Posted: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 5:11 pm

RTR Design divulges their design knowledge for creating captivating hotel interiors.

RTR were recently tasked with the renovation of an 18th Century country house in the village of Hurworth, near Darlington. Rockcliffe Hall is a luxury hotel, golf and spa resort boasting a beautiful space from which RTR could build on. The former glory of the site has now been brought back up to date with some key luxurious and contemporary touches, whilst remaining sympathetic to the original buildings. Additional space has been created with an extension and the resort now sprawls across the grounds, bringing Rockliffe Hall back to life.

RTR’s aim throughout the design of Rockliffe Hall was to acknowledge the design and architectural features of the old hall and to blend them through into the extension, giving the whole site a timeless elegance, which blends seamlessly from old to new. The Old Hall needed to exude the ambience of a Victorian home, to be elegant but with comfort, not too austere and to be welcoming. There also needed to be flexibility of design to allow the operators to use the various public areas for a variety of functions. The main aim with the new wing was to create a seamless link with the Old Hall whilst creating a fresh and more modern approach to the surroundings. The bedrooms needed to be both spacious and inviting, providing all the facilities and comforts that a guest might require and the public areas needed to convey a welcoming and opulent ambience with the highest quality finishes and furnishings.  The hotel needed to be comparable in quality and design with other high end establishments both in the UK and further afield.

Since starting work on the £50 million Rockliffe Hall project in April 2005, RTR has produced over 3,500 technical drawings, ensuring that every aspect of the design was incorporated into the plans and that the client was happy with every concept.

The Clubhouse was a challenge because it had to meet the exacting criteria set out by the client. The ensuing design concept utilises complimentary earthy tones in order to blend with exterior landscape, which through the use of floor to ceiling panoramic windows, is a very important aspect of the design. A touch of low key glamour was added by using glass chandeliers in the lounge and function area and dark timber was used for the bar fitting and doors to achieve an elegant, timeless look.

The majority of bedrooms at Rockliffe Hall are located in the new wing of the hotel and are all south facing, which gives breathtaking views over the lawns and championship golf course. The architecture of the new wing allowed RTR to create generously sized bedrooms, averaging around 40sq metres, each with a separate WC, bathroom and dressing area. 

On the ground floor of the spa there is a large, fully equipped gym, a high tech Kinesis studio as well as a dance studio. There are also spacious male and female changing rooms as well as a 20 x 8 metre swimming pool, a 10metre hydrotherapy pool and six heat experience rooms; including a tropicarium, caldarium steam room and an invigorating ice room.

The swimming pool area itself is a wonderful area, complete with floor to ceiling windows and colour change light fittings. It is also home to the most magnificent ‘dalle de verre’ windows which were salvaged from a chapel which used to stand on the site.  Thanks to painstaking renovation they now grace the east wall of the pool area and filter light from outside, casting jewel like colours across the walls and iridescent pearl tiles of the pool. At night these are lit from outside creating an ethereal atmosphere within the pool.

The first floor houses the treatments rooms, Sleep Retreat, Rasul, Salt inhalation room, all of which are reached through a dramatic corridor set off from the first floor lobby. Guests enter from a bright, fresh aqua and pale gold foyer through double doors into a sumptuous and dramatically lit red area with black and gold columns lining the cruciform shaped corridors.

The Spa Bistro is also located on this level and comes complete with breathtaking views over the golf course. The scheme is bright and refreshing in creams, chocolates and olive green, with accents of bright orange and lime picked up in the upholstery.  At the entrance soft lounge-seating draw in guests for light snacks and drinks whilst more formal, cafe style furniture is situated further into the space. 

The Banqueting Suite
The Rockliffe Suite was designed to be multi-functional, catering for both conferences and weddings. With the obvious beauty of the Old Hall, Rockliffe Hall is fast becoming a very sought after wedding venue. Whilst the Old Hall can accommodate for more intimate weddings it was crucial that the banqueting suite should offer the same level of opulence and understated elegance.

The resulting interior is light and inviting, with a pale silver and ivory palette in the main room, blended with a bronze finished woven pewter fabric for the upholstered chairs and specially designed carpet based on a traditional wallpaper motif. The overall effect is one of quiet grandeur and elegance, ideal for any bride to overlay her colour scheme on and still providing an appropriate setting for conference and business seminars.

In contrast, the entrance lobby and first floor bar adjoining the Rockliffe Suite are dark and rich in design. The walls are panelled with black and gold and the curtains are a rich gold woven fabric. The furniture consists of comfortable oversized lounge chairs in a contemporary tapestry fabric as well as high stools and tables. Black glass chandeliers and damson glass pendants over the bar complete the look.

Old Hall renovation
Everything within the Old Hall was designed to have an understated and timeless elegance. It was essential that fashions fads did not dictate the design concept in this area, as it would have been inappropriate, a much more sympathetic approach was needed.

Very careful attention was paid to every area, taking into consideration its original use and the existing architecture and detailing.  The design was built up very carefully around these existing details so that each enhanced the other rather than being at odds.  The Old Hall entrance has the feeling of time standing still, subtle, striped wallpaper, rich oak parquet flooring and central rugs with a busy leaf design indicative of the heavy designs favoured by the Victorians, in subtle neutral shades.

The Orangery, which will soon be home to Michelin starred chef Kenny Atkinson, was a challenge due to the height and openness of the area. The original plan was to leave the external brickwork of the back wall exposed and to just clean it up, as it had been painted in the past.  However on cleaning a test patch it was found that the clean would not be sufficient to leave the bricks in a suitable state and the decision was made to box out the wall, so not damaging the existing brickwork or the feature columns. By taking inspiration from the stone window surrounds of the hall we then rendered it with Armourcoat in a stone effect finish.

The strongest design feature within the Orangery is the carpet with an intense free-flowing vine pattern in the centre, tendrilling out around the feature columns towards the edges of the room and bleeding through into the Private Dining Room, The Campernella, where the design again broadens to a central motif.  The botanical theme was in keeping with the original use of the room and is evident throughout the rest of the hotel, as testament to Alfred Backhouse.

Rich but plain fabrics were intentionally used to accentuate the existing details of the columns and roof framework. In this room it was felt that the exquisite food to be served here should not be overshadowed by the interior design, rather that the interior should pay complement to the food. 

Each of the Old Hall bedrooms were designed individually to create a series of unique bedrooms within the existing hall. Design concepts include a black, white and red scheme in one suite, where a contemporary use of colour and traditional style of furniture and fabric designs prove that modern and traditional can be perfectly blended with a little care and attention to detail. Another room incorporates a very subtle white theme. Various shades of whites, silvers, platinums and ivories have been blended together to produce a beautifully elegant bedroom. One wall has been detailed with a mother of pearl panel, adding a little quirkiness to the overall theme.