In fifteen years, they created their style: resolutely chic, not bling-bling, with careful and comfortable details. With their eponymous interior architecture agency in the Principality, Emil Humbert and Christophe Poyet, play on several tables. This return to school is an example of that. Having delivered both a reception room called “Prince Rainier III” to the National Council and a luxury barge for the Belmont group, fitted out like the suite of a palace for the clients on board, who will sail in Champagne by end of the year.
In a few days in London, Christophe Poyet and Emil Humbert will receive an award rewarding their work at BeefBar in Milan, crowned with the title of “most beautiful hotel restaurant in Europe” this year. Opened in 2022, the establishment is located in a former seminary, Piazza del Quadrilatero, in the heart of the Lombard capital.
The rebirth of the African Queen
Their latest jewel, finally: the rebirth of the African Queen in the port of Beaulieu-sur-Mer. They revisited the places, reworking the codes of the legendary table of the Côte d’Azur: orange, terracotta, natural fibers, in a friendly spirit that they will transport to Dubai, where it is due to open, on a beach the year next, a new African Queen.
Before that, the first BeefBar in New York will be inaugurated at the end of the year. In a 1900 building with monumental arched windows, located in the TriBeCa district, the two architects developed a sophisticated atmosphere around the open kitchen. “Each time we take inspiration from the place where the restaurant opens. In Milan, we paid homage to Italian design from the 1930s. In New York, the identity of the building influenced us,” they explain in unison.
The AD effect
All these projects demonstrate the diversity of Humbert & Poyet’s projects. The Monegasque agency is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this year and has reached cruising speed “There were two of us at the start, there were around forty of us at one point, and we reduced the size to 35 people. The dynamic has changed, the format suits us better to keep time to invest in our projects, rather than not manage only the team”.
The duo collaborated for the first time in 2008, to imagine the first BeefBar in Monaco, which sealed their professional alliance. “The second turning point in our collaboration was the 26 Carré Or”, remembers Christophe Poyet. Opened in 2020, the residential building overlooking Place du Casino was entirely fitted out and decorated by the tandem. “It was the first time that we were entrusted with such a large-scale and luxurious project in Monaco,” adds Emil Humbert.
In 2018, the magazine AD, the supreme reference in the profession, ranks them in its top 100 professionals in the sector who matter. And entrusts them with a scenography in their AD Interiors project, presented in Paris. Event with high media coverage and very Instagrammed! “It brought us a lot of visibility,” assures the duo.
A business card that has attracted new customers, particularly for residential projects. Example ? In Monaco, the two architects have been working for several months on the development of a villa and apartments for clients in future buildings in the Mareterra district.
On their desks, jostle pell-mell: a penthouse in New York, a chalet in Saint-Moritz for owners fond of the Humbert & Poyet style.
“More and more, customers are asking us for a total layout. That is to say, we also choose for them all the small decorations, textiles, household linen, plates, and even books in the library”, slip the architects. With this in mind, before the end of the year, they will open a virtual gallery selling unique or favorite pieces first found to enhance their creations, and also offered for direct sale to everyone.
A heading towards the United States
In recent years, the Humbert & Poyet style has also been used in the hotel world. First with the Hoxton hotel in the heart of Paris. Then the Monegasque agency was commissioned to design the Josun Palace in Seoul, Korea. A vast hotel with a skybar and luxurious suites. They are currently designing the restaurants and private apartments of the future Mandarin Oriental, a palace opening in Vienna in a former administrative building in the Austrian capital.
Also in their sights is the redesign of a hotel in Santa Monica, California. A project that could open the door to the North American market for them. “There is a place there for architects and the European style that is sought after”.
With already the completion of a penthouse for a private client in New York and the opening of BeefBar in the heart of Manhattan, the Humbert & Poyet style should start to be talked about on the other side of the Atlantic…
Christophe Poyet, CFAI architect, graduate of the Charpentier Academy, and Emil Humbert, DPLG architect, graduate of the Paris-Belleville National School of Architecture, set up their agency in 2008 in the Principality. Photo Claire Israel.
Atmosphere at the Beefbar in Milan, voted this year “the most beautiful hotel restaurant in Europe”. Photo Francis Amiand.
2023-10-10 07:42:00
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