Blue Ginger + Blue Bar
The previous space occupied by Tea House of The August Moon has been split into 2 parts. Blue Bar placed along the windows of the building with an alfresco deck facing the pool and lush gardens. To access the space, a new internal foyer is created at the right of the plan.
The new Blue Ginger space is totally concealed within the hotel structure. To retain a connection with the gardens, the space has been raised 3 steps and a 5-layered glass sound barrier placed between Blue Ginger and the new Bar. Four raised booths along the intricately mirrored back wall facilitate the views to be maintained to the gardens by utilizing an amphitheater style stepping arrangement. Low [Viet Style] seating at Blue Bar maintains these critical views over the bar patrons heads. The mirror wall fractures the appreciated natural light into millions of sparkling gems.
A new semi-private dining room has been created from the former wine storage area of Tea House of The August Moon. The room contains a single table hand-crafted from yellow mother of pearl and inlayed with an Art-Deco starburst in brown Batong shell.
A new theatre kitchen has been created at the left side of Blue Ginger which features a duck roasting oven aligned with the center communal table of the main dining room. This central 'runway' can be re-configured for large groups or split into tables of 4. A more intimate zone is created along the glass sound wall by placing deuces on angles, separating them with decorative lotus urns topped with fresh floral displays. The center portion remains open for the occasional live musician, backed with a commissioned art work '56 fish' by local Delhi artist Gagan Vij.
The new internal foyer features a large ochre abstract oil painting by artist Balu Sadalge, and a green marble floor, in the traditional Hanoi architectural color scheme of bottle green shutters and ochre yellow facades.
Brocade lanterns are a common element in Vietnamese design, but have become rather mundane. Here we have created several versions of lanterns, made from silver mirrored beads and nickel plated fish motifs, taking this folk-art object into a higher realm. Onyx beads and cream tassels complete the overture.
Interior furnishings are re-creations in the French Art-Deco style, made prominent by the master furniture designer Jacques-Ẻmile Ruhlmann. [Paris 1873-1933] Items of similar style were used extensively at the Bao Dai Palace in Dalat Vietnam - the summer home of the last ruling Vietnamese monarch.
Custom carpets with French scroll motifs, woven grass padded walls dusted with gold flecks, and a ceiling cast in the form of snails [the forms taken from the 'hair' of Buddha] add additional Asian touches, but without the common clichés found in restaurants and bars of the 'Asia-hype' movement.
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