Green Theme

Source : The Straits Times, Sep 15, 2007

Naumi hotel in Seah Street is designed as an urban jungle getaway for business travellers

VIEW FROM THE TOP: Guests can relax on banana leaf-shaped deck chairs and admire the CBD skyline from the rooftop terrace. -- ST PHOTOS: DESMOND FOO

CREEPERS crawl up the facade of the new Naumi boutique hotel in Seah Street.

But architect Sim Boon Yang is quick to dispel notions that his work plants a flag for eco-architecture.

'It is simply our design philosophy to include some green elements,' he says of the work done in his firm Eco-id.

The hotel, which is owned by local business consortium The Hind Group, opened on Wednesday.

CORPORATE IMAGE: The botanic motif is distinct in the corporate suite from the lampshade to the walls.

Street theatre

The harmonising of nature with the building design - the essence of eco-architecture - is clear from the minute one sets eyes on the 10-storey hotel which has 40 rooms and whose rates start from $390 a night.

SCREEN SAVER: The original-fold screen supports creepers crawling up the hotel.

On its facade, an origami-fold screen that provides support for growing creeper plants sets Naumi apart from its shophouse neighbours.

The hotel stands on the site of the 33-year-old Metropole Hotel which The Hind Group bought for $18 million last year. It was retrofitted at a cost of $10 million. The job took eight months.

Inside, a different greenery takes over. In the lobby and rooms, a botanic motif is distinct - from decorative garden-themed wall sculptures to mirrored walls covered in a white, floral-patterned decal.

MIRROR IMAGE: A hanging balloon bulb and mirrored coffee tables up the sleekness factor in the rooms.

Mr Surya Jhunjhnuwala, managing director of Naumi, says the aim is to create an urban-jungle getaway for business traveller guests. To pamper them, rooms are furnished with designer fittings like a classic Ardea armchair from Italian furniture house Zanotta and a leather rocking chair from Poltrona Frau, another Italian company.

On the rooftop terrace, guests can admire the Central Business District skyline as they take dips in a 14m-long, purple tiled infinity pool.

Mr Sim says there were many challenges in regenerating an old building.

HOME SUITE HOME: Understand designer furniture like a red leather armchair makes the executive patio suite feel more like home.

'There were a lot of columns we couldn't move and the ceiling height in the lobby wasn't as generous as I would like it to be,' he says.

URBAN JUNGLE: It is hard to escape the jungle at Naumi, where almost every room features a mirrored wall covered in a while floral-patterned decal.

Given the small land area of 498 sq m, he had to go big on creative solutions. For example, the lobby now serves as a dining area by day and a whisky bar at night.

Drawing inspiration from a theatre stage, the space's lighting changes according to the time of day.

'This open concept turns the hotel into a form of street theatre for those passing by. In this way, the hotel becomes part of the streetscape,' says Mr Sim, who has previously worked on the Metropolitan Hotel in Bangkok and the W Hotel in the Maldives.