Latour de Force

Birmingham was looking rather more like Barcelona when I last visited on a glorious day in May. With an array of impressive new buildings, the city is at last beginning to shed its former grotty image, and to compete with other exciting European destinations. However, behind the glamorous Selfridges there is much still to be done. A sea of carparks and building sites still abutt the retail citadel, awaiting not only dynamic new architecture, but potentially the terminus of the proposed high speed rail link to London. In which case Hotel Latour has chosen wisely in building its gleaming new outpost on the neighbouring block. I was there primarily to shoot bathrooms for Villeroy & Boch, but also managed to get a shot or two of the striking building deisgned by pHp Architects.

Bedrooms & Bathrooms

Mood Indigo - Part 2

Should you happen to be a guest at this house in Holland Park, you will no doubt have been tempted to use the wonderful pool featured in Part 1. You should take into account however that while the pool is on the bottom floor, the guest bedrooms are on the top, and it being a five storey house, that's quite a bit of 'bonus' exercise after your swim. The guests are well catered for with three beautifully decorated bedroom suites, a sitting room, which can double as a fourth, and even a little kitchen, as let's face it, you wouldn't want to trek the mile and a half to the kitchen if you felt peckish late at night.

Architecture & Interiors by Studio Indigo

Checks & Valances

The gradual refurbishment at Whatley Manor Hotel continues, albeit slowly. It's a tricky dilemma for a successful hotel. Naturally you want the rooms to look their best, but then the lost revenue and disruption have to be considered. Is it better to close entirely, and get all the work done at once, or to just take a few rooms out of circulation at a time? As the hotel's public spaces were in good shape, and needed no alteration, the piecemeal approach to the rooms seemed wisest. So, happily for me, I get the call every few months to nip down the M4, to record the latest developments. 

Bedside Manor

I first visited Whatley Manor on the edge of the Cotswolds, 7 or 8 years ago, on behalf of Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine. I have a lot to be thankful to that publication for, as it helped me gain access to several high profile hotels and restaurants such as Sketch and Petrus, providing a springboard to lots more work in that sector.

My design client So Design asked me to revisit recently as they are about to overhaul the hotel's website. The hotel is famed for its Michelin starred dining, its wonderful spa, and pretty location, but I was there to shoot some of the bedrooms, all of which are individually styled, but currently receive scant attention on the website. Unlike a more corporate hotel where rooms may be pretty standard throughout, and one image might apply to a dozen rooms, here the different styles, scales and layouts required more thought.

The first suite to be shot was a dramatic space with a huge mezzanine sitting area under the eaves above. It was awkward space to shoot, but with key elements which gave it real character, such as this imposing stone mullioned window.

After getting all the general room shots that were required, we were about to proceed to the next room, when an open door on the mezzanine suddenly cast an interesting light on a corner I hadn't intended to shoot. With a little bit of styling, I think we ended up with the most interesting and inviting shot of the room.

While it's important for a customer to see a room as a whole, often it's the little details, corners or atmosphere that really sell a space.

Then again, sometimes size is important.

Mayfair Lady

I could feel her piercing stare from across the room. Surely it wasn't her? What was she doing in the apartment I was photographing? Elizabeth Taylor, and not just any old Liz but one of Andy Warhol's famous screenprints no less. She was the focal point of this astonishingly elegant room, in a Mayfair mansion block. The block, dates from the twenties, but very little remained of this apartment's interior, save for the old electric bell panel, formerly used to summon servants, and now incorporated into a sleek mirrored bar alcove.

Stepping through the entrance to the apartment, it's immediately clear that this is the sort of place that Hollywood royalty would feel quite at home. The stunning floor to ceiling backlit marble panels and the gilded Louis chair make that abundantly clear. Creamy hi-gloss stone flooring inlaid with bronze, flows through to the main rooms, where other equally polished finishes take over; various marbles in the bathrooms, lacquered hardwood panelling in the dining room, and bronze tinted mirrors in the drawing room. All detailed exquisitely by the designers at Casa Forma.

If ever there was any doubt about Mayfair's prime position on the Monopoly board being usurped by flashy west London upstarts, this apartment knocks that idea squarely on the head.