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Ulster completes National Trust restoration project

Cliveden’s story has been described as « 300 years of power, politics and parties. A house built for entertaining ». Now a National Trust owned property and leased to the Livingstone brothers as a 5 star luxury hotel, Cliveden House’s story continues. Set amid a vast 376 acres of National Trust managed Grade I listed formal gardens and woodlands, Cliveden has been delicately restored to its former glory so anyone can enjoy its opulence.

Cliveden House
Cliveden House Hotel

It was therefore paramount that every element of restoration to this grand property was executed perfectly to truly capture its huge personality and history. Our experienced designers teamed with our innovative PSYLO™ technology allowed us to deliver breathtaking carpets befitting of this magnificent stately home.

Cliveden's Main Hall
Fit for a King, Cliveden’s stunning main hall

Working closely with designers London & Regional Property (LRP) and 3 interiors, a Northern Irish refurbishment specialist team who had previously worked with us on Claridges Hotel, Ulster provided over 3000sq ft of bespoke woven axminster carpet for the project.

The French Dining Room
The French Dining Room
Cliveden House Hotel - Westminster Deluxe Suite
Cliveden House Hotel – Westminster Deluxe Suite

Ulster’s role was to help weave a story through carpet design. Once the designers understood the huge design flexibility they had, the project came to life. All of the rooms are completely individual, each of them donning a name of a key figure from Cliveden’s history such as the « Lady Astor » room.

Keen to respect the original Georgian architecture and traditional interiors, it was crucial that our designers worked closely with the rest of the restoration team to protect aspects of the rooms and reflect the period it was built. It is this choice of style however, that sets this restoration project apart from other projects Ulster have done before such as Avebury Manor, where each of its rooms was restored to reflect four different historic periods – Tudor, Georgian, Victorian and 20th Century.

The Canning Suite
The Canning Suite

Ulster’s unique PSYLO™ weaving technology offers total design freedom with no restraints on pattern repeat or scale of design from a palette of up to 25 colours, making Cliveden the perfect PSYLO™ project. Ulster are proud to have worked on such a prestigious National Trust heritage site. Collectively the carpet designs have created a look of opulence and quality, befitting of this 5 star hotel’s enduring reputation.

Ritz-Carlton, Budapest

Ulster Carpets were delighted to work alongside GA Design to design beautiful bespoke carpets for the Ritz Carlton, Budapest.  Situated on the Danube River, the colours and patterns of the carpets were inspired by the hotel’s stunning surroundings. The hotel is the first Ritz-Carlton in Hungary and is surrounded by a wealth of culture with many popular attractions, restaurants and shopping nearby.

With our carpets adorning the guestrooms, corridors and lobby which overlooks the river, the patterns are a simplistic mix of blue, grey and neutral shades. Each area has it’s own creative design, with the lobby mirroring the hypnotic ripples of the water outside and the guestrooms giving the impression of light fragmented on the water. Whether travelling for work or please, the designs truly are works of art and create a serene atmosphere after a busy day discovering the exciting and vibrant sites of Budapest.

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Crowne Plaza, Charlotte

Ulster Carpets had the pleasure of designing a contemporary carpet for the Crowne Plaza, Charlotte. Located in North Carolina the hotel is the ideal pit stop for today’s modern business traveler. Designed with this group in mind Crowne Plaza Hotels offer the perfect environment to work, rest and reboot after a busy day.

With Charlotte being the home of Nascar Racing a slick, circular design was created to emulate the shape of a racing track. Composed of stormy blues and greys the sophisticated curves are broken up with gold and black accents.

Ulster Contract Project Focus – Autumn 2014

Ulster continues to provide first class products and service to clients around the world. Testament to this, Ulster has recently been involved in a number of exciting projects, which are showcased below.

Property: Plaza Frontenac Mall, St. Louis Missouri
Designer: Sims Patrick Studio
Photography: Thomas Watkins Photography

Plaza Frontenac is the luxury fashion icon in the St. Louis area. Designed to resemble a colonial style building on the outside, the elegant interior, exquisite furniture and intimate seating throughout, achieves a heightened sense of hospitality.

In June 2013 a renovation of the entire centre began, including landscaping both inside and out with new stately furnishings. As well as hosting leading retailers, the Plaza Frontenac Mall now boasts bespoke carpets and imported European furniture in its soft seating areas along with a grand piano providing live music. This high end shopping experience exudes luxury and provides a unique atmosphere for its discerning customers.

Ulster’s design capabilities and quality of product made them a natural choice for this sophisticated location. Working alongside Sims Patrick Studio, Ulster’s designers used strong, dynamic patterns in a palette of blues and lilacs to enhance both the mall’s architecture and the customer’s experience.

