design et al are delighted to announce that KEANE has been shortlisted for Bar/Club/Lounge – Global Award in The International Hotel & Property Awards 2019.
This outlet was to act as both the main bar to the hotel for in-house guests as well as a destination bar & terrace. The sun leaves the hotel’s wet deck before sunset so the terrace of this outlet needed to carry on the party for the wet deck users. A big challenge in trying to cater to all different occasions and guest profiles.
Open from 3pm-3am KEANE’S brief was to create a Latin influenced South Beach, Miami adult playground. A drink led concept and to be designed in such a way to take in the unparalleled views of land, sea and sunset, creating a vibe that feels right from 3pm through to 3am. KEANE’S scheme was designed to feel playful, soulful and uniquely ‘W’.
After liasing with the client, KEANE redeveloped the brief to be less “Carnival” and more Miami backstreet. Looking more to the darker influences found within the Haitian community of the city, and in particular, a look at the symbology of Haitian Voodoo with all its gnarly shapes and scaled reptiles. Taking on board the key touch points such as games for grown-ups, and a place to socialise, KEANE engineered the interior to be much more textural and layered, so that on every turn you discover something new.
The space needed to cater to different occasions, and KEANE feel they have created an engaging journey through the space, each visit you can discover something new and interact with the space differently. From the very moment you enter SoBE, KEANE wanted to create an experience that was beautiful, eerie and somewhat, otherworldly. The space given to them, naturally starts in a narrow, compressed corridor. The entry is designed to have a heavy decorative gateway, through which you journey through the tropics, over reptilian bespoke carpets and past grappling, climbing plant wallcoverings.