The Avalon Lounge: An incredible interiors homage to the movie Passengers
It all started with an enquiry from Jennelle Derricotte, a US-based interior designer. She asked us to supply Film and Furniture’s officially licensed Hicks Hexagon carpet, famously seen in The Shining, for a project she was working on in Atlanta. Little did we know, this request would lead to one of the most spectacular entertainment spaces we’ve ever seen! It blew our minds, and we think it will have the same effect on you. Join F&F’s Paula Benson on a journey through time and space as she dives into the making of this remarkable project – an homage to the movie Passengers.
Jennelle from Specialized Interior Design first reached out to us in 2023 to discuss providing custom carpet for a project for her clients Erik LaValle (an engineer and design lover, currently Senior Director in Supply Chain Consulting with Alvarez and Marsal) and Tom Klein (Chief Marketing Officer of Matterport). She requested the colours of the Hicks Hexagon carpet, renowned for gracing the corridors of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, be reversed and customised to a specific pattern scale. We were intrigued. Why reverse the colours?
And then it hit us. In the 2016 sci-fi space-travel film Passengers starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, the spaceship Avalon features a grand, art deco-style bar. This luxurious bar, a nod to the Gold Room in The Shining includes a robot bartender Arthur (Michael Sheen) resembling the Overlook’s Lloyd and the Hicks Hexagon carpet with the colours swapped around.
Passengers Production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas wanted the bar to feel both inviting and classic while acknowledging the theme of interplanetary travel. Taking his cues from New York art deco bars which often feature friezes depicting the industrial age, Passengers bar depicts friezes and murals featuring space travel.
This idea of travel through time and space is also hinted at graphically on the wall coverings, carpet and tiles. Rich golds and reds are part of the colour journey of the film and create a sense of warmth and seduction, contrasting with the cold, hard and shiny white spaces elsewhere on the ship. Passenger Set Decorator Gene Serdena said “Guy uses the term ‘jewel box’. It perfectly describes this place that becomes a warm, intimate and romantic respite from the austerity and vastness of the spaceship, and there is constant companionship available in the form of automated bartender Arthur”.
Fast forward nearly a year, and Jennelle sent us photos of the finished interior project at Erik and Tom’s home. It turns out to be one of the most incredible homages to film we’ve ever seen! From the bar itself to the art deco space-themed wall and ceiling coverings, from the gold curved sofas to a grand piano and ‘The Shining‘ carpet, the attention to detail in recreating the Passengers bar is breathtaking. This project is a true testament to the power of film-inspired design.
Take a tour with Jennelle, Erik and Tom in the video below, where they explain to Paula why the Passengers inspired them so deeply and how they recreated this space as their vast, luxury entertainment room.
The spaceship in Passengers is called Avalon – a mythical island featured in the Arthurian legend. Tom and Erik have seemingly created their own mystical earthly paradise!
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Hicks’ Hexagon officially licensed carpet, designed by David Hicks, as seen in The Shining Overlook Hotel
Designer: David Hicks
Film and Furniture
Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Mike Flanagan
Officially licensed Hicks’ Hexagon carpet designed by legendary interior designer David Hicks as seen in The Shining Overlook Hotel. Sold by the square meter, made especially for Film and Furniture by the UK and USA’s only license holder of the original design.
Would you like create your own homage to the movie Passengers or indeed, The Shining? Fill in our Shining enquiry form to receive a quote for the Hicks Hexagon, Room 237 or Gold Room carpet or rug. We’d be happy to help.
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