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Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington, D.C.
Design: HBA/ Hirsch Bedner Associates
Photography: Maguire Photographics

The stunning Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington exudes a refined sense of style with beautifully designed rooms, a serene spa, excellent restaurants and legendary service all within walking distance of many of Washington DC’s most famous attractions such as the Tidal Basin. It was therefore a privilege for Ulster to provide the carpets for such a world renowned location.

Working with Hirsch Bedner Associates, Ulster’s designers were able to create stunning designs that delivered in terms of creativity, practicality and quality. The Grand Ballroom with its blend of oriental elegance and traditional American style incorporates the beauty of oriental flowers, traditional trellis work and subtle tones of foliage all complemented by the beautiful backdrop of chandeliers and silver leaf coffers.

Using a palette of soft terracotta’s, creams and olives brought alive with rich oriental reds, golds and hues of browns, the Eastern theme in the ballroom is continued through into the rest of the hotel including guest corridors, lobby and pre function areas. Collectively the bespoke carpet designs have created a look of elegance and quality, which perfectly befits the hotel’s outstanding reputation.

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Ulster Carpets Dye House & Energy Centre

Ulster Carpets’ new Dye House and Energy Centre, situated at the company’s headquarters in Northern Ireland will not only facilitate a number of manufacturing efficiencies, it will also bring with it many environmental benefits in line with the company’s Sustainability Policy.

A dedicated building, state-of-the art technology and a complete move to package dyeing from hank, will increase capacity and improve the efficiency of the whole process providing faster response times.

The new dye house will deliver 20% more efficiencies than the building and processes that it replaces. This is mainly due to new a automated dispensing system that allows more accuracy on the weighing of dyes and chemicals.

Ulster Carpets, Dyehouse & Energy Centre, January 2018 from Ulster Carpets on Vimeo.

New technology means that cycle times are reduced by eliminating the requirement to neutralise each dye lot as it is processed, therefore producing more dye lots per day.

Package dyeing uses considerably less water (40%), heat (25%) and chemicals (5-10%) per kilogram of yarn processed, and the system’s capabilities means a greater amount of dye lots can be produced in one day, making the new dye house more energy efficient.

At present, while much of the water used in the dye process is taken from Ulster’s own borehole, the rest comes from the local town supply. A reduction of 40% in water requirements minimises usage from the town supply reducing the environmental impact of the dye house on the local area.

The building has been designed and constructed by local businesses. This is a deliberate strategy by Ulster Carpets, supported by Invest NI, to continue to invest in Northern Ireland’s economy and to support local jobs.

Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel

Ulster Carpets worked with GA Design to create stunning bespoke woven axminster carpets for corridors and guest rooms in Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel, London.

This historic 5 star hotel is located on the famed Park Lane in London’s Mayfair district, close to Oxford Street, Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. It was the lush parkland which inspired the sophisticated carpet design. A delicate foliage pattern gently winds through the corridors. Rich golden leaves are carefully layered over soft greys to create depth and add warmth. This beautiful autumnal effect continues into the elegant guest rooms linking them to the corridors by colour and pattern.

Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel - photo by Simon Stanmore

Ulster has a long established relationship with the Marriott group having completed a number of projects in cities around the world including Paris, Amsterdam, Moscow, Munich and Dubai.

Ulster Carpets office in Clerkenwell

New London office

Ulster Carpets’ London based team has relocated to Clerkenwell, the capital’s vibrant, creative heart.

Office

Clerkenwell is renowned as a global design hub, home to numerous designers, architects and creative businesses. Although Ulster Carpets has long been established in London, it is now proud to be situated in this bustling design district.

Ulster’s team is also boosting its numbers with additional design, sales and project management staff.

The new London office is now located at:

Unit 1 Compton Courtyard
40 Compton Street
London
EC1V 0BD

Tel: 020 7017 0040
Email: uclondon@ulstercarpets.com

Ulster Carpets produces striking axminster carpets that beautifully enhance the interior of many prestigious establishments such as The Ritz, The Savoy, and Indigo Hotel London – Aldgate. By combining creative design talent with Ulster’s unique weaving technology PSYLO™, we can offer unlimited design possibilities to create bespoke masterpieces.

Ulster Carpets London office

Crystal Mozart

II BY IV DESIGN , in collaboration with Ulster Carpets, designed custom carpets for the suites and corridors aboard the magnificent Crystal Mozart, the first of Crystal Cruises new river ship fleet.

