Hotel Interior Materials: Lobby Feature Walls, Backlit Bars, and Corridor Walls

Three areas, three different jobs

A hotel asks different things of its walls in different places. The lobby has to make a first impression. The bar needs a focal point that reads well at night. The corridors have to survive luggage carts, housekeeping trolleys, and years of traffic. These are the materials Roos International supplies for each.

Lobby feature walls

Lobby walls are seen up close and from across the room, so depth and texture matter more than pattern alone.

• Duchateau Inceptiv wood wall panels are joined and finished by hand, and Duchateau Pictura plays with light, shadow, and dimension; Pictura is offered with an optional Class A fire retardant.
• Interlam Art Diffusion panels add dimensional patterns to large feature walls and custom surfaces.
• ATI Fusion Textured Metal gives a metal finish that tested at flame spread 0 and smoke developed 0 (ASTM E84) and showed no wear after 4,000 Taber abrasion cycles.
• EcoDomo Milano hide leather tiles are ASTM E84 Class A and bring a soft, warm surface to lounges and reception areas.

Backlit bars and reception desks

A lit stone surface behind a bar or reception desk is one of the most recognizable hotel details. TransOnyx panels give the look of onyx at a fraction of the weight: they are about 80% natural stone powder bound with resin, weigh roughly 2 lb per sq ft at 8 mm, and let over 20% of light through. Panels are 48″ × 96″, 6 to 12 mm thick, and ASTM E84 Class A. Choose from the Alabaster, Bellissi, and Perla collections.

For an even glow, the manufacturer recommends LED strips about 4 in. behind the panel on a 6 in. grid, or sealed LED light panels 2 to 4 in. behind it. Test a sample with your lighting first, since each collection diffuses light differently. TransOnyx is for interiors only and should stay below 176°F. Use it on bar fronts and desk faces; a bar top needs full support underneath and should not carry heavy concentrated loads.

Corridors and back-of-house walls

Corridor walls take constant knocks. A finish that can be repainted in place, instead of stripped and replaced, keeps renovation cycles short.

• Texturglas woven glass textile wallcoverings install, then take paint. When the walls need refreshing, you repaint over the texture without removing it. They qualify for LEED credits.
• The Texturglas Wall Restoration System goes over rough or damaged walls (test an area first) and does not shrink, stretch, or deteriorate, which suits renovations of older properties.
• Novelio Mold-X adds an antimicrobial treatment against mold and bacteria for humid areas such as pool corridors and service halls.
• ATI MirroFlex 3D panels are ASTM E84 Class A and impact resistant (ASTM D5420), a good choice for wainscoting and elevator lobbies.

Samples and pricing

Most of these products can be sampled from their product pages; see how sampling works. Full-material pricing is given by quote, based on the project. Roos International is the Authorized Florida Distributor for every brand mentioned here and supplies hotel projects across the US. Designers can also see the materials, or pick up samples, at our Deerfield Beach showroom.