Key information
World’s No. 2 hotel group
+30% sales
+14% in P.M
7 new spaces
153 renovated rooms
Hilton
Sixties Utopia
In 2024, Saguez & Partners renovated the Hilton Paris La Défense hotel. We reinterpreted the “French Glamour” codes of the 60s, when the CNIT was built. The overall design is both coherent and timeless. It includes interior architecture and the creation of the brand identity Muses, the hotel’s bar and restaurant.
Reviving the soul of a place and its history
Built in 1956, the CNIT is a magical place for any architecture enthusiast. Imagine a 218-meter vault, without a single pillar! In 2024, Saguez & Partners undertook the complete renovation of the hotel: two years of work on an occupied site, on a limited budget. From the rooms to the restaurant and the lobby, the hotel pays tribute to the imagination of the Trente Glorieuses, thanks to a contemporary rewriting of the codes of that era.
Refuge from the hustle and bustle
At odds with the hustle and bustle of the la Défense district, a busy, mineral, almost aggressive area, the hotel has been designed as a sensory and emotional bubble. Light, materials and organic shapes welcome us into a warm, intimate space. The lobby revolves around a large circular space comprising the reception area, a working lounge, restaurant and bar. The design concept imagined by the agency resonates in harmony with this central rotunda, both in the choice of materials and in the intended uses. From a single-purpose hotel, the Hilton Paris La Défense becomes a place with a multitude of spaces designed to provide accommodation and food, but also to concentrate, work and meet colleagues in a moment of suspended animation.
Change without changing everything
The challenge? Renovate while preserving a maximum of materials in the exterior, ceilings and floors. Our team of interior designers worked with light to lighten the existing ceilings. All around the large glass roof, they enhanced the pink granite by working on the colorimetry of the new materials in a palette of powdery pinks and muted hues that harmonize the whole. Instead of removing the existing walls, they were covered with curtains. A considerable time and cost saving in this comprehensive renovation.
The question of architectural reuse is central. The role of the designer is to imagine new uses in order to meet the challenge of sustainable transformation for certain emblematic sites that are difficult to transform.”
Boris Gentine, creative managing director and partner, Saguez & Partners
60’s chic and elegance, French style
The large 13-meter fresco, blending bold geometry and organic forms, echoes the curves of the CNIT vault. After exploring numerous names symbolizing the visionary spirit of the 60s, les Muses was chosen for its local and cultural relevance, and its rich narrative potential.
Our modern vision of the Muses: iconic women who push boundaries to chart their own course. We selected 30 daring personalities from the 60s and beyond, from the arts, science, sport, music and gastronomy, such as the world’s #1 ranked pastry chef Nina Métayer. Their lives and achievements form a rich narrative tapestry, inspiring a coherent brand experience. Through the creations of the chef, sommelier and mixologist, we share these stories, reminding us that we can all be our own Muses.
Under the CNIT vault, Hilton Hotel pays tribute to the ingenuity of the Glorious Thirty and 1960s Paris.
