Paris studio Jouin Manku installed a sculptural fireplace and chose materials with natural tones and textures to give this lounge in Munich's Bayerischer Hof hotel the feel of a fantasy forest landscape.
Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku of Jouin Manku designed the lounge on the sixth floor of the Bayerischer Hof hotel, along with an adjacent restaurant and a private dining room.
A funnel-shaped chimney drops down from the ceiling of the lounge to cover an elliptical stone fireplace, which is surrounded by curving benches.
Porcelain ribs encircling the base of the chimney also feature on the front of the curving bar and create surfaces with constantly shifting reflections.
Alcoves containing benches interrupt the pale green walls that complement the stone flooring and furniture made from wood and leather.
A restaurant next to the lounge features alcoves containing benches with undulating three-dimensional back panels carved from aerated concrete to suggest a mountainous scene.
"Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku's idea was to offer guests views even inside the room, recreating a natural landscape and fantasy all at once," the designers explained.
Lighting hidden in the curving folds of the surfaces illuminates their topographical shape, based on "a mineral horizon made of stone and snow which appears to be carved into the rock."
A terrace connected to the restaurant provides additional dining space with views across the city towards the distant mountains.
Louvred panels on the ceiling conceal lighting and are arranged in a staggered formation that leads towards the windows.
Supporting beams made from American walnut continue over the walls to enhance the natural feel of the space.
Between the dining room and the lounge is an area dedicated to buffets, with two rounded service areas standing on a concrete floor beneath a copper ceiling that evokes traditional cooking pans.
Jouin Manku designed a further room located on the seventh floor called the Bird's Nest, set to open later in the spring. It will house a single dining table for private events with a view across the city.
Photography is by Nicolas Matheus.
