Kirk Nix creates hotel interiors in Macau that preserve sense of provenance
Designer responsible for creating the interiors of the Venetian, the Conrad, the Holiday Inn, and the Sheraton Grand Cotai says his approach is based around preserving a sense of history in a way that encourages guests to linger
DESIGNER Kirk Nix has been behind some pretty spectacular projects: his sweeping update of the 24,000 sq ft Bel Air home, Liongate, once owned by country singer Kenny Rogers, saw it being sold last year for US$46 million.
Then there was his rendering of the Italian Renaissance-inspired Hadrian Villa, a 12,000 sq ft supersuite at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas that comes with its own verdant private garden and grand indoor fountain.
And Nix, the founder of KNA Design headquartered in Los Angeles, is overseeing the design of a California home for an Asian billionaire that will be about 70,000 sq ft.
So Nix, clearly, knows a thing or two about scale – which makes him the ideal designer for the towering hotel edifices that are increasingly defining the Macau landscape. He was behind the designs of the Venetian, the Conrad, the Holiday Inn, and the Sheraton Grand Cotai – the latter of which, with its 4,001 rooms, is Macau’s largest hotel.
Given the demographic of Nix’s typical private residential client – well-heeled, extremely sophisticated, often owning multiple homes – his aesthetic is understandably luxurious. In working with major global hotel chains, he had to synthesise that vision with a more corporate one, while simultaneously pulling in something to fit the local environment.