-Etoile Bistro at the Most Trendy & Luxurious Hotel Design _5 Star EQ Hotel Tour.

The vantage of Kuala Lumpur's city skyline is one of the most prominent reasons to visit Malaysia. Presenting the Sky 51, Kuala Lumpur's newest rooftop dining destination in the trendiest luxury hotel, EQ Kuala Lumpur. As we embark on Sky 51, the element of surprise would be the lift lobby. The main intention of the lobby is to create a luminous horizon with the backdrop of the city skyline. The space is built to create the feel of flying like a bird. My name is Alex Lee and I am from Design Seeds. Today's episode, we will be featuring an enticing episode of an award-winning hotel nestled in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. As you arrive at the hotel driveway, meaningful statues are organised at conspicuous spots that inspire the beginning of a purposeful story. The entrance lobby is a wonderful volume atrium. Attention captured by the captivating presence of the lantern tower side by side with the iconic EQ spiral staircase. This is not a hotel review, but an opportunity for you to learn the story behind the design language of the prominent symbol that changed the streetscape along Jalan Sultan Ismail. The brief from our client is to design an upscale modern luxury hotel. The 440 guest suites, all luxuriously designed with a strong sense of local identity. The narrative of the design is timeless heritage chic. We took inspiration from three major races and we took three elements out of these races. For example, Songkhet, the Chinese silk and the Indian henna print. The traditional elements were implied into the hotel with a modernised twist as a respect to the heritage. Respect the past, connect the future. I'm Blay Sew Hong of Blue Water Studio. Itual is a bistro style all-day dining venue. This project located on the lower ground of the EQ hotel building on the street facing corner of Jalan Perak. Inspired by the high street. Because you see this street here is close to Pavilion. So they create outdoor alfresco so people can see something happening outside here. Design of this bridge station is more like a pop-up store. Right in front of the main entrance, it attracts a crowd to come into the space. So the major challenge here is the column. We create a station around it. We put all the stations under the lower ceiling height. And the main dining at the high volume. So another interesting element is this graphic. It's about Kuala Lumpur. You can see there is an EQ KL in a red highlight. Itual was designed like a marketplace. It's a very approachable social space where engage the customer. We have multiple stations. For example, the coffee and the cake station, the juice stations. With a long stretch of vertical fridges for all food display. For example, cold cuts that leads you all the way to the end. Where we have multiple choices of craft beers. At the far end of Itual, we have anchored a very interesting bar. Which was designed in a very residential approach. The bar was designed to be very cozy. Which allowed the guests to mingle and entertain casually. We wanted to echo the concept of preserving heritage. Where we collaborated with street artist Kenji Chai. Upcycling the plates from the previous restaurant. We enjoy collaborating with creative minds to give different possibilities. The two major feature at the lobby. Which is the spiral staircase and the tower lantern. Actually the staircase if you go up right. Staircase usually is built like that right. This staircase is a metal plate was built this way. And this is the glass that wraps around. That was a whole structure. It's almost like playing with origami. As you fold the paper, it's actually a foam structure itself. So the main feature is the triangulate staircase. Which was built with a very interesting metal structure. So we have this tower lantern. The motif here inspired from the Songkit. We also want to make it less rigid. So that's why we have these lines here. And then we have two layers of printed motif. One on this clear glass and then another one is the mirror. Normal hotels as you enter you directly see a reception. But for this hotel the reception is at the back. Because we want to create more intimate check-in experience. From the outside it's more like a house. But as you come in, it's more like a living room. Where they have a lounge corner. And then next to it there's a cabinet or we call it an armory. The backdrop, there's two types of technique. We have a printed on the fabric. And then a layer of embroidery on top of it. Each space is designed to engage people from the moment they arrive. We want our work to tell a compelling story. And take the guests on a motive journey. With a beautiful narrative that allows the audience to escape everyday life. And walk away with a deeply personal and memorable experience. Heritage elements peppering across the interior. They really start to celebrate the idea of the local identity of diverse Malaysia. When you look across the flooring at the lobby. You start to see how the design continues. A thin divider that flows across the space and eventually meeting. A lovely interplay of exquisite design elements. Merged with strong play of geometry. Blue Water truly explored and reimagined a new way to translate heritage into a space. Refashioning cultural motives to embody a vivid sense of discovery within the hotel. Giving an international hotel's identity a twist of Malaysia's local identity. The inspiration is from the rainforest. So we borrow a nature element into our design. So it's where you can see the organic shape for the counter and also for the loose furniture. To create an immersive feeling where you really walk under the canopy of trees. So it also prepares the mood for the guests before they enter into the treatment rooms. And continue with their treatment. So we do this as a preparation. Along the corridor there's a lot of green moss. Yes, we want to bring the nature. So we put plants to relate back to the concept. So we want people to feel like walking under the canopy of the trees. More relaxed, calm. The AHA suite was designed for celebration. The main feature of this island counter was designed for people to connect. Being with groups, family or even a couple. The whole space was designed seamlessly. That connects the living room, the coffee bar, the bedroom, the balcony and the bathroom. Another feature for this room is this screen. Made from stainless steel rose gold. We continue the story of metallic highlights. So we use the rose gold as the feature screen on this room. So this screen is also inspired from the basket. So you can see the basket leaf. So if you notice the public area also we have this herringbone vineyard. So basically throughout the hotel we're using the same. Another thing is this, you know, you see this motif. So it's on this and also on the TV console. Yeah, they repeated it. So this is the AHA moment. Wow. Yes, exactly. And it's outside the timber decking. It's a mixture of being out to mix, blend with nature. Yes. I think that's definitely AHA. The 250 meter high rooftop is built with infinity mirrors and fiber optic lights to create that infinite feel. As you turn left to the speed easy bar, a conspicuous entry point elevates the experience of your arrival. The interior of Sembawang was to mimic the experience of your dining in the sky. As though the birds are flying through the clouds. The EQ Hotel is not just for stay. People come here to connect. People come to party. People come to unwind. People come to dine. It is an experience of a destination that celebrates the beauty of harmonious Malaysia. A space that can be used from day to night, night to day. A space that one could appreciate. Could be part of your room, part of your action, or part of the interior or the architecture. This episode is a collaboration with Malaysian Institute of Interior Designers, also known as MIID. Led by influential interior designers all over Malaysia, the vision of the institute is to develop a sophisticated society of designers who are conversant and appreciative of the interior design scene. If you're an interior designer practicing in Malaysia and have not enrolled yourself as a member yet, click on the description link below to find out more about being part of this aspiring community. My name is Alex Lee and I am from Design Seeds. A reminder again, if you enjoyed today's episode and have not subscribed to us yet, do it now and click on that notification buzzer to stay in the loop of more compelling episodes. Thank you for watching. I'll see you guys next week.