Artifex London: Portfolio - InterContinental London Park Lane

InterContinental London Park Lane

Artifex London were first approached in October 2004 by London-based J2 Design and consulted about concepts for a new lounge bar at the InterContinental Hotel as well as ideas for a series of wall-mounted panels for the hotel reception lobby. Both the lobby bar and the panels were to utilise a unique product innovated by Ben Galloway for Artifex, 'Glass Inlaid Marble'.

The initial meeting with J2 was held at the London studio of artist Alan Halliday. Artifex have a long association with the artist having collaborated on a number of projects in the past. For the InterContinental, Halliday was commissioned to produce images of six local London landmarks, which were then waterjet cut into six square panels of Italian travertine and inlaid with amber glass. He was also commissioned to create a design for the lobby bar, also to be constructed in Glass Inlaid Marble.

The London Panels
The panels are arranged across a long wall in the hotel lobby behind the reception desks and closely hung to create a frieze. Each panel contains an image of a London landmark local to the InterContinental.

The unique series of images created from Halliday's original drawings read from left to right are: The Albert Memorial, The Hyde Park Screen, The Royal Albert Hall, The Wellington Arch, Apsley House and The Queen Mother Gate.

Each panel is constructed from an Italian stone called Travertino Chiaro. The images are waterjet cut into the travertine using CNC machining techniques which are faithful to the original drawings by the artist, and inlaid with amber glass. The panels each measure 1000mm x 1000mm or 1m square and are back-lit.