Radisson Edwardian Guildford Hotel
Surrey, England
Inspired by the theme of performance, Rabih Hage has created an experience that will be enriched by the hotel’s guests, who will by the very nature of their visit, become performing artists in a creative, theatrical environment. “In a hotel we are on a stage; we are at the same time the actors and the spectators.” says Hage.
Key elements include a two-storey, free-standing library kiosk in the foyer of the hotel, giving visitors a unique vantage point from which to view the lobby in private. Statement furniture provides a touch of the unexpected, while works of art include grand photographs by Massimo Listri and portraits by Jonathan Root. One talking point is a vast three metre chandelier forming a centrepiece within the triple height atrium and a seven metre high bookcase accessed by the ‘ladder to nowhere’, acknowledging the town’s most famous writer, Lewis Carroll, whose Alice in Wonderland books served in part as Hage’s inspiration.
“In essence what I came up with for this project is a design concept which works in four dimensions - three of space, and the fourth is the way one circulates within; for me a hotel is a theatre of many lives, marking people and creating encounters. Travel opens up opportunities, thoughts and somehow allows one to experience an ephemeral, urban (or rural) nomadic life different from the everyday. It is like a role in a play, the guests are the actors on the stage that we have created in the hotel here in Guildford.”
Radisson Edwardian’s Guildford hotel is the town’s first four star deluxe hotel offering 183 rooms and suites, two restaurants, a dining terrace, style bar, spa, gym with swimming pool, and conference facilities for up to 400 with seven private meeting and function rooms.