Philippe Starck Puts His Incredible Stamp on the Inaugural M Social Hotel

Like virtually every other hotelier in the world, Millennium Hotels and Resorts has created a new brand designed to attract the “millennial-mindset” guest. So, to stand out from the crowd, Millennium made two strategic choices for its new M Social brand: locate its inaugural flagship within a high-profile sector of Singapore, and hire iconoclastic designer Philippe Starck to create its interiors.

Millennium representatives say they chose Singapore for M Social's debut in part because that bustling city-state is home to the hotelier’s parent company, City Development Ltd. Indeed, the breadth of the Millennium line is well represented in Singapore, where it operates six properties: the Copthorne Kings Hotel; the Grand Copthorne Waterfront; the Orchard Hotel Singapore; an M Hotel; a Studio M Hotel; and now, the M Social (the latter, a member of Millennium's Leng's Collection soft brand, is located in the city’s trendy Robertson Quay neighborhood).

Starck stuffed the visual menu for the hotel’s Beast & Butterflies restaurant with a variety of goodies, including lava lamps, tablet-sized screens displaying artwork, black pillars bearing the imprint of a Spanish artist and a series of recessed chandeliers. Photo: Courtesy of Millennium Hotels and Resorts.

As for bringing Starck on board, Millennium executives say that was a no-brainer. “Our target audience for M Social is the millennial-mindset guest who seeks out interesting design, artistic touches and authenticity,” a spokesperson for the hotelier told Boutique Design. “They tend to reject cookie-cutter hotels and enjoy showing friends something that’s interesting and different. As Philippe’s designs embody both those characteristics, he was the natural choice.”

Philippe Starck. Photo: Courtesy of Philippe Starck

For his part, Starck says he conceptualized the project as an “avant-garde laboratory.” Never one for understatement, he explains: “M Social is the new and vibrant place in Singapore where elegance, creativity and technology meet to offer a unique experience to our global-smart tribe.”

To help bring those cool kids (and wannabes) in the door, Starck says that, throughout the property, he interwove “the density and strength of raw concrete with a concept of immateriality that’s represented by the installation of numerous multimedia projections and video screens.”

The hotel’s two-level loft rooms feature heavy doses of glass and concrete, along with a full mirrored wall that adds a sense of spaciousness. A gathering place (foreground) is infused with warm colors. Photo: Courtesy of Millennium Hotels and Resorts

Though the view may not be appeal to the vertigo-prone, the beds in the hotel’s bi-level accommodations are secluded in an elevated lair that looks out onto 16-ft.-tall windows. Photo: Courtesy of Millennium Hotels and Resorts

But that contrast is just the start of the hotel’s visual razzle-dazzle. Its reception area, for example, features a 32-ft.-long table flanked with three ornate display cabinets designed by Starck. Underfoot is a veined alabaster floor that’s lit from below. That installation has a marble-like appearance that helps delineate the space, which can double as a mini-business center.

The designer also whipped up a feast for the eyes in the hotel’s restaurant and bar, Beast & Butterflies, starting with eight recessed chandeliers overhead. “Each of those fixtures is intentionally different from the next, to emulate diversity and stimulate creativity,” he says.

Starck’s aforementioned screen fetish is on prominent display within the restaurant, thanks to a wall populated with 40 tablet-sized screens bearing images of contemporary artworks. “Those screens are conceived as a unique open source platform of expression and creativity, as artists from around the world can submit their creations to be exhibited,” he says.

Starck’s stamp on the eatery extends to its furniture, virtually all of which he designed, including tan-colored leather armchairs interspersed with retro-style checked sofas. The restaurant is also home to communal tables that utilize the same under-lit alabaster styling as the flooring in the reception area, and an open kitchen that gives diners glimpses of the culinary team at work.
Equally eye-catching are the black columns within the Beast & Butterflies space. Painted onto those pillars are murals by Spanish artist Luis Urculo, who created similarly styled pieces for the hotel’s elevator lobbies.

Visual contrasts abound in the hotel’s reception area, starting with the plain concrete overhead and the intricate floor patterns below. A 32-ft.-long mirrored table anchors the space. Photo: Courtesy of Millennium Hotels and Resorts.

The hotel’s smaller, single-story alcove rooms feature peaked ceilings that add volume and help offset a tight floorplan. Photo: Courtesy of Millennium Hotels and Resorts

As for the hotel’s accommodations, they come in a variety of single-story alcove and bi-level loft configurations. Both room types are available with or without terraces.

No matter the category, Starck says the rooms were conceived “to offer comfortable and timeless elegance to the modern and avant-garde millennium tribe.” Creating that ambience involved filling the rooms with such touches as warm color tones, luxe pashmina throws and thick carpets.

The result of his efforts at M Social Singapore, Starck says, is a destination that serves “as a stage dedicated to creative people.” In keeping with the idea that all the world is a stage, Millennium says it does plan to expand the M Social experience to the U.S. and the U.K. (but declines to provide specifics on the timing or locales of those properties). 

Original Article from Boutique Design: http://www.boutiquedesign.com/content/starck-raving-cool?page=0%2C1