To many people, the mention of interior design conjures up visions of soft furnishings, pictures and wall decorations.
However, to one company, this is far from the case. Stuart Wilsdon founded Wilsdon Design Associates in 2004 after working for many years for more architecturally based design practices.
He expanded, “I rather fell into the hospitality sector by accident while working for a practice in London in 1993. I went out to Dubai and worked almost exclusively on hotel work for the major high-end hotel chains such as Hyatt, Sheraton, and Marriott. I gained a great deal of experience and also responsibility for the work.”
“When I came back, I wanted to continue working in the hospitality sector. I worked for a practice that consisted primarily of architects rather than interior architectural designers and it was at that point that I realised that I needed to start my own business in order to concentrate on what I believed were my own strengths. Today there are six of us here. I have deliberately aimed at keeping the Practice small, as I wanted to offer a bespoke personal service to our clients. One of the key aims is to ensure that, although the Practice may be working on several hotel projects for the same client, we remain focused on ensuring that each one retains its individuality and its relationship with its location, while still meeting the demands of the brand.”
Stuart says, “I notice this especially when we are working on a major refurbishment. How do you create an ad hoc, off-the-wall design within a major chain hotel? Occasionally we do indeed get this opportunity. If it is a major hotel chain, then the operator will have their design and brand standards that we need to adhere to, but this does not necessarily preclude us from coming up with a design for the interior architecture that both reflects its location and challenges established perceptions.”
The practice works not only in the UK but also in many other parts of the world. In 2010/11 for instance, the workload was split roughly 40:60 between the UK and overseas. The Practice has carried out projects in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Spain and amongst others is currently engaged on projects in Germany, India, Italy, Serbia and Switzerland.
One of the more interesting projects has been the Beau-Rivage Palace hotel in Lausanne, on Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Built in the Belle Époque era the hotel is very much at the high end of the market. Stuart comments that “We have been working there now for about three to four years and are gradually working our way through the key public areas. One of our most important commissions there was to design a new restaurant and bar for Ann-Sophie Pic, the only female chef to be awarded three Michelin stars in the past fifty years. We then renovated all of the corridors, retaining the major architectural features and designed a new-build restaurant and multi-function space that hugs the listed Rotonde. We have now designed and are going to site with a substantial new bar at the lake shore level of the hotel.”
“We work on both new-build and refurbishment projects, each offering their own challenges, though ultimately it is perhaps new-build that provides more freedom of creativity, something that is not always possible in the same way with refurbishment work. Today about 95% of all our work is in hotels but we are also looking to diversify into standalone restaurants and bars.”
For further information please telephone 020 7713 6734 or visit www.wilsdon-da.com.
