Kit Kemp

HOTELS: How would you define your style?

KEMP: The sort of design I have—a sort of English eccentric look—has been built up over a number of years. You don’t throw the baby out with the bottle with every job. There is a link traveling through—it is going along a certain line. The link is [with] organic and bright colors. I like every period—it is how you mix them, and how you balance a room from one side to the other using colors and textures.

HOTELS: What sets apart your designs?

KEMP: We don’t work to a formula. I think every building and every piece of work has to stand on its own. A lot of design now is rather serious and formulaic. There should always be that element of surprise and fun—a slight quirkiness. You should see the character of the person doing [the design] and have a strong view about it.

HOTELS: As you begin each new project, how do you generate ideas?

KEMP: I am very keen on art and sculpture—in fact I am just back from seeing sculptures in galleries. You have to think of the surrounding areas and the feel of the building, and then the actual space itself—how many windows, how many walls, how much light. By looking at the area, you kind of get into the flow of things.

Ideas are not the problem. There are far too many ideas—you always have to limit yourself. There is so much one can do… playing around with beautiful antiques and contemporary works of art—there is so much beautiful fabric, so many talented people around from whom you can commission beautiful pieces of furniture and artwork. The world is a small place now when you are designing. That makes it much more exciting.

HOTELS: Is it common for a project to evolve away from your initial vision and become quite different?

KEMP: Absolutely—I am always rather worried when a designer says he/she can see the final thing down to the Nth degree. You start with an idea, and it organically motivates itself. I am surprised myself sometimes when I see the end result because I am given quite a free reign. Often if you get too strict with someone, it comes over in the end product. You have to have the leeway to change your mind sometimes and look in new areas.

HOTELS: What is the most innovative thing you have done and what was the impact?

KEMP: I think the latest project with the Haymarket Hotel—I love the areas on the ground floor because each space is so distinctly different from one side to the other and yet there seems to be a link. The reception area has a strong black-and-white painting and a modern black-and-yellow sofa. On the opposite side of the same space, separated by a sculpture, is 18th-century Swedish furniture.

HOTELS: What have you wanted to do over?

KEMP: Sometimes your mistakes can turn out as successes. The mural that we did at The Soho Hotel that goes behind the bar, when done, was completely different [than I expected]. But when it went up, it turned out OK. That is an instance of when you give someone a commission, you cannot tie that person hand and foot. It is never exactly as you want it, so you must go with the flow.

HOTELS: How do you strike a balance in designing hotels that will meet guests’ need to retreat and relax while also providing a sense of excitement?

KEMP: What you are to achieve in the rooms is the basics of a comfortable chair, good reading light, somewhere to work properly and somewhere to play properly. [Meanwhile], there should be an element of excitement. You know you have achieved something if guests are saying, “Come see my room! What’s your room like?”

When people travel, they don’t know where they are going, and the hotel becomes an adventure. There has to be a sense of arrival. Common [areas] have to be more dramatic. People coming in aren’t interested in their surroundings, so you must make them notice.

A hotel is a world, and when you arrive through the front door, that in itself should be a sort of fantasy and exciting. A lot of hotels miss that—you walk through the door and it is like having a disciplinarian tell you what to do and where to do it.

Direct comments to: derek.gale@reedbusiness.com