Newly opened in Manchester, The Alan Hotel is the place to stay if architecture and design is your jam.
Situated opposite the Manchester Art Gallery, in the heart of the city, it’s just a short walk from Chinatown and the central shopping district. A six-storey building, it offers 137 bedrooms, ground floor cafe and bar, plus a pop-up multipurpose area. Architectural design is by Red Deer.
We want to challenge conventions, says Red Deer lead designer, Ciarán O’Brien: “The hotel industry is saturated with ‘brand guidelines’ – many of which are over the top or antiquated. True luxury to our generation is space and quiet and considered pieces that inspire or make someone smile. We believe the hotel brand book needs to be rewritten to incorporate courage to do things differently, in a world where we’ve all seen everything before.”
Reflecting this philosophy, the building’s cotton warehouse origins are a cause for celebration, its historic brickwork and pitted stonework exposed; the original plasterboard and lowered ceilings have all been removed, something of a signature move on all Red Deer projects.
The ‘living’ functions of the guest rooms have also been accentuated through the use of a long terrazzo shelf, made by Robin Grasby. Mika Kaski has supplied light fittings for the Ground Floor public areas and the swivel and alabaster lights for the bedrooms.
“True luxury to our generation is space and quiet and considered pieces that inspire or make someone smile.”
“Art always inspires me in every project I take on,” says O’Brien. “I seek to make usable art pieces that are interacted with and help people rethink their relationship with the spaces around them.”
As many original materials have been reused as possible. The ground floor terrazzo collage comprises fragmented and discarded marble pieces, crafted in collaboration with Int. Marble.
“I had always been acutely aware of how wasteful the construction industry is,” says O’Brien, “and decided to celebrate the inherent value still found in these marble pieces, despite typically being considered as offcuts or ‘defective’. When viewed individually they seem to be useless fragments, but make sense in the space when they flow together as one. Subtly this refers to how we’re all made up of a collage of our personal stories, some good, some bad but all have a part in who we are.”
To book your stay at The Alan click here, prices start at £94 a night. Photography by Adam Firman.
Islay distillery Ardbeg has announced a limited edition single malt whisky, with accompanying graphic novel, to celebrate its titular Ardbeg Day on June 3. The new release, Ardbeg Heavy Vapours, is the first time ever that Ardbeg has distilled its whisky without a purifier, allowing the heaviest vapours to rise up the still during the…
Visitors to The Macallan Estate this summer are being offered an immersive theatrical experience like no other, as performers dramatise the real-life story of Janet Harbinson, who ran the estate during the Interwar period, before taking a unique tour of the distillery. This all-new Pioneers Experience will reveal the backstory to The Macallan’s 485-acre estate,…
British watchmaker Marloe has introduced its first GMT watch collection, a pair of limited edition £699 timepieces: the Marloe GMT Day and GMT Night. Traditional Greenwich Meantime watches are designed to display two time zones simultaneously. They feature an additional hand that points to a 24-hour time scale on the bezel, allowing the wearer to…
The Luxe Review 
Newly opened in Manchester, The Alan Hotel is the place to stay if architecture and design is your jam.
Situated opposite the Manchester Art Gallery, in the heart of the city, it’s just a short walk from Chinatown and the central shopping district. A six-storey building, it offers 137 bedrooms, ground floor cafe and bar, plus a pop-up multipurpose area. Architectural design is by Red Deer.
We want to challenge conventions, says Red Deer lead designer, Ciarán O’Brien: “The hotel industry is saturated with ‘brand guidelines’ – many of which are over the top or antiquated. True luxury to our generation is space and quiet and considered pieces that inspire or make someone smile. We believe the hotel brand book needs to be rewritten to incorporate courage to do things differently, in a world where we’ve all seen everything before.”
Reflecting this philosophy, the building’s cotton warehouse origins are a cause for celebration, its historic brickwork and pitted stonework exposed; the original plasterboard and lowered ceilings have all been removed, something of a signature move on all Red Deer projects.
The ‘living’ functions of the guest rooms have also been accentuated through the use of a long terrazzo shelf, made by Robin Grasby. Mika Kaski has supplied light fittings for the Ground Floor public areas and the swivel and alabaster lights for the bedrooms.
“Art always inspires me in every project I take on,” says O’Brien. “I seek to make usable art pieces that are interacted with and help people rethink their relationship with the spaces around them.”
As many original materials have been reused as possible. The ground floor terrazzo collage comprises fragmented and discarded marble pieces, crafted in collaboration with Int. Marble.
“I had always been acutely aware of how wasteful the construction industry is,” says O’Brien, “and decided to celebrate the inherent value still found in these marble pieces, despite typically being considered as offcuts or ‘defective’. When viewed individually they seem to be useless fragments, but make sense in the space when they flow together as one. Subtly this refers to how we’re all made up of a collage of our personal stories, some good, some bad but all have a part in who we are.”
To book your stay at The Alan click here, prices start at £94 a night. Photography by Adam Firman.
Comics and drams: Ardbeg launches limited edition Heavy Vapours whisky, with new graphic novel
Islay distillery Ardbeg has announced a limited edition single malt whisky, with accompanying graphic novel, to celebrate its titular Ardbeg Day on June 3. The new release, Ardbeg Heavy Vapours, is the first time ever that Ardbeg has distilled its whisky without a purifier, allowing the heaviest vapours to rise up the still during the…
Discover the secrets of whisky Warehouse No 7 with The Macallan Estate Pioneers Experience
Visitors to The Macallan Estate this summer are being offered an immersive theatrical experience like no other, as performers dramatise the real-life story of Janet Harbinson, who ran the estate during the Interwar period, before taking a unique tour of the distillery. This all-new Pioneers Experience will reveal the backstory to The Macallan’s 485-acre estate,…
First dual time True GMT watches from British Marloe Watch Company take flight
British watchmaker Marloe has introduced its first GMT watch collection, a pair of limited edition £699 timepieces: the Marloe GMT Day and GMT Night. Traditional Greenwich Meantime watches are designed to display two time zones simultaneously. They feature an additional hand that points to a 24-hour time scale on the bezel, allowing the wearer to…
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