Making a local connection
This hotel lounge moves away from a generic look by offering traditional touches in its design for a Malaysian feel.
ASERENE scene welcomes guests before they enter InterContinental KL’s executive lounge on the 26th floor. Gently swimming in a wall aquarium at the entrance are delicate jellyfish, their purplish translucent bodies and tentacles exuding a sense of calm.
This is just one of the new features of the Club InterContinental lounge, which was redesigned by Thailand-based (and quirkily spelt) interior design company P49 Deesign.
With a doubled seating capacity of 100 guests, the new lounge, which reopened in December, now includes a new mezzanine floor that offers a meeting space, a quiet library corner, and an outside terrace with views of the city of Kuala Lumpur.
“The general design concept of InterContinental is more of a contemporary residential feel. We were not going for an opulent or showy style, but rather wanted to create a comfortable, homey environment,” says the hotel’s general manager, Hafidh Al-Busaidy, when we meet in the lounge.
Featuring 5.5m floor to ceiling glass windows, the lounge has a neutral colour palette. It is furnished with modern contemporary furniture, white-grey marble counter tops, and live-edge hardwood tables for that au naturel feel.
However, what gives the lounge its character is how it marries local cultural elements with chic modernity, offering guests a glimpse into Malaysia’s rich cultural heritage.
This was conceptualised and carried out by designer and artist Florence Lambert Lee, director of Gadis Manis Malaysia, a fashion and
lambert’s portraits of three women representing the main racial groups in Malaysia at Club interContinental Kl lounge. photo: interContinental Kl
accessories brand.
Of French descent, Lambert has been living in Malaysia for 21 years.
“I love the Malaysian chic idea. With the lounge, I wanted to tell the story of Malaysia in a contemporary way.
“The hotel’s executive lounge is an entertainment and working lounge, so it had to be contemporary to match the rest of the hotel, yet reflect the heritage and culture of the city,” says Lambert, 44, when we meet for an interview.
Hanging on the wall to the right of the lounge entrance are three eye-catching portraits of women – called the TerimaKasih works – representing the three main racial groups in Malaysia. Measuring 1m by 1m each, the acrylic, hand-painted artworks are clearly one of the highlights of the lounge.
“InterContinental puts an emphasis on offering guests insights into the city, its culture, food, arts, and entertainment, as well as business.
“Florence presents Malaysia in a way that is very easy to understand from an outsider’s point of view. The portraits portraying the different ethnic groups of the country are very clear and need very little explanation for people to realise the multi-ethnic nature of the country,” says Hafidh.
As we proceed to the mezzanine floor, four different-sized traditional kites, or wau, made out of copper line the walls along the staircase leading up, arranged as if they are flying.
Incorporating intricate designs, the kites were hand-drawn by Lambert before being converted into a digital format and then water-jet-cut. The biggest piece measures 1.2m by 1.5m.
“The kites are also something familiar that people from all the different cultures in Malaysia can relate to,” adds Hafidh.
On the mezzanine floor is an area that serves as a private meeting room for club guests. Here, Lambert referenced the traditional art of wayang kulit (shadow puppetry) and designed characters and a setting using laser-cut brass, embellished with grey paint.
“I wanted to create a story with the puppets, representing a prince and princess who left their palaces in the middle of the night to meet secretly, as theirs was a forbidden love. However, they were found out and chased after by palace guards,” she explains, pointing to the characters.
Over by the wall near the wine room is a framed piece of pua kumbu, a traditional ceremonial cloth woven by the Ibans in Sarawak.
“What I really like about the pua kumbu is how natural and ancient the whole process of making the fabric is, from creating the dye from tree roots and dying the yarns to creating the intricate yet contemporary and timeless patterns. It is such a tedious, time-consuming process and it is a dying art, unfortunately,” Lambert says.
Arranged on two open shelves in the lounge are also various kinds of olden day tea pots and vases, tiffin carriers, and pewter decorative items, further lending a local touch to the lounge.
“People travel a lot around the world now. A lot of club lounges can look the same if we are not careful. People crave something more local and authentic these days, and having Florence work with us is a part of (meeting) that (expectation).
“Although she is not Malaysian, she has been here for many years and has a unique perspective on the country. And we need to bring a sense of place to the hotel, and to connect with people as we interact with them,” says Hafidh.