From Railway Retreats to Majestic Murals: Watts Around the World
George Gilbert Scott (GGS) - who trained Watts’ co-founders - firmly established himself as a global architect; across his thousand commissions, including five-hundred churches and thirty-nine cathedrals, he contributed to buildings in five out of the world’s seven continents.
After growing up watching his father, Revd Thomas Scott, design a new church and vicarage in his home village, Gawcott, it was not long before GGS moved away and launched his architecture career.
As he gained reverence, he was appointed for grand projects such as the design of London’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the rebuild of Hamburg’s St Nikolaikirche, and the design of the University of Bombay. Projects such as these only furthered his global prestige.
The St Pancras Hotel’s infamous staircase, photographed by Helen Simonsson; Our director, Marie-Séverine de Caraman Chimay and director of Watts & Co, Robert Hoare.
St Pancras Hotel
Nothing encapsulates a focus on global design more than hotels. Designed to create a home-away-from-home for guests from across the globe, hotels - arguably more than any other space - strive to embrace a plethora of intercontinental influences. Unique design narratives are created that intrigue, but also welcome and resonate with international guests.
GGS was a pioneer for today’s hotel scene. After winning a competition for the design of a hotel at the end of the new Midland Railway line, GGS had completed the Midland Grand Hotel by 1876, just two years after Watts had been established. In 2011 it was renamed the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, and remains today as one of London’s most sought after hotels.
Hotel Guide
As Watts has developed as a company, and passed through several generations, its commitment to creating global design narratives through hotel interiors has remained prominent. The following guide through a selection of our hotel projects provides an exclusive and inspiring tour of some of the world’s top luxury hotels, demonstrating a continuance of GGS’ legacy.
Source: The Ned
The Ned
We will start our journey just three miles south from St Pancras, at the highly reputable Ned hotel. The building was designed in 1924 by Sir Edwin ‘Ned’ Lutyens and once housed the head office of the Midland bank. Lutyens had close ties with Watts’ ascendants; the design and build of his Liverpool Catholic Cathedral was assisted by Adrian Gilbert Scott, whose brother Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was designing an Anglican Cathedral half a mile away. Both Scott’s were the grandsons of GGS.
Following the Scott family’s impressive legacy, Watts collaborated with Soho House & Co and Sydell Group to materialise their vision of a 1920s and 1930s aesthetic running through the hotel’s nine restaurants and 252 suites.
After stepping out of Bank’s bustling underground station, a walk through the hotel’s grand entrance and into one of their highly sought-after Large Rooms provides a luxuriously secluded escape. Headboards gracefully adorned with our Jackfruit design in a bespoke teal colourway align with the hotel’s theme of ‘1920’s glamour’; the design’s feathery leaves are reminiscent of the ostrich feather headbands of 1920s flapper girls. The yellow, gold tones and bold blues and greens encapsulate the colours that defined the audacious character of the 1920s. We worked closely with Soho House & Co and Sydell Group to create our Jackfruit design in these tailor-made tones.
Bespoke Jackfruit Teal Colourway - Source: The Ned
Alternatively, on the hotel’s Grade I listed fifth floor, you can find the hotel’s ‘heritage’ suites. In these rooms, characterised by their rich history, our Marmaduke Paisley in the vibrant Jaipur Red adds multi-layered narratives to the room’s original features, such as marble fireplaces and walls panelled in French-polished walnut. C.1880, the Marmaduke’s graceful design was originally discovered on a woolen drapery at Shropshire’s late-Victorian Stokesay Court. Blurring this history with the historical narratives presented by the space’s original features creates a timeless design. This ability to transcend time and space gives the space longevity; a concept more important than ever when designing hotel spaces.
Marmaduke Paisley in Jaipur Red - Source: The Ned
Source: Four Seasons
The Four Seasons
For the next leg of our journey, we will traverse across the Atlantic Ocean to Boston where, two years ago, Watts worked with Ken Fulk to assist his grand revival of the notable Four Seasons hotel.
Upon entering, you are instantaneously transported to a magical land of tangling verdure and tantalising pops of colour. Our sought-after Rose & Coronet wallpaper was key to Fulk’s vision of bringing the outside in; the hotel overlooks Boston’s public park, the US’ first botanical garden. Rose & Coronet’s delicate yet statement design alludes to the garden’s graceful aesthetic intertwined with sturdy historical roots. The wallpaper depicts a story to guests of the hotel’s location and history.
The design also carries a strong heritage in its own right. Like much of the Watts archive, it was influenced by Augustus Pugin; the 19th-century’s most respected architect and designer. Pugin, who designed the Rose & Coronet for the Houses of Parliament refurbishment post 1666’s Great Fire of London, was a huge source of inspiration for GGS. His admiration was to the extent that when he was commissioned to build Queen Victoria a memorial for her late husband, Prince Albert, GGS placed a statue of himself behind one of Pugin. Scott wrote that the memorial would depict those whose ‘arts and sciences’ the prince had ‘fostered’, and it is notable that he wanted to present himself as just behind Pugin. The pattern therefore integrates narratives of Watts’ British history into the hotel’s design.
The design also emulates timeless luxury, through its ability to cut across geographical and temporal contexts. Whilst previously used in the Houses of Parliament’s Royal Apartments, and in the childhood bedroom of Lord Byron - the infamous romantic poet - in Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire, the design integrates into Fulk’s design narrative in Boston just as efficiently as it did in the contrasting environments of parliament and a rural English home.
Hampstead Verdure Fabric Wallcovering - Source: Four Seasons
Moving into the hotel’s restaurant, Fulk utilised our Hampstead Verdure fabric as a wall covering. This instantaneously gives the space a luscious yet intimate atmosphere. The viridescent verdure again creates a flow of motion from the hotel's exteriors to its interiors, and again offers whisperings of transnational experiences, with the leaves taking inspiration from London’s fashionable heath.
