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Some Enchanted Evening

Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz admits he's obsessed with storytelling. Narratives as disparate as the book of Genesis and Through the Looking Glass have influenced projects by his BNO Design.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 4/1/2011 4:05:00 PM

firm: bno design
site: new york

Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz admits he's obsessed with storytelling. Narratives as disparate as the book of Genesis and Through the Looking Glass have influenced projects by his BNO Design. "The most important thing to me is to have a cohesive story. Everything flows from that," he says. He's now embraced his dreamiest tale yet, channeling Jean Cocteau's film La Belle et la Bête for the 270-room interior of the Mondrian SoHo in New York.

In the Noriega-Ortiz version of the fantasy, the city plays the role of the beast, while the hotel plays the beauty. "New York attacks you at first," he says. "Then, all of sudden, you fall in love with it and don't want to leave." His collaborator on the project, Morgans Hotel Group senior vice president of design Mari Balestrazzi, uses the word seduction.

The story begins in an enchanting garden, where an ivy-draped entry tunnel lures guests up a long ramp that ultimately deposits them at the hotel's glass tower by Barry Rice Architect. Noriega-Ortiz bathed the lobby in a supersaturated French blue-from the paint on the walls and columns and the velvet upholstery on the seating to the faux feathers on a lamp shade. For a hint of beauty and beast, check out the rose-vine foil decals on the ceiling and the claw feet on the blue stools.

Of the restaurant's two rooms, the more conventional one references its seafood-centric menu via cedar shingles rounded like fish scales. The other room is a skylit greenhouse. Across the lobby is the nightclub Mister H, envisioned as a dimly lit Chinatown den where Humphrey Bogart might have hidden out.

Photography by Tom Sibley.

Product Sources

CYAN DESIGN: CHAIR (EXTERIOR).
LIGHTING ARTISTRY: PENDANT FIXTURE (RESTAURANT).
IBRIDE THROUGH MADE IN DESIGN: TRAY.
SCHONBEK WORLDWIDE LIGHTING: CHANDELIERS.
LAMP POST MERCANTILE & POTTERY: ARMCHAIRS.
WALTERS WICKER: WING CHAIRS.
CONCEPTA: SIDE CHAIRS.
CAMPANIA INTERNATIONAL: PLANTERS (RESTAURANT, EXTERIOR).
ABYU: LAMPS (LOBBY).
EMISSARY HOME & GARDEN: STOOLS.
COLOREDGE: CUSTOM CEILING DECALS.
KRAVET: SEATING FABRIC (LOBBY), PILLOW FABRIC, CURTAIN FABRIC (GUEST ROOM).
TAI PING CARPETS: CUSTOM CARPET (HALL), CARPET (GUEST ROOM).
IWORKS: SCONCES (GUEST ROOM).
ANICHINI: THROW.
COUNTY DRAPERIES: CURTAIN FABRIC (CLUB).
MDC WALLCOVERINGS: WALL COVERING.
LET THERE BE NEON: CUSTOM SIGN.
DK LIVING: TABLE.
GRETCHEN BELLINGER: PILLOW FABRIC.
H. THOMAS O'HARA ARCHITECT: ARCHITECT OF RECORD.
KUGLER NING LIGHTING DESIGN; WHITEHOUSE LIGHTING DESIGN: LIGHTING CONSULTANTS.
TOWN AND GARDENS: LANDSCAPING CONSULTANT.
PGS MILLWORK: WOODWORK.
ARGOSY DESIGNS: METALWORK.
GOTHAM CONSTRUCTION: GENERAL CONTRACTOR.