Anatomy of a Room - David Collin's Massimo Restaurant London

In this episode of Anatomy of a room we look at a commercial space in London called Massimo's in the Corinthia Hotel. 

This space was design by the famed David Collins, who died in 2013 of cancer. He was an architect know for his brilliant designs. 

To me restaurants are all about the experience of the atmosphere and the food. What makes this design so brilliant? 

1. scale

The height of the ceiling and the oversized lanterns give that sense of drama to the room

2. The attention to detail

Beautifully crafted custom mosaics on the walls and floor Notice how they are juxtaposed to the classical moldings on the walls

3. Reference to the past

David was clearly inspired by Italian interior with the striped columns reminiscent of the Sienna Cathedral but also the touch of Art Deco seen in the clock wall and the use of brass. The mix of different styles is subtle but still budding with creativity.

Love the barstool triangular shaped backs! 

4. Custom Touches

The light fixtures and the booth designs with the brass detail repeated through is lovely. 

5. Sense of Textures

The shiny brass, black wood walls, tile, gloss striped columns,  soft leather and the zinc bar. I love the mixture! 

That fixture is to die for

Who every said you can't mix metals? This bar was killer! 

The curved detail on the banquette. 

Not to mention the beautiful tiled ceiling. It was a glamorous and handsome at the same time. 

This was another of our stops in my tour through Europe. Wait until we get to Italy!!

Hello L.A.!

On the way back from Maui, we made a stop in L.A. for 4 days. I needed to check out the Design Center or the Blue Whale for furniture for the Mexico job. I love to stay in fun hotels. They are a great way to find inspiration from the top designers. For this trip we chose the London West Hollywood. Designed by David Collins of London and the restaurant is owned by Gordon Ramsey, world renown chef. He also has his own show - Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen.

This is one of the hallways to the restaurant. You may recognize it from an Usher video.



I was surprised at how dog friendly L.A. is. The hotel guests included many of our canine friends from pugs to a mastiff! I guess that is what all the bulldog door stops were about.

Roof top Terrace and pool.



This was our bathroom in the room: Waterworks fixtures, Carerra marble and tile. The mosaic was a little hard on the feet. The curved shower walls were cool.





The tub was huge! I could lie down head to toe -like a coffin!



This was our suite: Maya Romanoff wood wallpaper on one wall, modular sofa, lime green lacquer cabients, velvet mixed with vinyl or faux leather.





The bed was comfy but not as much as the Viceroy bed by Kelly Wearstler.









This is the main dining room. Mixing pink embossed vinyl and chocolate velvet. Check out the gold shutters. Chinoserie type wallpaper with gold threads. Mixing powder blue with pink, chocolate and gold.



Plaster work ceiling:


This is the wallpaper with the gold threads around the monkeys.






Parquet floors in a white wash over a stain.



Curved sofas facing right and then left.



Powder room in white and chrome.



Bar: Calcutta Gold bar. Gold shutters again. Funky hanging lights.



thick top with blood grooves:


Private dining area. The food was great too!