Award Winning Design for a Truly Iconic Hotel

Ken Hickson chats with Marguerite Casey about her travelling design role for FBEYE International and an award-winning Singapore hotel project.

TThe Intercontinental Hotel, a prominent feature of Singapore’s Bugis Junction, was inspired by Peranakan history, unique to Singapore with its ornate art and ceramics. The design company, FBEYE International transformed this grand hotel over a seven-year period, where everything from the locally inspired eye-catching art installations to the custom furniture was designed specifically to cater to the needs of the refined business traveller, whilst paying homage to the Peranakan history of the property.

DESIGNED WITH AN EYE FOR TRAVEL

The work was enough to win two big Awards for Hotel Interiors in the 202021 Asia Pacific Property Awards.the scope of work included refurbishing 381 guestrooms and suites, the grand lobby lounge, concierge lounge, three food and beverage offerings, the pool and health club, and the executive lounge. The award-winning work by FBEYE, led by Managing Director Warren Fosterbrown and Design Director Marguerite Casey, obviously won over the hotel management, as well as outside judges.

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

Here’s what the hotel management had to say: “The elegant and distinctive designs perfectly compliment the hotel’s existing heritage architecture and Peranakan style…delivering a result that far exceeded our expectations.” After meeting with Warren and Marguerite in the plush hotel lobby and touring its redesigned features, I sit down with Marguerite, one of the founding team members of FBEYE, to find out more about her work with the Singaporeheadquartered interior architecture firm. As it specialises in hotel and resort design around the world, to oversee its international projects Marguerite has had to be a frequent flyer – until 2020 arrived. After living in Ireland, England, Hong Kong and Malaysia, she now calls Singapore home.

2020 TRAVEL HIATUS

There’s been absolutely no travel for Marguerite in 2020. “The last time

we travelled overseas was to Perth in December 2019 for a family holiday, for post-christmas and New Year celebrations. For work related travel, it would have been Sri Lanka - end 2019 - as we have two projects there under construction, an Intercontinental Hotel and an Amari Hotel.” Marguerite misses the flying. “Flying itself is always enjoyable,” she says, “but with this virus situation we find ourselves in, it shows we do not need to fly to the job site quite as much. We do need to go to sites though, when there is some real progress to review. But I really don’t miss those middle of the night flying times and early morning arrivals.”

CATERING TO THE ICONIC

Catering to the iconic, 5-star hotels and resorts, celebrity restaurants and feedship yachts, FBEYE integrates each property’s location with the history, sights and sounds of its location, making sure no detail is overlooked. After intensive research designs are uniquely tailored to each project. Marguerite states: “We do tailored design and bespoke products that range from furniture, lighting, rugs and accessories to full residential designs. Our projects span Asia, Europe and the United States. “The entire team,” she continues “creates residences of distinction; be it contemporary design, colonial luxury, beach chic or an urban oasis. We design and execute what the imagination can only conjure up, providing guidance through every stage of the design process.”

TRAVELLING TO WORK

Undoubtedly Marguerite’s own travel experiences have an impact on the work she does, and she has had a number of memorable moments. “We did the guestrooms for the W Hotel, Maldives, a couple of years ago,” she relates. “Flying in over the atolls in a sea plane (the only way to get to the hotel) was breathtaking. A once in a lifetime view. “Pre economic downturn in 2008, Dubai was an exciting place to include in our project portfolio. Great fun and lavish budgets. We worked on what would have been the first hotel to open on the Palm, but alas only got as far as the mockup suite before the crash.”

WHAT A PRIVILEGE

The Victoria Jungfrau Hotel in Interlaken, Switzerland is one of the most beautiful iconic hotels in Switzerland. What a treat it was to redesign one of the restaurants. The stunning details of the building alone, with a huge history behind it, contributed to making it a special undertaking. What a privilege!” Marguerite is looking forward to travelling once again. “I would love to check on our projects, particularly our Hilton in Dili as it’s not an easy place to get to and will take some time to organise. Would also love a trip home to see the family in Ireland as it’s been two years since I was last there.”