How Festen Interior Design Firm's Founders Innovate Through Art
In just 10 years, Charlotte de Tonnac and Hugo Sauzay, the founders of Festen, have established themselves as fixtures in the world of interior design. From Paris to Mexico City, their approach is grounded in a respect for the space.
L’OFFICIEL: How would you describe Festen’s DNA?
Hugo Sauzay: This is the hardest question because it is never easy to put our work into words. But if we have to summarize, we are an interior design agency that works on existing buildings whose history we reinvent. Our job is a link between what happened, what is happening, and what will happen later. We don’t want to impose a style. We work mainly with natural materials, and we have a local approach. We want to be consistent and fair with the projects we are offered. We also like imperfection, patina; things that are not too perfect.
Charlotte de Tonnac: We renovate spaces without any pastiche. We make adjustments, never a “total look.”
HS: We like to compose and remain fairly free in our choices. The main quality that our clients recognize in us is the respect for the spaces we work in; they have the impression that things have always been like this, as if we had done nothing, although, sometimes, we’ve demolished almost everything.
L’O: Have your customers’ requests changed with the pandemic?
CDT: What was already becoming more popular and which has increased exponentially is working with local artisans and materials. We are not going to look for an exotic wood on the other side of the world for a Parisian project. We do not necessarily use very innovative materials, but we repurpose and restore as much as possible.
L’O: Does contemporary art have a place in your projects today?
CDT: It’s starting to have one. It comes with the client, but it’s fairly new. In the hotel industry, it is difficult to integrate it for insurance reasons. But for private clients who have a collection, we bring the house into dialogue with the art.
L’O: What relationship do you have with fashion designers and their boutiques?
CDT: We do consulting for Nanushka, for which we design all the boutiques in London and New York. We like their responsible approach. But we do very few boutiques. In the idea of the store, there is the notion of concept, of the immediate “wow,” but our architecture must be experienced and understood. Nanushka is closer to a concept store where you spend time. We also worked with Ormaie perfumes, for which we developed objects. But it’s not a boutique; it’s more of a collaboration between artistic directors.
"Our job is a link of what happened, what is happening, and what will happen later."
L’O: Tell us about your Parisian project with Thierry Gillier (founder of Zadig & Voltaire and a collector of contemporary art) and artistic director Franck Durand?
HS: The Château Voltaire hotel is the founder of Zadig & Voltaire’s project, but it has nothing to do with the brand. The space is Thierry Gillier’s former office. After having searched for architects for a long time without success, his expectations being very specific, Thierry called on Franck Durand to help. The hotel is made up of three buildings connected to each other, all from different periods. It’s a summary of Paris all by itself. Thierry, who travels a lot, has very specific tastes. He has his favorites like the Mercer in New York and the Chiltern Firehouse in London. His 34- room hotel was therefore made from sublime materials: floral carpeting, hand-painted moldings, coffered ceilings, and a mix of styles. It’s very comfortable, warm, dimly lit, and has its own restaurant.
L’O: You have also recently completed a very beautiful hotel in Portofino for the Belmond group.
HS: Yes, we just finished the Splendido Mare. More than two years of work for 16 rooms that open onto one of the most beautiful places in the world, the port of Portofino. The hotel symbolizes the dolce vita in all its splendor. We started with nautical inspirations with varnished wood, rope marquetry headboards, hand painting, and Carrara marble.
L’O: What are you working on now?
HS: Two hotels in Spain—one in Palma, and the other in Begur, near Cadaques. We are also building a hotel in Nice in a former convent, another in Mexico City, and finally two homes, one in London and the other in New York.
L’O: You are very well known for your hotel projects, but can you tell us about your private home projects?
CDT: Festen started by doing apartments, and then hotels, which are very time-consuming. We stopped doing residences for a moment because we were unable to put the teams in place. But things are different today. We are building a superb townhouse in London. We have just started a pretty house in New York, and a small traditional farm in Lanzarote equipped with solar power.
L’O: What memories do you keep of your past projects such as Le Pigalle, Les Roches Rouges, and Rochechouart hotels?
HS: Le Pigalle was the first time people were going to judge our work. It is thanks to that project that we met Valéry Grégo, with whom we carried out some brilliant projects. He has become a friend. He really educated us on the hotel industry. It was the first time that we worked as a team with an artistic director. With Les Roches Rouges, Festen began an international turn. The Rochechouart was also a great adventure; a fairly long project with more than 100 rooms. We fell in love with the Art Deco building and its brasserie, which has remained in its original state. We reworked this place with this grand Parisian hotel aspect, whose outdated appearance we intensified. It’s not a trendy hotel; it’s a tourist hotel, and we thought about it a lot in this sense without making it a pastiche of the Moulin Rouge, while also respecting its neighborhood, Montmartre.
L’O: Which location would you like to add to your book?
HS: A place related to travel, such as a train, an old boat, or an airplane
