Club Colours at Carlyle & Co.
New Hong Kong members’ club Carlyle & Co. is named after and inspired by its iconic New York namesake The Carlyle, but its sprawling interiors are a wonderland of colour and pattern courtesy of Ilse Crawford
Think of a colour, any colour, and chances are, you will find it at Carlyle & Co., the glamorous, whimsical new private members’ club that crowns the Victoria Dockside development on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. Designed by Ilse Crawford of London’s Studioilse, every surface, from walls to ceiling and furniture to artwork, is a confection of candy and jewel hues, patterns and anything but white.
Crawford describes it as ‘designed chaos’, unlike anything the city has seen before. While most clubs are defined by status, profession or activity, Carlyle & Co. is grand yet intimate, created for an international, eclectic mix of members with that elusive X factor, ‘a convivial community that is modern, progressive and with nothing to prove,’ as Crawford describes.
Inspired by The Carlyle in New York, Crawford channels the essence of the iconic hotel, rather than simply replicating its namesake. ‘Carlyle & Co. is a distant relation of the original — after all there is a century and several continents in between,’ she says, ‘but there are some common threads that pick up on the genius of the original, where comfort, playfulness and charm define the feeling more than the traditional tropes of luxury.’
The club is spread across almost two-and-a-half thousand square metres on the upper three floors of the Rosewood Hong Kong (the club is founded by the hospitality group’s CEO, Sonia Cheng). Though members still access the club via the hotel, the two are completely separate.
At the 55th-floor reception, an abstract mural by Australian-born, New York-based artist Christina Zimpel captivates, with daubs of deep red, acid pink, rust brown and emerald green.
From the reception, members get a tantalising glimpse of an enchanted world beyond the open doorways, with a clear line of vision through the individually designed rooms.
Guests are free to move from room to room, be it the barber, tailor, library, bar, brasserie or vast terrace with panoramic harbour, skyline and mountain views. In the lounge and reading room, Crawford unleashes bolts of colour and texture among the mix of mid-century and modern furniture: sky-blue Zanotta armchairs inspired by Carlo Mollino, Massproductions easy chairs in a shade of Keen’s Mustard; handmade seats by Soane Britain covered in turquoise leather, and a Christina Zimpel mural screen.
Up a level, via a sleek burgundy marble staircase, is Hong Kong’s own Café Carlyle, the club’s star attraction. It’s a tribute to, though no carbon copy of, the revered New York supper club. Crimson velvet drapes and chairs smoulder in the darkened room, but it’s the murals by French painter Jean-Philippe Delhomme that steal the show. Taking cues from the magnificent murals in Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle, Delhomme’s playful scenes are a homage to the hotel, and to Manhattan.
On the same floor is a fully soundproofed music room and a series of versatile spaces that can be booked for events. Among these, the small dining room stands out, with its startling pink hand-printed wallpaper by American company Porter Teleo.
On a separate floor are eight uniquely designed suites, each named after one of The Carlyle’s defining personalities. Like the rest of the club, there is never a dull corner, with even the bedlinen customised for each room. And just as it is for the rest of the club, the designed chaos of colour and pattern never overwhelms, but adds to Crawford’s design narrative, one that ensures ‘that magic can happen anywhere, at any time of the day or night.’
Text / Kee Foong
Images / Courtesy of Carlyle & Co.
