Biarritz Archives

Our latest lookbook focuses on quiet luxury and features projects including a French hotel and a Swedish Grace apartment that exemplify the trend for discrete, yet sumptuous interiors.

Classic, hardwearing materials and simple, neutral colour palettes characterise these eight quiet luxury interiors, which convey an elegant feeling without being over-the-top.

Gleaming marble decorates bathrooms and hallways, while polished wood and soft, tactile textiles add an exquisite touch to bedrooms and living rooms.

To create these quiet luxury interiors, designers have focused on the contrast and texture of different materials and added details such as sprigs of flowers and timeless designer furniture pieces.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring airy loft conversions, kitchen islands with waterfall countertops and art-filled living rooms.

Bedroom interior of Clermont Residence — Photo is by Gokul Rao Kadam

Clermont residence, India, by FADD Studio

This multi-generational home in Bangalore, India, is a prime example of how the right material choice can make an apartment feel sophisticated without needing to splurge on many additional features.

Designer FADD Studio clad the bathroom in veiny marble for a striking effect, underlined by the contrast with the dark wood floor of one of the six bedrooms.

Find out more about Clermont residence ›

Dining room interior of Republique apartment by Hauvette & Madani — Photo is by Yannick Labrousse

Republique apartment, France, by Hauvette & Madani

While this Paris apartment has a striking wine-red kitchen, the rest of the colour palette was kept neutral, but clever material use has given it a decidedly upmarket feel.

In the dining room, chromed cantilevered dining chairs have been combined with a marble table. A lustrous herringbone parquet floor adds a natural feel, while a playful modern chandelier in smoke-coloured glass completes the interior.

Find out more about Republique apartment ›

Bathroom in Biarritz hotel — Photo is by Mr Tripper

Regina Experimental, France, by Dorothée Meilichzon

Located in a Belle Epoque-era hotel in the French seaside town of Biarritz, the Regina Experimental hotel has a number of luxurious touches.

In this bathroom, combining the colour of the doorframe and shelving with tiles in the same hue creates a coherent, stylish interior.

Fluted panelling at the top of the walls, classic porcelain sinks and shell-shaped soap holders add a nautical vibe.

Find out more about Regina Experimental ›

Interior of Stockholm apartment — Photo is courtesy of Note Design Studio

Habitat 100, Sweden, by Note Design Studio

A calm hallway with patterned marble floors welcomes visitors into Habitat 100 in Stockholm, which was designed to resemble the original interior of the 1920s apartment.

Note Design Studio also used greyed wood and stained oak to create a quietly luxurious feel inside the flat, which is located in a building built during the Swedish Grace era, a romantic, refined style movement.

Find out more about Habitat 100 ›

Wooden walls in Mayfair residence — Photo is by Felix Speller and Child Studio

Mayfair residence, UK, by Child Studio

The interior of this Mayfair house was informed by fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent’s home and features a number of custom-made pieces.

These are combined with mid-century modern furniture, including a glassware cabinet and coffee table in dark, glossy wood. A marble side table and a brass wall sconce add more interesting material contrasts.

Find out more about Mayfair residence ›

Bedroom in Twentieth house by Woods and Dangaran — Photo is by Joe Fletcher

Twentieth House, US, by Woods + Dangaran

Twentieth House, a three-storey home in California, features a bedroom with a material mix that conveys a sense of restrained elegance.

Soft brown velvet seating along with a rug colour match the panelled wooden wall, creating a cohesive and relaxing interior. A modern chandelier adds a frivolous touch.

Find out more about Twentieth House ›

Dumbo loft with mezzanine — Photo is by Seth Caplan

Dumbo loft, US, by Crystal Sinclair Designs

Interiors studio Crystal Sinclair Designs renovated this loft apartment in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighbourhood (above and main image) to retain its industrial look while adding some “European flair”.

The result is a home that feels both cosy and elegant, with a practical mezzanine floor and stylish details, including a rough-hewn vase and a classic mushroom-shaped Artemide Nessino table lamp.

