Claridge’s Suites by India Mahdavi: Art Deco Tradition Recast in Color

At Claridge’s in London, India Mahdavi reinterpreted twenty suites for the Maybourne Group in 2012. Her intervention does not attempt to replace the identity of the historic Mayfair hotel. Instead, it introduces a more playful and contemporary atmosphere into an address celebrated for its elegance and long social history.

Project photo: India Mahdavi — official Claridge’s project portfolio; photographer not identified. 1/5. Source: https://india-mahdavi.com/en/projects/interiors/54-the-claridges

Colour is the central instrument of this transformation. Rather than treating heritage as an obligation to reproduce a single historical style, Mahdavi selected fabrics, wallpapers and finishes that add brightness and individuality. The result is a meeting between the hotel’s tradition and the designer’s distinctive visual language.

Project photo: India Mahdavi — official Claridge’s project portfolio; photographer not identified. 2/5. Source: https://india-mahdavi.com/en/projects/interiors/54-the-claridges

Art Deco offers an important link between old and new. The official studio description singles out the fan-shaped pattern of Art Deco marquetry, a decorative vocabulary that can be interpreted through the choice of textiles and wallpaper. These details give the rooms a sense of continuity without reducing them to a period reconstruction.

Project photo: India Mahdavi — official Claridge’s project portfolio; photographer not identified. 3/5. Source: https://india-mahdavi.com/en/projects/interiors/54-the-claridges

The project is best understood as a suite redesign, not a renovation of the entire hotel. Its scale matters: twenty private guest spaces can carry individual warmth while sharing an identifiable approach to pattern, light and atmosphere. Mahdavi’s response makes the act of staying in a historic London hotel feel both familiar and fresh.

Project photo: India Mahdavi — official Claridge’s project portfolio; photographer not identified. 4/5. Source: https://india-mahdavi.com/en/projects/interiors/54-the-claridges

The five photographs in this article come from India Mahdavi’s official 2012 Claridge’s project gallery. The studio identifies the design and the Maybourne Group as client but does not identify an individual photographer on the public project page. For accuracy, the image source is credited without inventing photographer attribution.

Project photo: India Mahdavi — official Claridge’s project portfolio; photographer not identified. 5/5. Source: https://india-mahdavi.com/en/projects/interiors/54-the-claridges

Claridge’s — design and image credits

Design: India Mahdavi. Project: twenty suites at Claridge’s, London, 2012. Client: Maybourne Group. Photographs: studio’s official portfolio; individual photographer not specified on source page. Source: https://india-mahdavi.com/en/projects/interiors/54-the-claridges