribe to our other newsletters; Dezeen Agenda is sent every Tuesday containing a selection of the most important news highlights from the week, Dezeen Daily is our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours and Dezeen In Depth is sent on the last Friday of every month and delves deeper into the major stories shaping architecture and design.

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      Hallmarks of British pubs and French brasseries meet in Henri restaurant interior

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      French interior designer Dorothée Meilichzon has converted the restaurant of London’s Henrietta Hotel into an homage to Parisian bistros for chef Jackson Boxer.

      Set on the ground floor of the hotel’s 19th-century townhouse in Covent Garden, Henri serves classic French dishes with a British twist – and British produce – from grilled snails on skewers to a raclette burger au poivre.
      Henri is the restaurant of London boutique hotel HenriettaThe mishmash of influences in Boxer’s cooking is also reflected in Meilichzon’s interiors, where art nouveau details rub shoulders with the oakwood panelling and leather upholstery found in London’s public houses.
      “We have designed an interior that mixes the relaxed style of a traditional British pub with the elegance of a typical French brasserie,” the designer told Dezeen.
      The interior merges typical features of pubs and brasseriesGuests enter the restaurant via an informal bar area, where snacks and aperitifs are served on red Coralito marble counters.

      Bulbous brass lights and table lamps with scalloped shades informed by plum blossoms provide points of brightness in the dimly lit interior, chosen as a tribute to Covent Garden’s former life as a fruit and vegetable market.
      Meilichzon created custom seating banquettes for the restaurantForest-green paint adds to the cosy pub atmosphere, together with the dark timber wainscoting and the bar with its leather-upholstered stools.
      The entrance also introduces Belle Epoque details such as spherical lights and gridded mirrored panels to create a sense of continuity with the main dining room.

      Dorothée Meilichzon nods to Alice in Wonderland for Cotswolds hotel interior

      “We have used some art nouveau elements typical in a brasserie: the detail on the arms of the banquettes, frosted glass globes, Thonet chairs and bespoke organic suspensions,” Meilichzon said.
      Despite the restaurant’s small footprint, Meilichzon managed to squeeze in several banquettes with decoratively curved backrests and hidden cutlery storage, designed bespoke for the interior.
      The benches are finished in velvet and leatherNear the entrance, there are smaller booths upholstered in duck-egg blue leather and velvet, with a lacquered frame in a darker midnight hue.
      But as the space widens towards the open kitchen at the back, the palette becomes warmer and cosier with terracotta wall tiles and larger banquettes for sharing, finished in rust-coloured velvet with glossy red arms and backrests.
      The restaurant’s existing ceiling murals were retainedAccompanied by classic bentwood bistro chairs from Thonet, Henri’s marble-topped tables with their dramatic skirts were also custom-made for the restaurant.
      Ornamentation is provided by an eclectic mix of artworks and photographs, framed alongside several mirrors and blackboards listing the daily specials.
      Meilichzon also created custom marble-topped tables for the restaurantMeilichzon also retained the restaurant’s existing floral ceiling murals, hand-painted on-site by French artists, that provide a counterweight to the rigid grid of the honeycomb parquet flooring.
      Henri is the latest in a long line of collaborations between Meilichzon and the Experimental Group, a French hospitality group for which she has also designed hotels in Venice, Ibiza, Biarritz and the Cotswolds.
      The photography is by WeTheFoodSnobs.

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