French-German designer Tatjana von Stein designed hundreds of bespoke lights and furnishings for this hotel in Munich, drawing on the city's art nouveau style and its exuberant nightlife history.

The Dean Munich is the latest offering from the Irish hotel chain, with 281 rooms and suites, three bars, and a signature Japanese restaurant named Ibasho.

The project saw von Stein revamp an existing hotel in the city's Westend neighbourhood, with a design where shades of gold and red extend across velvet furniture, floral carpets, stained-glass windows and ornamental lamps.

The project allowed the interior designer to dig into the design history of the city where she was born. Her scheme blends the city's distinct Jugendstil style, the manifestation of art nouveau in Bavaria, with the decadent nightclubs that proliferated in the 1980s.

"This is a city rooted in history but always drawn to reinvention," said von Stein. "I wanted to capture that tension, somewhere between elegance and exuberance, and let it guide every surface, object and gesture."

"The design also brings to life a side of Munich only locals truly know – its rich musical and cultural spirit, quietly woven into the character of the city."

The most radical interventions are in the communal areas on the ground floor, which were completely reorganised.

They begin with the lobby, a space with a rich sense of theatricality. At its centre is a stepped platform, where a wrap-around bar is set below a circular ceiling recess with a reflective surface and a decorative wallpaper frieze around its edges.

This is the first of many playful ceilings that feature throughout the hotel.

On either side of the bar, lounge areas are framed by tiered ceiling recesses with zigzagging corners, matching the edge details of the internal columns.

"We're really interior architects, so we start with layout and hard finishes before slowly making our way into furniture and fixtures," von Stein told Dezeen.

"I love to fully envelop people in a world, and that starts with the envelope. So ceilings certainly play a big part."

Over the restored chevron-tiled stone flooring, the rest of the space is carefully layered with patterned rugs and gloss-backed sofas, while focal points include bell-shaped sconces, frilled stools and sculptural tables.

Many of the objects here were custom-designed by von Stein, although she also sourced some vintage pieces, including original late-19th and early-20th century pieces by Austrian design icons Josef Hoffmann and Otto Wagner.

She points to a pair of sphinx table lights as a personal favourite in this room, "somehow out of place, but fabulous".

Japanese influences come into play in Ibasho, inspired by the cuisine of chef Alex Craciun.

Below mirrored and fluted ceilings, von Stein created a series of "rooms within rooms". These include a conversation pit with gold velvet sofas and a horseshoe-shaped marble bar encircled by pink leather Verner Panton chairs.

The Jugendstil-inspired stained glass frames a series of windows between these spaces, offering glimpsed views between them.

"For me, the most compelling hospitality spaces are those that reveal themselves gradually," said von Stein.

"We wanted to create a space which engages the senses, influences mood and encourages a certain rhythm of experience and connection throughout the diner's experience."

Behind Ibasho is the Noren bar, where the eye is drawn to custom Friendly Pressure speakers, a geometric timber ceiling and tapestry-style seating.

The style is more pared-back in the bedrooms, but no less stylish. Against a backdrop of panelled walls, olive-green and orange textiles sit alongside tubular shelving units, tiger-stripe tables and sculptural chairs.

As with the communal areas, these rooms are embellished with works by Munich-based contemporary artists. These were curated by Christian Ganzenberg, the director of Munich's international art festival, Various Others.

For The Dean, the hotel is its largest to date and its second outside Ireland, following the Berlin hotel designed by Rachael Gowdridge, showcased on Dezeen earlier this year.

It also marks the latest in a series of lavish hospitality spaces designed by von Stein, following members' club Làlia in Palma, Mallorca, and the Locke am Platz hotel in Zurich, Switzerland.

In a recent interview with Dezeen, the designer described her approach as both theatrical and precise.

"Let's face it, the world is rather chaotic and can be quite a depressing place," she told Dezeen's deputy editor, Cajsa Carlson. "So these moments of theatre are important, and decadence to a certain extent."

The photography is by Dean Hearne, courtesy of The Dean.