Inspired by the striking, seasonal panoramas of the Danube River from Passau, Germany to Budapest, Hungary, the design of the Crystal Mozart is an enchanting blend of old world charm and luxurious elegance. Refurbished in late June 2016, it was specifically designed to fit into wider locks of the Danube River, which majestically glides under low bridges past historic villages and lush landscapes. Its refurbishment allowed for the design of some of the most spacious river cruise cabins afloat.

A six-star luxury river boat resembling a high-end hotel or luxury flat, an elegant land-based design aesthetic was achieved to ground the interiors. All suites featured custom sumptuous carpets with standout patterns that were inspired by the reflection of water.

The corridor leading to the penthouse suites is differentiated by a distinctive plush carpet with an organic and whimsical pattern enhanced by a rich and contrasting colour scheme. The dynamic pattern animates the corridors while enhancing the natural flow of movement.

Well received by the client and passengers alike, the Crystal Mozart continues to be celebrated with notable accolades. Most recently, II BY IV DESIGN was honoured at the 2017 SBID International Design Awards in London, where it was selected as a finalist in the Hotel Bedroom & Suites Design category. This project was also shortlisted at the Gold Key Awards in the best suite category.

Lough Erne Resort

The Lough Erne Resort and Spa is located on the outskirts of Enniskillen, is an award winning 5 star hotel famed for its stunning views of Lough Erne and Castle Hume Lough.

Ulster Carpets were delighted to work with the luxury resort to create custom pieces for The Ross Suite, which were designed to complement the natural surroundings and striking architectural look of the resort.

Using a colour palette of soft beiges, teals, deep grey blues and accents of turquoise, Ulster’s designers infused intricate ‘lace’ patterns with a geometric design and distressed texture that runs throughout each area creating a somewhat Persian feel.

Inspired by the lough, a water themed ‘stria’ design was introduced in the pre-function area to emphasise the connection with the water outside. Continuing into the larger function area, the stria flows across the entire room, intertwined with the repeating geometric pattern and larger interlocking motifs.

Visit our gallery to see more projects completed by Ulster Carpets.

Recent Projects: Queen Mary 2

UK based cruise operative Cunard has relaunched it’s flagship, Queen Mary 2, after a £90 million refurbishment. The iconic vessel has long been a part of the great ocean liner history and has been lovingly remastered. Taking design inspiration from the original Queen Mary, it is now the last remaining transatlantic ocean liner in the world. The QM2 Remastered took it’s maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in June 2016 and our Design Archivist, Sue, was one of it’s 2,600 passengers. (You can read more about Sue’s experience of the ship on our blog.)

Ulster were delighted to design and manufacture bespoke carpets for this magnificent ship. This mammoth project involved 21,500 square metres of Ulster carpet including our striking starburst carpet in the Grand Lobby Entrance. Watch the short video below to see the skill and effort that went into the carpeting of the iconic QM2.

It can be hard to imagine the colossal amount of work and dedication it has taken to complete this project, the whole refurbishment took 1 million hours to design and 8 million hours to build!  At the time Alison Clixby (Director of Hotel Design and Projects) who was heavily involved in carpeting the ship spoke to the Telegraph “Carpet designs are overflowing my desk and there are 33 shipping containers of Ulster Carpets waiting to be given the once-over at dry dock.” She also recognises the advancement of technology in recent years which has made the whole project more efficient.  Times, says Clixby, have changed. “Advancements in technology mean we can do things with design that people would never have dreamed of 80 years ago. For example, for our carpets on QM2, we can load up to 20 colours on weaving looms to create complex, computer-generated colour blends. Before, these processes would involve months of laborious manual colour changes.”

Our stunning Queen Mary 2 carpets were designed and crafted in the UK and the beautiful patterns are a subtle nod to the regal heritage of the ship. All of the designs are truly exceptional with many boasting intricate and 3 dimensional elements. The geometric prints epitomise an era of luxury, sophistication and glamour; sentiments which are evident through the opulent and cohesive decor scheme on board. Although the ships interiors are inspired by the history of the ship, the carpets designed by Ulster bring an element of modernism while fitting in perfectly with the traditional aspects. The colours were carefully selected to complement the striking designs, with royal reds, golds and deep sea blues flowing under your feet. The most fabulous carpeting feature is without a doubt the retro style ‘starburst’ carpet in the atrium, which has received countless compliments!

Ulster Carpets Designs for Queen Mary 2
Ulster Carpets Designs for Queen Mary 2

As well as the liners beautiful new carpets, there were many other improvements including a newly fitted kennel deck, refurbished restaurants and 50 new cabins. This luxury liner give passengers a truly glamorous experience while maintaining it’s art deco era influences.  All in all the new Queen Mary 2 has been a huge success and we were proud to be part of the remaking of this iconic cruise liner.