Quick Thought

(photo from http://www.the-connaught.co.uk)

BERNADINE BRÖCKER
The Connaught Hotel Bar
Despite the road work that is making Mount Street more and more unbearable to leisurely stroll past, one walks through the doorway and into the lobby of the Connaught Hotel and instantly the mood changes. Dominated by an incredible mahogany staircase leading up to the rooms, and flanked to the right by the more traditional Coburg Bar, a little secret hides to be discovered in the far corner. The Connaught Bar boasts of an incredible range of special cocktails, impressive wines, and hefty prices. The small tables make way for feeling rich and fabulous. But beyond the straightforward elements needed for a certain range of clientele, this bar also plays with the senses in a different way. Designer David Collins made this chic establishment a beautiful-looking series of nooks, sleek and modern in feel but sprinkled with the neoclassical hints of a more upscale conservative luxury.
The white ceiling is embellished with rolling plaster decorations one could find on a good piece of French Louis XVI furniture, and then framed with a simple dentil cornice, sans the usual Victorian excessive layers of frieze often employed on neoclassical ceilings. The tones of greys, the glass, and the gold of the walls breathe light into the space while the rounded edges frame each peek-through as in an early 20th century photograph.
And once the discerning eye discovers that Collins is playing with the minimally neoclassical, elements smile and say "Yes, me too." The garlands hanging from the ceiling lamps are made of steel links rather than flowers or acanthus leaves; the circular wall lamps are not quite centered on their wall frames; the ebony-like neoclassical furniture upholstered in a decadent black leather that would have never been seen in the 18th century, and wine glasses are cut with a hint of a garland decoration as well. Usually a combination of such materials and quirks could lead to a feeling of kitsch or nouveau-riche, but in this case, it harmonizes beautifully, drowning out any memory of busy London outside.