Island Treasure.(Westin Plaza Singapore renovation)(Brief Article)

The I.M. Pei-designed Westin Plaza Singapore gets a refreshing update from Brennan Beer Gorman Monk/Interiors.

WHAT'S A SPRAWLING 26-story, 800-room hotel to do in today's hospitality market, with the "boutique" concept so relentlessly in vogue? The Westin Plaza Singapore chose to play against type, repositioning itself as a collection of small luxury hotels within a single complex to target upscale, international travelers of all stripes. Brennan Beer Gorman Monk/Interiors (BBGM) was chosen to oversee a renovation that would carve out some measure of intimacy without sacrificing the hotel's grandeur. The BBGM team brought a unique sensibility to the project: partners Jeffrey Williams and Kate Greenwood both lived in Hong Kong for a number of years, and project designer Tonny Sadha hails from Bali. Collectively, the trio understood the experience of both living and traveling in Southeast Asia. "As their prototypical guest, we knew just what was needed," says Williams. "A contemporary look with a concern for comfort and a stylistic nod to its island locale."

The scope of the multi-phased program entailed contemporizing the executive and premium guest rooms, main entrance, lobby, and public spaces. Color and materials direction--a selection of muted gold and taupe hues with cherry wood and limestone detailing--was established for the guest rooms, then carried through to the public spaces. A dramatic arrival sequence inaugurates the hotel-within-a-hotel ambience. Guests arrive under a shaded porte-cochere into a boomerang-shaped entrance chamber where water elements and textured glass features provide relief from the sweltering climate. "We wanted guests to experience a single material in different textures," notes Sadha, accounting for the abundance and variety of limestone surfaces throughout. A sea of polished limestone flooring runs through the public spaces, while split-faced stone blocks decorate the walls of the entrance chamber; columns throughout the ground level were also reclad with the ubiquitous material. Exaggerated architectural details, dramatic lighting, and plush, overscaled furniture make the double-height, triangular lobby "feel larger than life," says Williams. All artwork was sourced locally by the owner to inject a native flavor.

In the guest quarters, BBGM enlarged the bathrooms to accommodate an Asian-style "wet area" that combines soaking tub and rain shower in one continuous and commodious space. White marble tiling, combined with the glass countertop and sink, reinstates the refreshing, aqueous theme introduced in the arrival sequence. A casual luxuriousness informs the guest rooms, which offer such conveniences as high-speed Internet access and electrical outlets specially configured to accommodate laptops. "The owners wanted to create a real difference in terms of fabrics and finishes," says Greenwood, "to distinguish between the three room levels: premier, deluxe, and executive." Thus, cherry and maple woods and custom furnishings (such as the chaise lounge with built-in reading light and chrome shelf) are common throughout, while fabrics, artworks, and floor treatments vary from room to room. Although BBGM aspired to create a residential feel, the resultant design is appropriately august for its exotic yet cosmopolitan surroundings.