Attention-grabbing design execution at Okada Manila
Global hospitality design company Hirsch Bedner Associates’ (HBA) Manila Design Office has delivered on its task to blend in its design with the grandiose, whimsical, largerthan-life, and mostly pinkthemed vast space in luxury hotel Okada Manila.
Its first two projects - the now-open La Piazza and the main ballroom, the Grand Salon – both stand apart but still conform to the overall theme of the hotel.
“As we have done always with our projects around the world, we worked with the Okada Manila team to develop and execute designs that fully incorporate and respect the unique visions they have, and use our expertise to deliver world-class spaces today’s travellers and urban dwellers expect, and perhaps even awe them while we’re at it,” said Norman Agleron, principal of HBA Manila.
La Piazza, the hotel’s Italian restaurant, transports diners to Italy as soon as they walk from the carnival-themed pavilion through its doors. Unmistakable details identified with Florence, Milan and Venice abound, a signature true-toconcept stamp of the design group’s work.
Grabbing one’s attention upon entry are the domed ceilings, reminiscent of the country’s iconic cathedrals. The HBA team designed these double-vaulted ceilings, and added emphasis by using visually-compelling exposed ribs in some spaces, which help emphasize height and distinguish each of the separate areas inside.
“The style we chose is modern, especially in terms of functionality of space, but we made sure to incorporate period and Mediterranean elements,” Agleron said.
With The Grand Salon, the HBA team showed the full potential of color and pattern in the context of Okada Manila’s running theme. A variety of visual images surround the entire 1,955.70-sqm ballroom, whether used entirely, or a third of the space at a time. Although each a stunning feature, all of them work together in a single space, just like fashion’s tricky print on print play.
The main walls carry huge backlit Onyx stones, while the rest of the walls and partitions have a repetitive graphic design in varying hues of pink, which was inspired by the Filipiñana terno and echo the Onyx’s more organic lines.
“To make the space uniquely Filipino, we used the national flower, the waling-waling, as a pattern inspiration for the ceiling’s pixel matting feature,” Agleron said.
He said HBA expertly made the patterns and colors work together in a way that a blank or subdued canvass is used in most ballrooms.