The Carlton Tower is hotel group Jumeirah’s five star European flagship in Knightsbridge, London. When it needed a facelift the designer chosen was 1508 London, because the hotel wanted the designers’ experience of working in prestigious private residences to create a ‘home from home’ feeling of refined luxury using exquisite materials expertly crafted. Beck Interiors was the main contractor.
The resulting £100million project included stone and porcelain fabricated and installed by stoneCIRCLE, whose stone fabricationg factory, one of the largest in the country, is in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
The entrance hall of the hotel features an oval domed recess in the ceiling, precisely mirrored on the floor with an inlaid pattern of Calacatta and Moon Cream marbles bordered with bronze.
The stone was cut on the company’s waterjets, bonded and glued at the factory, using colour matched epoxy resin so the joins are invisible. It was delivered on site in large sections. Calacatta forms the rest of the floor and skirting with a rebated polished edge. There are Moon Cream borders edged with bronze on the steps.
Calacatta was also used as cladding on the reveals and soffits of the entrances through to adjacent rooms, and architraves and rebated panels of the lift surrounds. The reception and concierge desks are in the same material, vein matched with inlaid bronze detailing.
Public washrooms on the ground floor are clad in vein matched Cremo Delicato marble, with the same marble on the floor. The vanity tops in the ‘ladies’ are Cremo Delicato with fluting carved into the front aprons. Still on the ground floor, the bar area is fitted with Irish Green marble to the bar top, front and shelf area behind. Next to it is a fire surround in Fior di Bosco marble.
The nearby patisserie is Calacatta with bronze inlay, fluted and wrapped in one piece round the curved ends.
The main staircase is clad with Fior di Bosco marble risers, treads and skirting with a bullnose edge.
On the second floor, there are 600 x 600mm porcelain floor tiles throughout the reception and pool area, his and her steam rooms, saunas and treatment rooms.
Botticino Classico marble clads the walls and benches in the steam rooms and saunas, goes through to the pool changing rooms and is teamed with Ivory Onyx for the treatment room vanities.
The reception desk in Ivory Onyx has the veins painstakingly matched across the whole piece, including the drawers and doors, which are faced in the same material.
The pool itself has feature walls and a hot tub clad in Silver Travertine, vein-matched across the whole width of the installation to stunning effect.
Steps leading up to the raised relaxation area above the pool are covered in the same porcelain tiles as the rest of the floor with a darker quartz anti-slip feature.
Tundra Grey marble inlaid with bronze is the main stone used in the Peak Fitness club on the ninth and tenth floors. It is also used for the walkway leading to the Fitness Club as well as some floors inside. The treatment rooms and washrooms have Tundra Grey vanities and wall cladding with porcelain floors. The steam room and sauna have sandblasted Botticino Classico wall cladding and benches.
Caesarstone Calacatta quartz is used for window cills in the corridors and a buffet top in the restaurant on the 10th Floor.
For Jeff Vanhinsbergh, director at stoneCIRCLE, “it is always a pleasure to work on a prestigious London hotel, as it means that our work is going to be seen and appreciated by many people”.