Bargello Tiger Wood Upholstered Chairs - Source: Four Seasons
Finally, Fulk’s use of Bargello in the hotel lobby, in the vibrant Tiger Wood colourway, perhaps links to the inspiration he took from the neighbouring Beacon Hill and Back Bay districts. Both fashionable neighbourhoods, they both play a large role in influencing the scale of the city’s landscape; Beacon Hill was named due to its accommodation of an old beacon placed at the highest point in central Boston. Similarly, Back Bay houses Boston’s tallest skyscraper. Taking inspiration from these neighbourhoods therefore offers an exciting opportunity to play with scale, and the peaks and troughs signature to the bargello arguably mirror this idea of contrasting height. When this is acknowledged alongside the design heritage of our Bargello - a long-standing favourite, that recently reached international screens via Timothee Chalamet’s waistcoat in Paul King’s new Wonka film - it is evident how design can facilitate hotels acknowledging both the local and the international in the same breath.
Left: Valencia Riviera Blush Upholstery - Photographer: Robin Le Febvre
Right: Medici Elderflower Mauve - Photographer: Robin Le Febvre
Hotel Hana
Our next stop is closer to home: Paris. In February 2024, interior architect Laura Gonzalez collaborated with art director Olivier Leone to launch a new hotel in an old Parisian building. Hana, meaning ‘flower’ in Japanese, aims to bring nature’s serenity and an oasis of calm within the bustle of the city.
A focal point of their design is our fashionably flamboyant silk lampas; the Valencia, in Riviera Blush. Reminiscent of intricate, silky Japanese kimonos, the design’s statement blooms, in striking golds and pinks, creating an eye-capturing focal point. It creates a multi-layered, multi-national narrative; set against a Parisian view, it also rises to the hotel’s Japanese influences. The design also integrates a touch of Spanish history, given that it was originally created to attire an 1810 Spanish courtroom. Again, therefore, both the local and the international are embraced in the hotel’s design.
Gonzalez’s use of the Medici Loveheart Mint plays a similar role in the hotel’s design narrative. The graceful silk’s enchanting blooms are again evocative of Japanese kimonos, which are frequently inspired by nature’s beauty. Simultaneously, it harks back to Renaissance Italy, when the Medici family, highly notable and influential, played a large role in Florence’s art and architecture scene. The result is a mesmerisingly elusive feel that instantly envelopes the hotel’s guests.
Left: Jardin D'Usse Mural - Right: Wolterton Verdure Mural
Source: Watts 1874
The Ritz Madrid
Leaving behind Paris’ uniform architecture, a scenic journey through the Pyrenees mountain range takes us to our next destination: Madrid. Designed by Giles & Boissier, The Ritz Madrid reopened in 2021 after a three year long refurbishment.
Our Jardin d’Ussé and Wolterton Verdure murals form focal points throughout the elegant hotel. They bring a rich tranquillity to the space, adorning the ceilings of private meeting rooms and the walls of the spa’s entrance and waiting room. These designs, both inspired by 17th-century tapestries, offer an enduring sense of mesmerism.
The Jardin d’Ussé Tapestry, part of Château d’Ussé’s private collection, was woven in Oudenaarde, a Flemish town renowned for its tapestry weaving. The design captures the serene charm of one of the world’s most entrancing landmarks; a magnificent medieval French castle, overlooking the Indre and Loire rivers, and surrounded by gardens designed by France’s most fashionable landscape architect and the gardner of Verseilles, André le Nôtre. The château’s bewitching beauty is said to have inspired Charles Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty.
Similarly, the Wolterton Verdure Tapestry, inspired by Wolterton Hall’s private collection of Soho or Antwerp verdure tapestries, depicts the mythological love story of Venus and Adonis. The narrative, famously retold by William Shakespeare in his 1593 poem, captures the Goddess Venus’ attempts to seduce Adonis amidst lush foliage and a rich verdant landscape.
Embracing these enchanting histories again integrates global narratives into the hotel’s cohesive design scheme, creating a timeless luxury that feels personal, and like an elevated home-away-from-home.
Source: The Lana Dorchester
The Lana Dorchester, Dubai
Our journey concludes, for now, with one final stop. Designed by Gilles & Boissier, the Lana Dorchester hotel in Dubai beautifully demonstrates the design potential of our Aristoloche design.
Aristoloche's heritage brings intercontinental narratives into the hotel’s Middle Eastern design. Lifted from a quintessential Flemish 16th-century verdure tapestry, “Feuilles d’Aristoloche”, the design depicts acanthus and aristolochia (cabbage) leaves set against a lush woodland scene, adorned with birds, fruits, and flora. The intricate details and vibrant colours evoke the elegance of tapestry artwork from the Renaissance era. In our rich Gypsy Beaver Brown colourway, the design adds contrast to the bold monochromatic design of the hotel’s extravagant suites. It’s bold yet intricate, and creates a broad design narrative.
The Future of Watts
As our journey comes to an end, questions are raised of where Watts’ vast archive will be taken next. Exciting future projects and collaborations are in the works, as we ensure to follow in GGS’ footsteps of being a transnational company, committed to creating comfortable elegance that holds appeal throughout the world.
As the Watts legacy continues, it has, since its conception, split into Watts & Co’s design house and Watts 1874 as an editor of fabrics, wallpaper and passementerie. If you are looking to bring a depth of global and historical heritage to contemporary interior design, our collection is available to explore online here, and via drop-in or private consultation at our London showroom at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, London.
Written by Molly Wraith