The Aberdeen Altens Hotel is the perfect base for exploring the beautiful Scottish Highlands and east coast. Conveniently located just outside the city, this popular hotel also offers a well-equipped contemporary business and conference centre.
The owners appointed architect and design consultants ICA to redesign the restaurant and bar areas, creating a high quality dining experience for guests staying in its 216 bedrooms and its many daily visitors. The brief was to design a flexible open plan catering and social space which would reflect the stunning landscape and history of the locality, appealing to discerning hotel guests as well as local residents and businesses.
Rebranded as Coast and Keg, the hotel’s three restaurants and bar have been combined into a new open plan space, increasing capacity and creating an adaptable entertaining space with both formal and casual dining options.
Lauren Hughes-Glass, Associate at ICA, said: “Coast and Keg was designed with specific customers in mind, from locals to the various hotels guests. The customer had to feel relaxed and at home with careful definition of spaces to create some intimate private space alongside places for larger groups to eat, rest, drink and have fun.”
Above image features SM-KP99 Lime Washed Oak
The new design combines traditional Scottish features with contemporary design for a welcoming residential ambiance. The sociable open plan layout features an industrial inspired décor and cool grey colour palette paired with black metallic elements such as shelving, lighting and seating while modern technology such as a self-order app offers the convenience of digital service.
Lauren explained: “The calming colour tones and natural finishes helped to generate a classic contemporary and relaxed atmosphere.”
Using different flooring treatments across the large open plan area has created zones which can be used for a variety of functions such as dining, socialising or working. The flooring design creates subtle visual cues to divide the space using a combination a warm toned wood and geometric flooring designs.
Across the seating areas Lime Washed Oak flooring from the Knight Tile range was selected to introduce a natural element with interesting textures and a contemporary sun-bleached driftwood appearance. Using both straight lay and herringbone laying patterns, the flooring has been laid in zones to create an intimate and welcoming atmosphere.
Above image features LANS-04 Lansdown
In the bar area, the serving zone is highlighted with the traditional geometric pattern of Lansdown from the Heritage Collection to help guests understand they are in a different space. This adaptation of a classic monochrome tiled floor, in Laurel colourway, adds a sense of fun and balances the stark industrial features, connecting the contemporary design to the nearby historic city.
In accordance with current social distancing requirements, the design offers the flexibility to implement temporary one-way navigation and for furniture and buffet services to be adjusted as required, enabling the hotel to guarantee a safe and high quality service.
Kris Manship, General Manager of The Aberdeen Altens Hotel, said: “Our new, multi-faceted dining environment really reflects the diversity of our guests and represents a major advancement in our food and beverage offering. We’re delighted with the final result, which perfectly suits business and family visitors as well as groups of friends.”