color theory: a striking scene at hotel bachaumont

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text by Sarah Coffey

Designed by Dorothée Meilichzon, Hotel Bachaumont is a colorful blend of eras and styles (think: 1920 meets 2020).

“Marble is a great material to play with. It cools off wood and brass.”—Dorothée Meilichzon 

A rich palette of blues, brass, and marble mingle with plush upholstery in the bathrooms, guest rooms, and bar at Hotel Bachaumont in Paris. The bar and restaurant are operated by the teams behind Frenchie and The Experimental Cocktail Club.

“The Challenge with hotels is creating a palette that needs to last for seven to 10 years,” explains Dorothée Meilichzon of her near-cosmic design blending past, present, and future. Meilichzon—lauded by several publications as France’s designer du jour—approached Hotel Bachaumont in Paris’s Second Arrondissement by complementing the building’s striking Art Deco structure with modern interiors that have staying power.

The unique color scheme looks like it could have been pulled from one of her favorite films, Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon—and, like the movie, Bachaumont is classic but innovative, timeless yet atypical. “I thought long-term,” says Meilichzon, “with blues, dark green, and yellow for the rooms. In the lobby, I used brownish reds and dark blue, as well as a palette of whites to add brightness.”

Also mixing old and new, the surfaces—like white Cararra and Nero Marquina marble, walnut and oak, brass and steel—create a layered, time-traveling effect. And it’s those details that make the design so memorable. “A hotel needs to be more than just a bed and a geographical position,” says Meilichzon. “It needs to be an experience, a living place that brings people together.”

Meilichzon designed almost everything herself and sourced as much as possible from the neighborhood, including fabrics from Paris institution Pierre Frey, which is three blocks away on the Rue du Mail. The antiques are from the well-known Marché Paul Bert Serpette.