Asian fusion - the rebirth of 19 Avenue Kléber

A gaunt gentleman twirling an ashplant under one arm saunters down Avenue Kléber in central Paris. Warm evening light spills through the trees lining the pavement, catching on his spectacle rims and bouncing off the shiny wheels of a slowly passing motorcar. It is 19 May 1922, and James Joyce is on his way to dinner at the Hôtel Majestic.

Proust, Picasso and Stravinsky also attended that evening's festivities - tempted to a private dinner party at the grand beaux arts hotel by British art patron couple Violet and Sydney Schiff. Joyce, it is reported, arrived a little the worse for wear, claiming, "I cannot enter the social order except as a vagabond."

For most hotels, such an eminent gathering would mark an unparalleled historical high point; however, for 19 Avenue Kléber - designed by Armand Sibien to be the most prestigious hotel in Paris - the evening barely even registers as a footnote. Built during Haussmann's great renovation of central Paris and located in the city's 16th arrondissement, it has successively served as a grand hotel, the German military high command during the occupation of France, UNESCO's HQ and, for the latter half of the 20th century, a conference centre for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which the Paris Peace Accords ending US involvement in the Vietnam War were signed.

But despite its grand design and long list of auspicious occupants, 19 Avenue Kléber was allowed to fall into disrepair. In 2007, Qatari Diar, a property investment firm wholly owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, purchased the building for approximately €400 million. A year later, Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels, owners of the Peninsula Hotel chain, bought a 20% share. It is the East-Asian brand's first foray into the European hotel market, the idea being to restore the building to its former status as a grand Parisian hotel, only this time called the Peninsula Paris. It is due to open on 1 August.

Memory serves

Richard Martinet, senior partner at Affine Architecture & Interior Design, was the man chosen by Peninsula to reconstruct much of the hotel. Having worked on the Parisian Shangri-La, George V and Pershing Hall, he certainly had all the right credentials. But 19 Avenue Kléber presented a special challenge: the magnificent beaux arts design and fragments of history that haunt the building must be celebrated, yet this also had to be a new Peninsula hotel, embodying the Asian brand's oriental style and fame for modern luxury. How could Martinet and his team harmonise such seemingly competing interests?

"This is a contemporary hotel that hasn't lost its memory," says Martinet. "We wanted to give the impression that this hotel is for tomorrow rather than yesterday; at the same time, we didn't want to hide or destroy anything of interest from the past."

Primarily responsible for the architectural design of overtly historical areas, Martinet and his team have blended the elegance of Parisian Belle Époque design with a modern touch. In the lobby entrance hall, swirling patterns of elaborate gold kilting adorn cornices and columns, yet the white marble flooring is distinctly contemporary, and the furniture will leave guests in no doubt that they are well and truly in the 21st century.

The exterior facade's creamy white masonry features gorgeously carved stone flowers, bows and ribbons, all beautifully restored and elegantly encapsulating Paris circa 1910 - yet, once inside their softly lacquered rooms, guests are treated to modern art works and the latest in high-end luxury.

But while merging beaux arts with a more modern aesthetic grants the Peninsula Paris access to the best of both worlds, bringing the two together harmoniously can prove difficult. The new design features a rooftop restaurant named L'Oiseau Blanc - themed on the ill-fated 1927 French biplane that failed to make the crossing between Paris and New York - offering stunning panoramic views of Paris thanks to a largely transparent glass and steel structure. Joining the curvature of this distinctly modern design with the original arched roof, all of which had to be dismantled and rebuilt, required extremely careful work. Mistakes, Martinet recalls, were "very easy to commit".

As a prominent new feature on one of Paris's most iconic avenues, La Terrasse Kléber, a long external terrace offering direct pedestrian access from Avenue Kléber to the hotel's main lobby also presented challenges. The architects had to somehow fuse the original Haussmannian facade and surrounding streetscape with a vast new canopy that would protect guests from the weather - the terrace doubles as a cafe - as well as conveying a more contemporary aesthetic.

"We had a lot of discussions with the city of Paris and the historical society to try to find the right solution," says Martinet. "Everybody agreed we had to bring an aspect of modernity into the design, but we wanted to find something that wasn't too aggressive for the environment."

After much consideration, a steel and glass canopy was constructed. The stark metallic shafts and sharp angles certainly stand out against the Haussmannian balustrades and ornate masonry, yet, somehow, the structure complements rather than competes with the original building. Its transparency also lends it an unobtrusive air.

Think Paris

Peninsula's own set of design standards, which stretch to an impressive 25 volumes, also feature prominently throughout. Most striking is the Cantonese restaurant, a staple of all Peninsula hotels. Designed by Henry Leung of Hong Kong-based Chhada Siembieda Leung, its deep red drapes, dark marble columns and central dome inspired by a Shanghai sound stage gives a dramatic and uncompromisingly Chinese feel.

"Peninsula is a Chinese company and they really 'think Chinese', whereas a lot of their competitors have a far more international outlook," says Martinet.

"Henry is a Chinese designer, and as well as the Chinese eatery, he was also overlooking the design concepts for the guest rooms, corridors and restaurant. The origin of these concepts is essentially how a Chinese designer 'thinks Paris'. If you look at the mouldings on the wall decor, it's not French; it comes from another inspiration."

Peninsula claims its 200 guest rooms - including 34 suites - will be among the largest in the city, each containing a dressing room and walk-in closet, along with a bedroom area, living room and bathroom. Soft-grey and cream hues, grand ceilings and glossily lacquered furnishings add to the Parisian flavour, while bedside and desk tablets lend a more modern touch.

Peninsula's insistence on luxury has also led to some major building work. Three new underground levels were excavated to house a 1,800m² spa replete with a 20m pool, fitness centre and private treatment rooms. Personal gardens, new staffing areas and a garage were also created.

On the whole, Martinet believes the Chinese and French design teams managed to work well together: "We had a good feeling with Henry and a good collaboration; I'm quite sure the final design will be very homogenous," he says. "Chinese guests will no doubt notice some Asian elements, while Europeans will see things they recognise."

Only the slightest wrinkle of strain is revealed, with Martinet describing working with the Chinese team on a Parisian project as a "bit more difficult" than his collaboration with Frenchman Pierre-Yves Rochon for the Shangri-La.

The Peninsula Paris forms part of a growing number of Hong Kong brands opening hotels in France's capital - Shangri-La and Mandarin Oriental entered the market in 2010 and 2011 respectively. While each new property presents a unique design challenge, the underlying tensions between grand European buildings and 21st-century Asian brands tend to remain. And with Peninsula recently announcing its intention to purchase a London property - an old office block in Belgravia, just steps from Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park - it doesn't look like we'll have to wait too long to see them played out again.