Photography by Alexis Armanet
Riviera Glamour by Caprini & Pellerin
HOSPITALITY PROJECTS
Some projects don’t just restore a place, they resuscitate a myth. At Palm Beach in Cannes, Casino Royal Palm has always carried a particular kind of Riviera glamour, the kind built on ritual, performance, and the soft electricity of people dressing up simply because it’s Tuesday and the night might turn cinematic. Now, reimagined by Caprini & Pellerin, the iconic casino is reborn with a design language that understands what New Romanticism really asks for: atmosphere with intent, and elegance with a pulse.
Caprini & Pellerin approach the revival through a lens of Art Deco, but not as a period costume. Instead, they treat it as narrative structure, a way to frame theatre, seduction, and play. The result is vibrant, scenographic, and deliciously immersive, a setting that celebrates the allure of gaming while quietly choreographing the emotional experience of the room.
There’s an intelligence to how the project balances opposites. The interior is built on contrast, matt against gloss, opulence tempered by restraint, curves softened by geometry. Materials do the storytelling here: polished marble, textured plasterwork, patinated bronze profiles, waxed concrete, acoustic plaster, mouldings that hold the eye. It’s the kind of layered materiality that feels inherently romantic, not because it’s floral or frilly, but because it engages the senses in conversation.
Colour is one of the project’s most evocative gestures. A palette of peach shades runs through the space, drawn from the building’s own historical archives and echoing the original façade. It’s not “pretty”, it’s atmospheric, sun-warmed, nostalgic, slightly surreal. Those pastels and peach tones flow into textile patterns influenced by fashion, and into a geometric carpet that anchors the room with rhythm. This is romance by way of memory and mood, a colour story that feels both cinematic and strangely intimate.
And then there’s the stagecraft. The casino’s layout is designed for flexibility, a spacious main hall paired with more intimate areas and an entertainment zone with a bar and stage, all created to shift and adapt with ease. A curved bar stands like a leading character, finished with a parchment-like patina and topped with Botticino marble, crowned by a custom satin chandelier that leans into a burlesque note without tipping into parody. Even the curtain elements are inventive, including an ingenious solution made from inverted tin cones to allow the stage to reorient and transform the energy of the space.
What makes the New Romantic spirit land so well here is that the project isn’t afraid of theatricality. Two distinct entrances welcome guests, each offering a journey into its own universe, with draped accents and sculptural reception desks that nod to a whimsical, Wes Anderson-like sense of composed nostalgia. It’s playful, but never lightweight. It understands that romance is not just softness, it’s also tension, timing, and the deliberate build-up of anticipation.
There’s an art-world undercurrent too. You can feel that provocation in the design’s willingness to mix the refined with the unexpected. The project nods to Jean-Michel Frank and the clarity of American Bauhaus, while allowing touches of Dadaism and Surrealism to disrupt the obvious. That friction keeps the rooms alive.
Furniture and lighting are treated as part of the architecture. Playing furniture, sofas, and seating were specially designed by Caprini & Pellerin in stained oak of French origin. Tulip-shaped table lamps and floral bench seating add a feminine softness, while terracotta wall lights by artist Guy Bareff bring sculptural punctuation. A monumental fresco referencing Cannes gaming scenes dominates the main room, merging aesthetics with acoustic function, while a large arc-shaped curtain structures the space, separating table games and concealing slot machines with a deliberate sense of reveal.
Casino Royal Palm is a perfect case study in what romantic design looks like now. It’s not about decoration as a flourish, but about a fully authored world, one that holds heritage and reinvents it with seduction, humour, and confidence. Caprini & Pellerin haven’t simply reintroduced glamour to Palm Beach, they’ve made it feel contemporary again, and more importantly, they’ve made it feel like something you can step into and instantly become part of.
