
ABCs of specifying Axminster carpet
The article delves into the intricacies of specifying Axminster carpet, highlighting its application in large-scale hospitality projects, specifically the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco and the Boston Park Plaza. It emphasizes how Axminster carpet contributes to both the aesthetic and functional requirements of renovating historic properties while blending contemporary design elements with their rich past.
The Westin St. Francis project involved an extensive refurbishment, including 1600 guest rooms, historic ballrooms, and new meeting spaces. The design, spearheaded by Whitespace Interiors, aimed to respectfully honor the hotel's illustrious history while appealing to a modern audience. The challenge was to integrate modern forms and a rich color palette without losing the iconic property's historic aura, drawing inspiration from Edwardian and Art Deco influences. The chosen 'new classic' design aesthetic achieved modernity without detaching from the hotel's historic virtues. A key element in this design was the 8009 square meters of custom Axminster carpet, which created a unifying landscape throughout the hotel. Moving away from traditional monochromatic schemes, the carpet designs incorporated bold gold and white accents. Specifically, the ballroom carpets featured Neoclassical elements with elegant gold and navy blended striations, harmonizing restoration with revitalization. Ornate gold-leafed ceiling elements were restored to complement the contemporary public space carpet designs. The use of a consistent color palette and repeating geometric patterns brought unity to the contemporary meeting spaces. For the larger public spaces, particularly the Italian, Colonial, and Grand Ballrooms, 12 distinct color designs were developed. These designs were crafted to cover the entire area with scrolls symmetrically emanating from a central focal point, avoiding visible pattern repeats. This complex design required five consecutive days of on-site measurements by the carpeting manufacturer, underscoring the need for meticulous planning and installation for a successful interior.
Similarly, the Boston Park Plaza underwent a significant $100-million renovation, involving approximately 18,395 square meters of custom carpeting. Like the Westin St. Francis, the Boston Park Plaza, a historic grand hotel from the 1920s, required updating its design while preserving its historical narrative. The approach for the Boston Park Plaza was more subtle, utilizing a restricted color palette and smaller, repeating designs with fewer critical match points in corridors and public areas. The carpets, predominantly nine-row Axminster in corridors and ten-row in public spaces, featured lattice-like geometrics in smoky charcoals and ivory shades. These designs interacted with reflective lacquered surfaces, mirrored walls, and chrome accents, creating a unified network of repetition throughout the hotel's interior. The strategic addition of shadow beneath the curvilinear forms in corridors, public, and pre-function carpets enhanced this interplay of reflective light, transforming flat repeating shapes into a three-dimensional experience. In the lobby and dining areas, layered graphic lines undulated across the floor, perfectly balancing the angular contemporary lighting on the ceilings. Parker Torres Design's reinterpretation of traditional medallions in the grand ballroom carpet, through intensive contemporary application of scale, proportion, shading, and texture, exemplified the blending of old and new.
Both projects demonstrate the critical role of Axminster carpet in achieving a harmonious balance between historical preservation and modern revitalization in hospitality design. The detailed planning, custom design, and precise installation of these carpets were integral to the overall success of these grand hotel renovations, contributing significantly to their updated yet historically sensitive aesthetics.
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