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Club St-Denis
By : Humà Design + Architecture
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Interior Design : Grand Winner
Categories : Other categories in interior design / Common area : Gold Certification
Categories : Accommodation, Restaurant & Bar / Bar, Lounge & Nightclub : Gold Certification
Categories : Special Awards / Interior Design + Colour : Gold Certification
Categories : Special Awards / Interior Design + Art Integration : Platinum Winner
Categories : Special Awards / Renovation (Before & After) : Platinum Winner
Project description:
Club St-Denis is the revival of a private club that had been the social space for the francophone elite of Montréal for over 135 years. The brief was to design different gathering rooms across this coworking space for members and their guests with a maximalist showstopper ballroom in its heart.
Challenge statement:
The project takes place in a Victorian era historical building with a major Art Deco extension where most of the interior has been previously stripped down. The result that served us as a blank canvas was a sterile exposed concrete office space with large glass panels, stainless steel hardware and white painted gypsum walls. The ballroom was the only room that kept its original moldings but had modernized elements such as the windows that killed the vibe of the space. The challenge was to merge literally two different worlds in a symbiotic cohabitation : the modern minimal office spaces with working people and the opulent gathering spaces to entertain guests. The mandate was also to create an enchanting space with minimal interventions on the base building. Other challenges were to work on a budget, in a restricted timeline with no general contractor on board as we had to manage to find the subcontractors, the suppliers, place the orders and make sure everyone followed our schedule.
Solution statement:
The project was worked on as a theatrical staging. An ascending design journey leading to a hidden gem : the ballroom. Upon entering the upper floor visitors enter a concrete and glass lobby treated like an art gallery, punctuated by elements announcing the colors of the ballroom, without revealing it too much. A reception desk serving as a Champagne bar sets the tone with its refined details of marble, brass and lacquer of the custom furniture. Throughout this route, props such as vintage stuffed birds, pieces of art and thematic gathering rooms coexist without stealing the spotlight from the ballroom that we discover like a “Speak Easy” behind a green portal at the end of the route. This is where the magic happens, everything was custom designed from the loungy banquette with fringes, the mural that was developed by an artist in our team to the millwork with incredible amounts of details. The centerpiece of the ballroom is the massive Rosa Onyx bar with its counter worked with stepped layers and the backbar that is made entirely out of the stone. To achieve the maximalist effect that the client wanted we worked with a big palette of patterned fabrics and wallpapers, different colorful stoned, different textures and colors, fine woods and brass that we juxtaposed in unusual combinations.
The result is an opulent yet warm space where we feel incredibly good.
Collaboration
