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Strawfire by Ross Shonhan at Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental

  • Prize
    Winner in Interior Design Middle East
  • Company/Firm
    Silverfox Studios Pte Ltd
  • Lead Designer
    Susan Heng and Patrick Waring
  • Architect
    EHAF Consulting Engineers
  • Interior Designer
    Silverfox Studios Pte Ltd
  • Hospitality
    Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
  • Photo Credit
    Oki Jingu
  • Location
    Abu Dhabi
  • Project Date
    November 2024
  • Developer
    Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group

Strawfire draws inspiration from Japanese rural traditions, celebrating rice straw craftsmanship, communal gathering, and cultural rituals. The entrance offers a dynamic experience, with a curved interactive screen displaying motion-responsive video, transforming the arrival into a spectacle.

The Gold Lounge Bar features illuminated bamboo, suspended rods, and communal seating around a glowing globe symbolizing the harvest sun. Straw bales are wrapped in powder-coated rods, framed by hand-printed gold silk panels depicting rice straw.

In the Grill Room, a butcher’s block, DJ station, and rice straw bins lead to a Warayaki grill beneath a hand-beaten brass hood. Gold and timber tiles reflect light, while jade tiles and lit shelves display curated artefacts. A layered silk canopy draws attention to an illuminated void, with sculpted tile columns complementing a Kumiko screen. The Kumiko Room showcases traditional joinery and shadowplay, with velvet emerald seating, straw bales, and gold moiré panels.

The Toyama Room honors heritage through silk murals and a 7.3m-long, 830kg Shimenawa rope by Toyama’s master rope-makers.

Bio
Silverfox Studios is an Internationally recognised, multi award winning Hospitality Design Firm with a proven track record for the successful completion of restaurants, resorts and Urban projects across the globe.

A thriving bespoke business of over 25 full time staff based in Singapore working in partnership with our repeat clients, operators and developers on innovative design solutions that have a strategy and purpose.

Our projects are unique, have a relationship to the environment and are responsive to commercial demand.

Other prizes
Date Award Project 09/2023 AHEAD Asia Award Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen 2023 (Shortlisted) MO Bar 02/2023 International Property Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Awards for 2022-2023 The Aubrey 02/2023 International Property Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Awards for 2022-2023 Man Wah 09/2022 AHEAD Asia Award Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, 2022 The Aubrey 09/2022 AHEAD Asia Award Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, 2022 Man Wah 11/2021 Gold Key Award Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, 2021/2022 The Aubrey 11/2019 Gold Key Award Mandarin Oriental Dubai, 2019/2020 The Spa 11/2019 AHEAD MEA AWARDS Mandarin Oriental Dubai, 2019/2020 The Spa 06/2019 The International Hotel Mandarin Oriental Dubai, & Property Awards 2019 The Spa(Shortlisted) 06/2019 The International Hotel Mandarin Oriental Dubai, & Property Awards 2019 The Bay 06/2019 The International Hotel Mandarin Oriental Dubai, & Property Awards 2019 Netsu (Shortlisted)