California architecture studio Electric Bowery and graphic design firm Land have completed the renovation of a 1980s hotel in Laguna Beach informed by European seaside inns.
Perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific, Casa Loma was originally built in the 1980s and is made up of tiered volumes surrounding a central pool deck.
The hotel contains 70 rooms, as well as various terraces, event space and a double-height lobby with a bar.
Working with Electric Bowery, Land and landscape design studio Orca, Marc & Rose Hospitality president John Grossman shaped the hotel around the history and local culture of Laguna Beach.
“To hone the vision for the hotel, Marc & Rose embarked on a deep dive of Laguna Beach history, from the early days of Prohibition when the area’s counter-culture reputation began to develop, through its flowering as a self-reflective seaside sanctuary for creatives, bohemians, surfers, and craftspeople,” said the team.
Grossman brought on Land to help design the overall vision for the hotel as well as its branded assets and artwork, including a large plaster relief mural of “a sun-worshipping goddess” in the lobby.
Electric Bowery then selected a “calming colour palette” of neutral tones mixed with textural, deep red-fired clay tiles, plaster walls, the hotel’s original terracotta floors and custom wood furniture to complete the space.
“We were able to find some things that were inspiring about the building,” Electric Bowery principal Lucia Bartholomew told Dezeen.
“It’s perched on a cliff, so [we were] thinking about other typologies of seaside inns. There was a European influence we took in – Majorcan energy and vibes – by leaning into that organic seaside form without going too into shells and surfboards.”
The studio instead looked to the “process” of crafting surfboards, as well as the Laguna’s Beach local craftsmen culture to design the hotel’s wooden furniture, which features soft curves and geometric shapes throughout chairs and tables and the headboards and seating found in the rooms.
“John [was] looking into the history of the area, and he was so inspired by the craftsmen that were aerospace engineers and the original shapers of surfboards,” said Bartholomew.
“There was a lot of that – how do we craft everything in a way that’s very natural to what it is here, but not just replicate the forms of surfboards but the process?”
The guest rooms reflect the same relaxed ethos, with woven textiles throughout, screen-printed tapestries by Land and stone and tile work cladding the bathroom.
Vanity fixtures by California lighting design studio Sklo were used in the bathrooms, while sculptural lamps by designer Kassandra Thatcher were distributed throughout the property.
Other details include curved archways moulded onto the building’s passageways and indoor and outdoor plantings by Orca that “reflect the area’s local natural beauty”.
“The story of Casa Loma is revealed in the details – the intentional design choices capture a spirit of retreat both familiar and imaginative, thoughtfully curated with our favourite things by our favourite people,” said Grossman.
Other hotels recently completed in California include a historic hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea by Post Company and a conference centre returned to its luxury hotel roots in Northern California by Home Studios.
The photography is by Chris Mottalini
