Case#PR-185
Art HOTEL 4* · Ballets Russes aesthetic
Interior design of Art HOTEL 4* in Perm
HoReCa · 1600 m² · Completed
About the project
Art HOTEL 4* in Perm is a signature project by our studio, in which the history of the city, the art of theatre and the practical demands of a hotel come together in a single interior narrative.
The hotel's concept draws on Sergei Diaghilev, who spent his childhood and youth in Perm. It was here that he formed his bond with music, theatre and art, the world he would later bring to the stage with the Ballets Russes.
Client request
The task was to create not simply a hotel interior but a place with an identity of its own, a space that could not be confused with any other hotel.
We designed the public areas and the guest rooms, produced the 3D visualisations and technical documentation, created the furniture, selected finishes, textiles and decor, and provided design supervision while the hotel was being built.
Challenge
We did not want a literal reconstruction of the early twentieth century, and we did not want to turn the hotel into a museum. Instead, we took the atmosphere of the theatre, the ballet and life backstage and translated it into the language of a contemporary hotel interior.
Behind the striking look, the essentials still come first: the hotel has to be comfortable for guests and run efficiently every day.
Concept
The project is built on the aesthetic of the Ballets Russes.
We were not trying to quote a historical interior literally. What interested us was the feeling of theatre: the wait before a performance, the movement in the wings, saturated colour, light, costume, graphics and a little stage provocation.
So the interior is built on contrasts.
Pale walls sit next to deep reds and chocolate tones. Dark timber next to ochre, gilded surfaces and blue accents. Classical cornices and decorative ceiling compositions next to contemporary lighting and restrained hotel furniture.
Diaghilev is present in the interior as a mood rather than as decoration.
Result
Art HOTEL 4* shows how an interior can become part of a venue's own brand. Years have passed and the hotel's positioning has changed, yet the theme we created around art, ballet, life backstage and the Ballets Russes has stayed and still defines its character.
For us, this is one of the clearest signs of a design that lasts. A good interior should not live only for the photo shoot after opening. It has to stand up to daily use, to time and to changes in the business.
Case
How we solved the task
Key decisions
Much of the work on this project was done by hand. We developed bespoke decorative plaster and textured finishing techniques for the walls, because we wanted surfaces that could not simply be picked from a standard catalogue and ordered from a supplier.
Much of the furniture was made to our own designs. We drew each piece for a particular room, its dimensions and the way it would be used, from the furniture in the guest rooms to elements of the public areas. This kept the interior coherent and avoided the feeling that the hotel had been assembled from randomly chosen pieces.
Trust metrics
34
Guest rooms
130 m²
Conference hall
~60 guests
Theatre-style seating
2015
Year completed
Zones of the project “Interior design of Art HOTEL 4* in Perm”
01 Zone
Reception and lobby
The public areas became the most architecturally expressive part of the hotel.
Reception is built on a contrast of dark textured surfaces and a light gold wall behind the desk. Multi-level ceilings, decorative profiles and large pendant lights form a near-theatrical space.
Light here does not only work as function. It becomes part of the staging.
In the lounge areas, high chairs in a saturated ochre appear. Their oversized backs make a more intimate space around the guest and become one of the memorable pieces of the interior.
Corridors and waiting areas continue the same idea more quietly, through wall texture, graphics, furniture and soft directional light.
Art in Art HOTEL 4* was not added after the design was finished. It was part of the architectural concept from the start. Ballet graphics, theatre posters, photographs and images connected with the Russian Seasons are built into the public interiors and the rooms. Some walls work almost as exhibition compositions.
02 Zone
Lobby bathrooms
Even the guest bathrooms remain part of the hotel's overall theme.
The doors have no standard pictograms. The men's bathroom is marked with a white starched collar, the women's with a miniature ballet tutu.
The wall at the entrance is assembled from archive portraits and ballet photographs connected with the Russian Seasons. Further in, the room is quieter: dark wood doors, chocolate plaster and a stone counter with inset basins.
The pendant lights above the basins are black hats from Diaghilev's era. Concealed lighting in the ceiling gives the same warm tone as the lobby. The gold relief on the wall continues it at the basins.
03 Zone
Standard rooms
Today Art HOTEL 4* has 34 rooms in several categories: a standard single, standard rooms, Standard Premium, two-room Suite rooms and the conceptual Art Studio.
For the standard rooms we deliberately lowered the emotional intensity of the interior. After the expressive public spaces a person needs a quieter place to rest.
So light walls appear here, a natural timber range, soft textile panels, heavy curtains and restrained blue-grey accents. The hotel's character remains, but it does not get in the way of the room's main purpose: rest.
04 Zone
Premium
The more spacious rooms received an extra seating area with armchairs and a small table.
The interior stays part of the hotel's overall language, but becomes more intimate: a calm colour range, dark wood, soft textiles and local lighting make a comfortable hotel scenario.
05 Zone
Suite
The two-room Suite rooms received separate functional areas: a bedroom, a living room or study, and a more generous bathroom.
Here the hotel room already reads as a small temporary residence. The interior stays restrained, but it gains extra scenarios for rest and work.
06 Zone
Art studio "dressing room"
The most concentrated expression of the concept became the room we called the Dressing room inside the project. Today the hotel presents it as Art Studio.
This is not simply a room with themed décor. It is a separate interior scenario that takes the guest backstage.
One wall is turned into a large collage of posters and graphics connected with ballet and the Russian Seasons. In front of it stands a dressing table with a large mirror surrounded by lamps.
Deep red drapes recall a theatre curtain. White doors with a distinctive glazing pattern, a metal bed, a drawing of a ballet costume and furniture designed for this project continue the story.
The space remains a proper hotel room, with separate areas for sleep and rest.
Here the Art HOTEL 4* concept shows itself most clearly: a person is not only looking at images connected with the theatre. They find themselves inside the backstage we invented.
07 Zone
Conference hall "russian seasons"
The project's overall idea continues in the hotel's business function.
The Russian Seasons conference hall, about 130 m², can be used for conferences, presentations, negotiations and events. The space holds around 60 guests in theatre seating.
It mattered to us that even the functional rooms should not fall out of the project's overall identity.
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