At times, the hustle and bustle of city living can seem all-pervasive; spaces that take you away from the concrete jungle into a whole new world are few and far-between. However, stepping into Ophelia – the mysteriously opulent bar located in Wan Chai’s new Lee Tung Avenue development – whisks you out of the city and onto a lavish flight of fancy that’ll leave you wondering if you’re even still in Hong Kong.
Following on from his successes at similarly immersive Bangkok venues Iron Fairies and Maggie Choo’s, and with another two new venues set to open in Hong Kong later this year, Ophelia’s creative mastermind Ashley Sutton tells us more about the inspiration and ethos behind his escapist worlds.
My inspiration comes from my mind – it’s my own worst enemy and torments me constantly with boredom of the world today. From as early as I can remember, I have always had trouble sleeping as every minute my mind takes me into hundreds of scenarios and places. I have at least a dozen exciting ideas for concepts in my head at any given time. Most of them are severely detailed and every now and again, I get the chance to turn them into reality.
You need to take yourself into another world and create a space based on your visions and dreams, then put it into reality and never lose sight of it along the journey.
When I see a space, I feel the journey and experience of the surroundings and once I step inside, my mind will combine the space with an appropriate concept; within minutes, it’ll go through every detail of the design until I can envision customers walking in and experiencing the space themselves. It takes about an hour to get 80% of the details down and the rest will appear whilst building the venue.
Design, visual details, colours, lighting and service are the most important aspects in creating an environment that takes people to another world.
The biggest challenge in creating a truly transformative space is time – it’s never on your side. Plus, lack of the right materials and technology.
Ophelia was inspired by the magnificent beauty and elegance of the peacock, along with a poor Chinese shopkeeper and his devoted love for his prized peacock and collection of birds. I also looked at Hong Kong’s history and culture, taking inspiration from its 19th-century upscale opium dens.
One of my favourite details in Ophelia is its bar rails. I wanted to create the leg textures of a bird so I played around with cutting steel pipes, re-welding and grinding them to create a reptile-like finish. It also breaks the contrast of the soft velvet that is supposed to represent the feather.
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