I had the opportunity recently to stay at the Titanic Hotel Belfast and it got me thinking about the purpose of interior design and how tricky it can be.

The hotel is opposite the new Titanic visitor centre in the converted Harland & Wolff Headquarters and Drawing Offices building; the building has been authentically, beautifully restored, preserved and sumptuously furnished. The attention to detail is staggering and the hotel contains original artefacts, architectural features together with passenger portraits and White Star Line travel posters.

The tricky bit then becomes the new bits where you have to create bedrooms that are modern, adhere to building Regulations/Health & Safety yet still evoke the same feel of the period.

What you have therefore are rooms that give the ‘feel’ of the Titanic yet are definitely rooted in the modern era.

Even the corridors feel like you are walking down one of the corridors in the ship, heading back to your cabin (lovely touches are the door numbers shadow projected onto the walls and the riveted doors):

The Interior Design is continued into the room with the hanging ship’s lanterns, riveted panels and maritime artwork in every room (even the mirror looks distressed as if it were one of the originals salvaged from the ocean bed):

A great stay, highly recommended and loved the detailing. You can read more on the hotel HERE and there’s even a architectural heritage trail you can take which can be downloaded HERE