The Home Maker

Andy Hall, founder of design firm MQ Studio and interior architect of The RuMa Hotel and Residences in Kuala Lumpur, talks about his inspiration behind the hotel’s design and creating a space that embodies its home away from home concept.

- Neda Al-Asedi

The RuMa aims to be a ‘home’ for guests. What points in the interior design were key to making more than just any other hotel room?

Firstly, materials. The key here was replacing the classic carpet approach with the timber floor. It gave the room a more homely domestic feel. The wall finishes are also very calming, using a collection of local timbers and natural wallpapers. The room’s ambience is deliberately soft and gentle, reserved and elegant.

Then, furniture. The classic hotel desk is removed from the room completely; in its place we created the ‘swivel’ table complete with a static task lamp. Together they create a series of differing scenarios: coffee and/or dining table with mood lighting and work desk with task lighting built into the base of the lamp. This table, due to the swivel motion, allows the guest to ‘personalise’ the room. The table is slightly lower than conventional height giving the room a more relaxed feel.

The minibar is designed to be left uncluttered and each room is given a private walk-in closet, all attitudes normally associated with a home. The bathroom has a small dressing area set within the bathroom itself on the axis of the bed, which has the sense of extending the bedroom into the bathroom and vice versa. The dressing table, although in the bathroom, is constructed of materials not normally associated with traditional hotel bathrooms. Household plants and sculptural decorations add to the homely quality of the space.

One key element of the hotel’s design is contemporising traditional elements found in Malaysian/Malay culture. Where did you take inspiration for that sense of Malaysian-ness within the interior?