Find out more about Dumbo loft ›

Interiors of Fisherman's cottage — Photo is by Gavin Green

Fisherman’s Cottage, Australia, by Studio Prineas

This former fisherman’s cottage in Sydney was extended with a concrete tower. Inside the home, a mirrored bathroom feels both industrial and upmarket at the same time.

Veined green marble was used for the deep bath, while minimalist white sinks and chrome taps add a modernist touch.

Find out more about Fisherman’s Cottage ›

Reference

French interior designer Dorothée Meilichzon has renovated a Belle Epoque-era hotel in Biarritz, France, blending maritime and art deco motifs to add contemporary flair to the historic building.

The Regina Experimental sits on a clifftop overlooking the Bay of Biscay in the French seaside city, which was once a royal getaway and is now a popular surfing destination.

Corridor at Regina Experimental hotel — Nautical designs decorate the corridors

Constructed in 1907 by architect and landscape designer Henry Martinet, the grand building features a 15-metre-high atrium, large bay windows, a glass roof, and hints of art deco throughout.

The majority of its spaces were well preserved, so Meilichzon‘s input involved modernising the furnishings and decor – adding colour and pattern to enliven the spaces while playing on the hotel’s coastal location.

Atrium of Regina Experimental hotel — Totemic sculptures were used in the hotel’s atrium

In the light-filled atrium, dark red and green sofas were arranged to create intimate seating areas within the expansive room.

Totemic wicker sculptures form a line down the centre of the room, and cylindrical paper lanterns by designers Ingo Maurer and Anthony Dickens hang from the columns on either side.

Bedroom with art deco influenced headboard — Guest rooms feature geometric, art deco-influenced headboards and striped upholstery

Guests in this space are served cocktails from a bar top shaped like an ocean liner, designed as an homage to modernist architect Eileen Gray, while listening to live piano music.

While the bar top nods to Gray’s designs, the sofas in the room play on the shapes of the Itsasoan footbridge in nearby Guétary.

Reflection of a bed in a rope-wrapped mirror — Mirrors wrapped in rope continue the maritime theme in the rooms

Carpet patterns vary between the different areas of the hotel – in the corridors, they carry a nautical motif, while the markings are reminiscent of fish scales in the guest rooms.

The hotel’s restaurant, Frenchie, offers Basque-inspired cuisine within a bright room that features more nautical references, such as rope-hung shelves and shell-shaped sconces.

Dining room of Regina Experimental — Shell-shaped sconces decorate the dining room

Highly patterned tiled floors and furniture contrast the restaurant’s neutral plaster walls and ceiling, which are punctuated by arched niches and curved plywood panels.

The dining area spills onto an outdoor terrace, populated by red cafe tables and chairs lined up against pale blue banquettes, around the corner from a swimming pool.

The hotel’s 72 guest rooms are accessible from corridors that wrap around the atrium, and face either the ocean or the Golf de Biarritz Le Phare golf course.

Shades of blue and green dominate the art deco-influenced bedrooms, which feature glossy geometric headboards and marine-striped upholstery.

Bathroom with teal-coloured tiles — A cool palette of greens and blues is used in the bathrooms

Small lamps extend from rope frames that wrap around the mirrors, and red accents on smaller furniture pieces pop against the cooler hues.

“Bedrooms are awash with Japanese straw and rope combined with marine stripes and plaster frescoes with aquatic motifs,” said the hotel. “Evocative of an ocean liner, each bedroom incorporates curved forms and long horizontal lines.”

Hotel perched on a cliff overlooking the sea — Built in 1907, the hotel overlooks the Bay of Biscay from a clifftop

Meilichzon, founder of Paris-based design agency Chzon, is a frequent collaborator of the Experimental Group, and has designed the interiors for several of its properties.

Earlier this year, she gave a bohemian refresh to Ibiza’s first hotel, now called the Montesol Experimental, and previously completed the Hotel Il Palazzo Experimental in Venice.

The photography is by Mr Tripper.

Reference

Biarritz

Eight quiet luxury interiors from Biarritz to Stockholm

Dorothée Meilichzon blends nautical and art deco inside Biarritz hotel

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