An immersive journey into the glamourous world of iconic british transport
How does one suspend a model of Concorde from the ceiling of a luxury restaurant?
This was the interior build challenge presented by David Archer of London-based Archer Humphreys Architects, when he designed The Peninsula Hotel’s 8th Floor Restaurant ‘Brooklands’ and the ground floor restaurant “Canton Blue”, both an immortalised testament of Sir Michael Kadoorie, Chairman of Peninsula Hotels, enthusiasm for fast flying and racing machines.
Transforming this epic design challenge into reality was a challenge that Tekne embrace as nothing out of the norm… earnestly crafting the detailed design components into one of the most exquisite modern day interior spaces homage to the wonder of past iconic transport pieces.
From the hotel’s reception area enter the wicker lined hot-air balloon lift, passing Brooklands Museum's precious antique cars, up to the 8th floor circular lobby with exquisitely detailed marquetry scenes depicting Brooklands racing history, your journey is an immersive experience into the world of racing. Every detail is considered, so the entire space – from the bar and restaurant to the lounge, private dining room and tabac – has links to transportation.
Named after Brooklands Racetrack the 8th Floor Restaurant’s interior is adorned with items and images linked with the famous British Transport history. The focus on the space has been conceived from floor to ceiling as a tribute to the glamorous transport of the past, a comfortable place for guests to relax with a drink and a futuristic space rooted in British Heritage. You will not find a more stunning space-age dining room in London than this, with a 14m scaled aluminium model of Concorde hanging from the ceiling. Amid the original parts of cars and planes, “replicas were made within a millimetre of being original”, says Archer. In the bar, leather-upholstered banquettes resemble bench seats of antique cars, chrome Lucas Racing Lights circle the bar counter and old-fashioned levers like those from antique Rolls-Royces will get you the attention of the waiters…
The ceiling is embellished with a basket weave pattern once used in the fuselage of a Vickers Wellington Bomber. The bar is covered with fascia’s from a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The main chandelier, which rotates, was made from the blades of a Concorde Rolls-Royce / Snecma Olympus 593 turbine, and in the dining room a modern, moving artwork reinterprets the patterns of air streamed behind Concorde’s engines. Carpets feature constellations you would have seen on a flight from London to New York. Even the tabac shop, lined with boxes of cigars from around the world, Archer says were inspired by a 1914 Hispano-Suiza car they saw in the V&A.
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“Replicas were made within a millimetre of being original”
