FLOORCOVERINGS GALORE FOR THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT WHISTLER

Creative Matters carpet for the foyer. Photo: Christian Horan Photography

From the bathroom to the ballroom, it was our pleasure to work with DIALOG on the remodelling of the Four Seasons Resort Whistler. Using four different production methods at mills in three different countries, Creative Matters Vice President Ali McMurter managed a vast array of floorcoverings with Sheldon Froc and Simone Ferkul at DIALOG, and Doug Hart at Four Seasons.

“Four Seasons is a wonderful return client so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I first visited the Whistler resort and saw the existing lobby carpet was one of ours,” said Ali. “Both its design and construction had stood the test of time well but it’s always exciting to start afresh.”

Creative Matters Designer Madeleine Baigent worked with Ali on the designs for the events foyer, ballroom, guest room suites and the corridors. “The inspiration for the foyer was distressed cloud shapes that had been scratched away to have the textural background coming through and the two elements fading into each other,” she said.

The events foyer carpet on the loom.

“We worked with a palette of gold and greys where each gold had a grey partner of similar tonal value and we made sure that the contrast in tones was never jarring because lighter golds only ever touched lighter greys and same with the darks. A light and a dark tone never directly touch each other; there is always transition between tones,” said Madeleine.

The events foyer carpet is woven Axminster in 80% wool and 20% nylon, a blend that combines excellent durability and appearance retention for areas with high foot traffic. On Axminster looms, the pile and backing materials are woven together in a single operation also increasing their suitability for heavy traffic. We work with mills in several countries for woven Axminster - for Four Seasons we chose our facility in China. Ali visited the mill and was able to take these interesting photos of the events foyer carpet on the loom.

The foyer carpet on the loom.

All the spools of wool required for the foyer carpet.

Woven Axminster was also the best production method for the carpets we designed for the meeting rooms, the guest room corridors and the ballroom.

THE BALLROOM

The ballroom carpet designed by Creative Matters and DIALOG Design. Photo: Christian Horan Photography

As the foyer carpet lies right outside the ballroom, we used the same colour palette for both and the elements of the grey pewter background were also the same,” said Madeleine. “The ballroom carpet works in harmony with the architectural fixtures on the walls and ceiling to create a cohesive space. Repeating cross shapes of dots follow a fairly strict grid so everything stays in line with each other.”

Artwork for the ballroom by Madeleine Baigent.

THE GUEST ROOM SUITES

The Creative Matters design for the guest room suites. Photo: Christian Horan Photography

For the guest room suites, the client wanted a fairly traditional plaid that would fit with the rustic outdoorsy aesthetic of Whistler, said Madeleine. ”The silver plaid with cognac accents design ties the room together by uniting the brown accents of the wood furniture with the grey textiles of the couches and pillows without overwhelming the space.” The carpets for the guest room suites were made with solution dyed broadloom in nylon.

Up close with the silver plaid carpet design for the guest room suites.

GUEST ROOM CORRIDORS

For the corridors between the guest rooms, the plaid elements from the guest room design was layered over with a birch/branch motif. “We paid a lot of attention to the balance of the greys and also to the way the borders flow through irregular corridors,” said Ali.

Up close with the design for the guest room corridors.

PRESIDENTIAL SUITES

The handtufted living room rug in one of the presidential suites. Photo: Christian Horan Photography

We were also responsible for handtufted rugs in two presidential suites, each with a different colour palette story. Creative Matters Designer Kayla Bortolotto described the client’s requirements, “Softness but fresh rich colours; ombre gradients that are not typical; play with cut and loop pile to get various textural elements to have shine and depth; mostly wool with hits of silk.” The living room rug (above) comprised an abstract textured gradient with movement -achieved by subtle cut and loop pile level changes - in rich olive tones fading into light beige.

Artwork for the presidential suites.

PUBLIC AREAS

The public areas at the front of the hotel are graced with four rugs based on the same design and colour story. “Colour depth gradients, burgundy reds with pop of olive green and hits of gold are surrounded by neutrals that pick up on the stone in the space,” said Kayla.

Floor plans for the public areas.

GUEST BATHROOMS

A handwoven dhurry for each of the guest bathrooms. Photo: Christian Horan Photography

In contrast to the extensive carpets created for other areas of the hotel, the guest room bathrooms feature a simple dhurry. This style of rug is made of a flat, no pile weave on a hand-operated horizonal or vertical loom. Individually handwoven by artisans in India, each rug uses only undyed wool, and provides a textured personal touch in room full of hard surfaces.

Up close with the Creative Matters bathroom dhurry.

Collaborating with DIALOG to create all these different floorcoverings was a fruitful and dynamic project that spanned two years. We are delighted to have worked with Four Seasons yet again and to add such beautiful pieces to our international portfolio of hospitality successes.