The ballroom of Surrey’s four-star The Richmond Hill Hotel is now adorned with a stunning bespoke carpet from Wilton Carpets Commercial reflecting the Georgian interior architecture of the building. Dating back to the 1700s, the 149-room The Richmond Hill Hotel is steeped in history and its interior still retains much of the Georgian detailing that gives the hotel its charming ambience. The main ballroom is typical of the period, with elaborate ceiling mouldings that have been reflected in the beautiful custom woven axminster carpet beneath.
Working from a design brief to be inspired by the architecture of the building and to include borders and panels, Wilton’s design manager Julie Robertson has created an outstanding design that saw Wilton Carpets Commercial win the tender. To gain a true understanding of the scale and ambience Julie Robertson visited The Richmond Hill Hotel before creating her design working with a complementary palette to the furnishings
“We came up with a basic plan for the carpet, but we really wanted the expertise of the carpet designer to shine through and so we invited two manufacturers to create a design as part of the tender process,” says Jo Parker of interior design and architecture practice, Parker Liddell. “Julie Robertson really excelled herself and her design was the best by quite some margin. Julie is an exceptional designer with a keen eye for detail and creativity.”
The 440 square metres of carpet includes classical Georgian motifs and elegant damask scrolls framed in a multi-tonal stripe to create decorative panels reflecting the ceiling mouldings above. The surrounding mottled design adds depth and a sense of texture, while helping the carpet to minimise tell tale spills and dirt during a busy function. Using the specified colour combination of on-trend grey and a sunflower yellow, the carpet successfully achieves a balance between remaining true to the hotel’s heritage while providing a modern and uplifting feel.
“We have worked with Julie Robertson before on projects such as London’s Carlton Club and once again, despite the wider brief on this occasion, she has managed to perfectly capture our ambitions for the ballroom and we are absolutely delighted with the end result,” concludes Jo Parker.
The woven bespoke nine-row axminster in a durable and appearance retaining 80% wool 20% nylon mix, was installed by Welwyn Design Leisure, one of the UK’s largest flooring contractors, and was manufactured at Wilton Carpets Commercial’s Wiltshire production site.
