A Graduate with designs on hospitality

Award winning hotels are all in a days work for Roberta Fulford, a graduate from Northumbria’s 3D design degree.

Roberta Fulford's designs

Roberta graduated from Northumbria in 1994 with a first class honours degree in 3D design. She began her career as an Interior Designer for Décor Works Ltd in Preston where she worked for 5 years. She then moved to TFL International Ltd and worked for them as a Senior Interior Designer. During this time Roberta specialised in commercial design for the leisure industry which saw her working on all aspects of this industry from hotels and bars to restaurants and spas.

After gaining this specialist experience, 2003 saw Roberta set up her own company under her own name. A business which has gone from strength to strength Roberta tells us, “I have been lucky enough to win some exciting projects, mostly in the North of England.”
The largest and most recent of these is the Hotel Yang Sing Oriental. A hotel comprising of 48 suites located in Manchester's city centre.
“Yang Sing opened its door in July 2008 after several years of development.” Roberta tells us. “It is housed in a lovely Grade II Listed warehouse, which had been derelict for some time. My client, the owners of the famous Yang Sing restaurant in Manchester, appointed me as the project designer, choosing not to follow the traditional route of using an architect.”

There followed a couple of years of complex negotiations with the planners to arrive at a solution which was sympathetic to the building's structure. The work involved exposing the wonderful beams and cast iron columns and hiding the many cables and ducts in the floor.
“The style of the hotel is classic contemporary with a touch of colonial Shanghai oriental style but I tried to avoid creating a 'theme' hotel.” Roberta explained, “There are some unique pieces such as the reception counter which I made from left over beams from the building. I collaborated with a chainsaw sculptor to form the huge curved counter, which is the first thing one sees when entering the building. It had to meet current Disabled regulations and so its form had to suit aesthetic, practical and official demands.”

Since opening, the hotel has been well received and has just won the 'Best Conversion of a Listed Building' award from Manchester Council.

If you would like to take a look at Roberta’s work on the Yang Sing hotel their website is www.yangsingoriental.com.
You can also view a full portfolio of Roberta’s work on her company website www.robertafulford.com.

Date posted: February 12, 2009

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