Interior a show-piece for local designers

Press, 21 October 1983, Page 9

Interior a show-piece for local designers

Much of the credit for the spectacular effect of the Chancery Tavern must go to Hampton Studios, the Christchurch-based firm that specialises in designing and manufacturing hotel interiors.

Most of Hampton Studios’ work is for overseas complexes and the Chancery Tavern is one of very few local examples of the company’s expertise. Superb craftsmanship is a hallmark of the firm. The attention to detail, the high quality of the materials used and the innovative use of colour, light and texture in the tavern illustrate this fact.

The colour scheme centres on dusky pink and burgundy, and makes use of

brass, gold, smoked glass and mirrors with dramatic effect.

Curves soften the mood in a theme that carries on through couch seating, the tables and chairs, and the bars. These are a feature of the tavern design, handmade from pale satin-fin-ished rimu timber and laminated to form the necessary contours. Set against black lacquer, the natural wood creates a focus that is particularly effective around the piano bar.

A petal motif has been used to echo the curved theme on ceilings and floors, using smoked mirror and white marble, hand-cut to matching shapes.

More than 1000 light bulbs have been used in the tavern interior, to give a soft, diffused light to the seating areas while emphasising focal points. Leadlight glass refracts and softly colours the natural light while doubling as a screen from the buildings opposite. The interior walls are covered in a pale beige suede fabric and a fine collection of original art, brass-framed, makes the tavern worth a visit in itself.

From the moment of entry, the tavern creates a feeling of luxury and elegance rarely found in New Zealand, let alone in Christchurch.

The foyer, a gazebo of

lead-light glass, mirror-ceil-inged and marble-floored, features Tivoli lighting — a system of tiny bulbs that light in sequence to give a tracer effect. The result is a bold statement that sets the mood for the rest of the complex — lavish, dramatic and more in keeping with Hollywood or Las Vegas than an Antipodean provincial city. As a show-piece for the designers, the Chancery Tavern is bound to attract interest from potential overseas clients. It must also become a show-piece for the city itself, proof that imagination and a sense of adventure are alive and well, even south of the Bombay Hills.