SynSisal® Contract Grade Synthetic Sisal | Commercial Project Case Study

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PROJECT DETAILS:
CATEGORY
Hospitality
LOCATION
St. Andrews, Scotland
REQUEST
Residential Feel for a Historic Golf Resort Hotel
SOLUTION
SynSisal® Astoria | Mink

The Vision: Luxury on the Links

Seaton House, the historic 5-star hotel overlooking the Royal & Ancient clubhouse and first tee on the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, is one of two properties operated by Valor Hospitality Partners where SynSisal® flooring has been installed as part of its project to modernize historic links golf course lodgings in the UK while honoring the architectural and historical roots of the properties and to showcase the traditional trappings of the game of golf.

In the case of Seaton House, which started as a Victorian townhouse in 1864, and which faces St. Andrews where they've been playing golf since the early 15th century, the history of the site and stark beauty of West Sands and the surrounding coastline were particularly inspiring for Kristy Unger from Upperworth Studios, who led the redesign of Seaton House and ultimately contributed to the look and feel of the other property we supplied SynSisal® for: Dunluce Lodge in Portrush, Northern Ireland.

Now, who better to tell the story of the project than Kristy in her own words.

Interview With Designer Kristy Unger

Curran: So I imagine designing for such an iconic backdrop as St. Andrews has to be a little bit intimidating. Probably not as much as teeing off on the first hole of the world's oldest golf course with everyone watching, but still...

Kristy: Well, the site and the surroundings are definitely saturated with that Scottish golf history but the vision for the project was to be more subtle. We went for "little hints of golf".

Curran: Those subtle references definitely come through. Even with the glass globe light fixtures above the counter in the restaurant that are evocative of dimpled golf balls.

Kristy: We wanted to show respect for golf and have that warm residential feel of a boutique hotel but also have that universal elegance as this is a site that welcomes visitors from around the world.

Curran: Can you speak about your design process, specifically where flooring selection comes in to play and how that works with the other elements in the design?

Kristy: It depends on the project. A lot of market research goes into the holistic vision, so it can depend on the client, the size of the hospitality space, and the architecture and surroundings. In the case of Seaton House, which has around 40 beds, they knew from the start that they wanted a natural-looking fiber for the carpet, but not hard and scratchy on your feet, for a residential resort-style feel. Once that had been settled there are still a lot of considerations for flooring, and you kind of have to take it room by room. Some rooms are small so you don't want it to be busy with too many floor finishes. The suites are larger so we added some insets so that the herringbone pattern of the Astoria played with the herringbone of the parquet floor. The carpet also has to be visualized with the furniture on top of it.

Curran: What about performance?

Kristy: We definitely wanted a product that resists staining and would wear well under commercial use. All in all we were looking to execute a design that was comforting, calming, and not hectic, so the flooring needed to fit into that.

Curran: It appears that SynSisal® checked all your boxes for this project?

Kristy: It did. Flat-woven products can definitely be a little tricky to install especially for wide-format applications involving seams. Your instructions are very clear but it's really important to vet your carpet fitter because many firms don't have a lot of experience with flat-weave.

Project Portfolio Gallery

Survey an assortment of completed project photos from Seaton House and Dunluce Lodge, another Valor Hospitality Partners property designed to a similar spec.