The Central/Naumi Hotels by Undercurrent Studio
2022 Best of Region Winner
The client, Naumi Hotels, had one request for this fit-out: that the designers avoid whites and neutrals. Undercurrent Studio responded by aligning the levels of this three-storey building with their natural outlooks. The ground floor nods to the red tones of the flora outside; the first floor alludes to the greens of the treetops; and the second storey reflects the blue tones of the sky and snow-capped mountain tops.
Keep reading to learn more about this stunning project which was a Best of Region winner in our 2022 Shaw Contract Design Awards!
Photography by Tim Pierce from The Beards
Photography by Tim Pierce from The Beards
From the outset, Undercurrent Studio were careful in their palette selection. The challenge was that every singular colour needed to work with every other colour from each floor’s scheme, to come together in the hotel’s bar.
Undercurrent Studio used tone-on-tone colours in corridors in-keeping with each floor’s scheme, while inside guest rooms they paired deep tones with bold pastels. Undercurrent tapped into the work of artist Deborah Moss, who’s work draws upon the power and dynamisms of nature. They printed a series of her works to an exaggerated scale, and colour-matched with paint and carpet colours, so that when guests move from the corridor to their room, they’re greeted with a stark, whimsical contrast that gives that sense of child-like wonder for just one more single moment – one more single feeling.
“I think this project has a very evocative sense of mood. It has a richness and a boldness that is quite courageous. The way that the graphics and furniture selections tie in with the colour palette has been executed perfectly. It's just a very creative project.”
Francene O’Connor / Principal at STH
(2022 Best of Australia and New Zealand Jury Member)
Photography by Tim Pierce from The Beards
Photography by Tim Pierce from The Beards
“There's bravery in the use of the colour in a really clever way in this project. Colour can be polarising depending on the colour that you use, but this is very warm. I feel that sense of warmth, cocooning and enveloping inside the space which attracted me to this project.”
Pablo Albani / Principal at Group GSA
(2022 Best of Australia and New Zealand Jury Member)
Photography by Tim Pierce from The Beards
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