Project

• Client Intro

The new owners of Ayton Castle mainly spend time here during holidays and weekends. This opens up an opportunity to use this impressive building as a venue to entertain larger amounts of guests. The castle is full of character and history. Any design would need to respect the past and restore as much as possible yet offer the modern luxuries guests and visitors of this magnificent landmark would expect.

• Scope/Client Brief

We redesigned an entire guest accommodation wing of the castle by refurbishing an expansive corridor, several guest bathrooms, as well as the master bathroom for the owners. Everything needed to make sense together: guests would use the public spaces to access their rooms and shared bathrooms and the private quarters on the other side of the corridors would also need to cohesively tie in. One of the big focus areas for the client was lighting. – like so many other historic buildings, there are many stunning features to light up but very little existing infrastructure to do this.

• Challenges

The corridor was dark. At first, the client asked us to brighten up the paintwork but this wouldn’t have solved the problem! We needed rewire the antique electrics in order to create a more striking hallway. This would enable us to actually choose a darker colour scheme more fitting to a castle and instead light up the nooks, cracks, and gorgeous historic features to bring the light in.

• Interior Design Solution

Rich timber panelling, rich reds, and regal blues along with charismatic wallpaper designs dress this wing beautifully, and the new modernised lighting brings out the features the old dim light fittings had neglected. Complemented for its individual character that blends in with the history of the building, this is now a fantastic guest experience for anyone looking for that special break.