In October 2019, Neospeq was engaged by Accord Property Group to manufacture the furniture, carpet, and metalwork for their new Mercure Doncaster, the next generation of the global Mercure Brand.
The newly built hotel recently welcomed guests to enjoy “authentic local experiences with approachable elegance, state-of-the-art technology and leading environmental sustainability practices”.
From the day of engagement, Neospeq was assigned to collaborate from the beginning of the design process and worked with the talented and passionate Singaporean design studio Kreat.
At the first stage of the process, our team listened to and respected the vision of design intent from Akib A. Razak & Patricia S. Dumayas, the lead designers of Kreat.
The designers described this flagship Mercure as a “modern version of old-world simplicity and stylish glamour” to achieve this. They prioritized comfort, flexibility and ease of use for guests.
The overall concept of Mercure was to emphasize creativity and innovation, inspired by the hotel’s unique story. Therefore colours and furnishings were carefully chosen to reflect location and history.
In guest rooms, the streamlined aerodynamic furniture was inspired by the curving forms and long horizontal lines used in the industrial design for railroad locomotives. Other design elements such as the brass metal table and wall lamps, full height mirror, wardrobe, and luggage rack give the impression of sleekness and modernity.
And the biggest challenge of the mockup room is that we need to develop and fulfil the furniture design with streamlined aerodynamics, which means we need to consider the balance between realistic and aesthetic. And highly craftsmanship is more crucial and reliable than the precision of a CNC machine. And the mass part of the streamlined concept has been applied to the furniture, such as irregular, curved metal, stone, timber, and laminate, leading to the most rigorous requirement of steady structure and pleasing detail to present the ultimate form of sophistication. And these types of bespoke hotel furniture and joinery quality requirements lead to the most strict consistency control, especially since most of the project needs handcraftsmanship. The synchronization of various factories on this project is the ultimate challenge considering ensuring the same quality output from the joinery, metalwork, carpet and furniture.
Meanwhile, we also pledged to transform the designers’ vision to turn up the volume of the story when they chose the customized wall-to-wall carpet featuring a map of Melbourne, the tram-inspired wall art and the custom-made navy-blue ‘armchair cum chaise’ lounge with ottoman into something tangible by commenting design development of the graphic design, and fabricating it with the finest New Zealand wool and American imported nylon, and also meet the highest standard of Fire Test of AWTA for the custom made hotel carpet.
Despite another challenge of Covid, which disrupted face-to-face communication and site visits, the Neospeq team was achieved by implementing a ‘new norm’, enabled by audio/visual meetings, live Zoom sessions and a ‘mockup room’.
After the approval and acknowledgment of the mockup room, Neospeq continued the journey with Kreat and the public area to create another space with modern influences in the hotel’s reception area cleverly combined with 19th-century furnishings and railway elements to highlight the philosophy and character of the hotel.
Mercure’s tram-inspired brand wall welcomes guests, showcasing the metal works of the tram’s open sides and bench seating with muted brass metal finish. These elegant brand walls and sophisticated metal ceilings above the reception area are handcrafted only by our experienced and passionate metalsmith. Our team’s restless effort smoothly and successfully achieved the required standard of durable and versatile finishes and seamless joints, which deliver cultivated aesthetic and refined industrial craftsmanship of welding and assembling.
For the final assignment of the project, we also need to collaborate with the installer on-site. The team of Neospeq has to overcome the barrier of Covid, which leads to the absence on-site, providing the necessary assistance of installation for the bespoke hotel joinery such as the tailored made headboard, guestroom wardrobe and other hotel wall panels. Custom-made hotel carpet and handmade but adjustable metalwork like the screen and ceiling. And our team was 24/7, offering various solutions to ensure the smooth installation of Mercure Doncaster.
With two and half years of effort and commitment on this fantastic project of Mercure Doncaster, Neospeq accomplished the humble mission from Accord Property Group to present its great vision to bring a flagship Mercure hotel in Melbourne, Australia, with authentic sustainability & local experiences that exceed guest expectations.