Budding Star: Homes and Interiors Scotland

7.07.06

The latest addition to Montpelier’s collection of swish Edinburgh venues is the group’s biggest and arguably smartest yet.

Fiona Armstrong visits Tigerlily, the new hotel that’s taken root on George Street, ready to bloom for festival time.

With hotspots vying for attention the length of its Gucci heel-worn pavements, does George Street really need another plush venue in which to quaff champagne and discuss the depravity of those responsibly for the city’s traffic system? The Montpelier group seems to think so—and one look at the latest addition to its already impressive portfolio will convince you the company is right.

At the western end of George Street, Tigerlily is planted behind the elegant façade of a Georgian townhouse. Having lain empty for a year since, the handsome building was ready for a bright new future when the Montpelier group stepped in 18 months ago. Clearly the group’s recipe for a successful Edinburgh venue—borne out by bars and restaurants such as Rick’s, Indigo Yard and Opal Lounge—couldn’t simply be reworked here. The scale of the project—encompassing a hotel with two bars, restaurant, 33 boutique bedrooms and (later this year) a basement club—was far, far bigger. The townhouse covers five floors, and there is a 1980s-built extension added on to house number-crunching office workers.

So when it came to renovating the building, one of the first decisions was to call on the expertise of an already winning ingredient on the Montpelier formula: Glasgow-based design agency Graven Images. “The aim was to create a glamorous space that was nevertheless accessible to a range of people”, says Graven Images designer, Jim Hamilton.

Glamour was to some extent already in place. This old building is a natural beauty, the entrance opening to the ‘Georgian bar’ boasting elegant height, natural light and glorious plasterwork. Designers have embellished this classic template with feisty contemporary features, combining the elegance and spirit of the Tigerlily bloom. A white bar occupies most of the floor space. A wall covered in mirror ball mosaics and windows draped in vibrant pink give guests the impression that this place knows how to have fun.

“We wanted people to feel comfortable just nipping in for a drink”, says Jim.

From the Georgian bar, a wide aperture leads to a fireside gathering, chairs lavishly upholstered in Designers Guild fabric, the scene wrapped in Cole and Son’s elegantly printed wallpaper. The fireplace is built in front of a retained original and glowingly welcomes the guests inward and onwards. And what is perhaps Edinburgh’s least intimating reception—solid stone and embellished by the creativity of city florist Stems—is tucked into the space rather than forcing itself upon guests. The lowered volume of the 1980s building is all about flexibility—you can eat, drink and relax wherever you’re comfortable.

Separate pools of intimate seating have individual identities yet remain interconnected, slatted timber screens revealing to and concealing from your fellow guests. The ‘west courtyard’, opposite the reception and beneath a wide glazed ribbon, adopts the mood of a colonial conservatory replete with banana leaf furniture (from Hyacinth Design).

Lighting is integral to definition. At the Georgian entrance a tiered pendant light indicates the marriage of classic and contemporary styles to beautiful effect. In the first bar there’s a fabulously huge, blown glass Logico light by Artemide, hovering like a cloud.
Smaller ‘clouds’ drift above the lounge and restaurant areas, the darker space of the modern building requiring skilful lighting.

Seating options abound; circular tables are set within half-loops formed by long, shimmering silver bead curtains, huge cylindrical pendant lights (by Moooi) echoing curves. From your terracotta leather-clad seat, a glance upwards reveals a chandelier inside each cylinder, while reflective exteriors capture glints from similarly theatrical red perspex Ghost lights, hanging at irregular heights above intimate booths opposite, alongside the second bar.
Shopfitters Thomas Johnstone crafted bespoke hardwood pieces, the Tigerlily bloom making an understated appearance in a carved canopy above one such table.

“The branding is very subtle”, says Jim, pointing out red LED lights delineating the venue’s identity, especially effective at night.

Research has revealed that back in the 1950s this Georgian building was also a hotel. George Street may throng with contemporary hangouts, but it seems Tigerlily’s seed was planted over 150 years ago. And cultivated in 21st century hands, its elegant and accessible glamour looks set to stand the test of time.