The Mandarin Oriental hotel is one of the jewels of the Paris hotel trade. It owes this to its exceptional architecture, as well as its location in a historic listed building dating from the 1930s. Star architect Jean-Michel was in charge of refurbishing this former office building with interior spaces spread over eight floors. This exceptional hotel stands out today as a shop-window of French good taste, with a unique and successful blend of Art Deco fashion and oriental charm.
Renovation of the Mandarin Oriental: Transforming an office building into a contemporary palace
Perhaps one doesn’t immediately think of a building made up of offices to create a palace. And yet this was the challenge faced together by architect Jean-Michel WILMOTTE and PLENDI by VINCI Construction, to create the Paris Mandarin Oriental hotel in 2011. An exceptional project, an exceptional location: the palace sits at the heart of the haute couture district of the capital, at 251 Rue Saint-Honoré. The architect took advantage of the existing buildings, which were listed and so had to be conserved, transforming them into a 5-star Palace hotel. Today, the Mandarin Oriental hotel offers stylish contemporary luxury and a magnificent view over Paris from the terraces of its suites.
Only one original building was demolished to create a vast internal space by combining two existing courtyards to create an internal patio and bringing the brightness of natural light into the hotel. The 1930s façade looking over the Rue Saint-Honoré has been entirely conserved and restored. This makes the major contribution to the Mandarin Oriental’s monumental style.
The Parisian Apartment
As a result of this superb collaboration, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group again called on Plendi and entrusted us with a new project to renovate the 6th floor suites of the palace in Paris in 2018.
The new 630 m2 ‘signature suite’, which is among the largest in the capital, was designed by Gilles & Boissier as a modern Appartement Parisien. A blend of materials, woven leather panels, brushed wood, caisson ceilings with 1930s designs and fabrics specially developed for this project once more illustrate PLENDI’s skill and expertise.
The importance of interior decoration
There’s no monumental project in which interior decoration doesn’t take pride of place! It’s what gives projects their finishing touch, especially at the Paris Mandarin Oriental. It also illustrates all the expertise of the designers, creators and craftsmen who work with the PLENDI teams. To do credit to the hotel’s name, special attention was given to the oriental sophistication, but in a subtle symbiosis with French inspirations with their origins in Art Deco.
Among the designers who worked on creating this palace, we should mention Sybille DE MARGERIE, to whom we owe the decoration of the bedrooms, lobby and spa. In particular, she chose the hotel’s emblematic sculpture, signed Nathalie DECOSTER. Sybille DE MARGERIE used luxurious and precious materials, such as crystal, gold leaf, taffeta and lacquer. The stylish furniture is designed by Ali Madhavi, Thierry Bisch and Nathalie DECOSTER. Interior designers Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku were chosen for the palace’s common spaces, the bar and two restaurants. The result is both astonishing and sumptuous, laid out in harmonious white and cream shades. Just what’s needed to do justice to dishes served by Michelin-starred chef Thierry MARX.
As you’ll understand: PLENDI is the ideal partner for renovation of the Paris Mandarin Oriental.