“Design is not just a profession,” says Pierre-Yves Rochon. “It is a way of seeing the world.”
This perspective has guided the revered Parisian interior designer throughout a career spanning more than four decades. In following this simple—though certainly not easy—premise, he has shaped the world of interiors, defining the very concept of living beautifully through his mastery of five-star hospitality and luxury residential design.
Raised in Brittany, on the rugged Atlantic coastline of northwest France, Rochon was a natural artist and a lover of music and film. Though his nascent dreams of becoming a film director were dashed when he failed to meet the math requirements to attend the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques, he soon discovered a new passion for interiors, at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts et Arts Appliqués in Paris. There, he learned to craft spaces much in the way a filmmaker creates a mise-en-scène.
In 1979, Rochon established his eponymous firm on that very notion: to design permanent movie sets. Nowhere would his dramatic style become more compelling—or transformative—than in hospitality. “[My hotels are] high drama, impactful, and always set the scene for social engagements,” he has said.
If his newest hotel, The Woodward, Auberge Resorts Collection—an urban oasis in the heart of Geneva designed in collaboration with The Bastion Collection—were a movie, its title might be La Grande Illusion. The historic lakeside property is intimate and classical, paying homage to Geneva’s artistic legacy, yet it embraces the city’s contemporary side too. It’s a careful balance, the kind that Rochon has turned into a trademark.
Indeed, like any good film, it is the fine details that create the big picture—and, in Rochon’s world, they must always connect to their setting. At The Woodward, the Alpine landscapes were an obvious source of inspiration, but Rochon went deeper, tapping into the city’s history and cultural identity. “Geneva’s legacy of craftsmanship and artistic sophistication shaped our material choices,” he says. “The use of rich wood finishes, deep green tones, and finely detailed fabrics reflects Geneva’s watchmaking tradition. The effect is one of discreet luxury, deeply rooted in place.”
One of the greatest challenges in creating The Woodward, he says, was reimagining its post-Haussmann-style limestone building—designed in 1901 by French architect François Durel—for a modern guest. “The structure originally lacked the openness needed for a contemporary hospitality experience,” Rochon says. Reconfiguring the interiors maximized natural light and created a fluid, welcoming layout; adding bespoke furnishings, rare artworks, and a sophisticated color palette breathed new life into the historic spaces.
Though Rochon is best known for designing luxurious hotels like The Woodward, his oeuvre is remarkably diverse, ranging from restaurants to residences and even a private yacht, Arados, but all possess the same drama and flair as his hospitality projects—and all of them follow the designer’s own personal tenets of good design. “We don’t design for trends,” he says unequivocally. “While the industry often moves through cycles, our focus remains on creating interiors that go beyond fashions.”
When it comes to residences, one gets the sense that Rochon believes his clients have a right to live every day as comfortably and exceptionally as they would at one of his hotels: Home should exhibit the same sense of balance between familiarity, comfort, emotion, and creative audacity as the most beautifully crafted penthouse. Building on the classic adage of form equals function, he argues that “every element must work together seamlessly, from functionality to architecture to materials, furniture, and art. A design is successful when it feels natural.”
That’s evident whether home is an Art Deco villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat—which Rochon designed with soft and creamy blues, greens, and yellows to reflect the Mediterranean landscape—or a modern residential tower in Miami, with miles of marble and glass in sinuous lines and soaring ceilings. However unique the style of each project may be, they always resonate “on an emotional level,” he says.
L’Atelier Robuchon
Rochon’s approach to restaurants, meanwhile, relies on the more theatrical design of his inner director. His signature concept for L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon restaurants around the world, for instance, was a collaborative effort with the late Michelin-starred chef that creates a cinematic dining experience with a stage-like platform in the open kitchen and dramatic materials like black lacquer. Even, and especially, here, functionality plays its part, not just for the chefs—for whom the lighting must be just right as they craft le boeuf Wagyu and lapin ballotine—but also for the diners: The focus is always on the dish, Rochon says.
The award-winning restaurants at The Woodward, which include The Bastion Collection’s L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Le Jardinier, are, in many ways, a perfect melding of all of Rochon’s guiding tenets: culturally relevant, unwaveringly hospitable, cinematically inspired, and even residential. Le Jardinier, in particular, showcases how Michelin-starred fine dining can be both comfortable and elegant, with its vibrant dining room, dressed in gentle blues and greens, opening up to a tree-fringed veranda hovering above Lake Geneva—a perfect spot for whiling away a long afternoon.
It’s all part of a script, so to speak, one whose carefully executed language encourages us to see and experience the world in a completely new way. Only in this film, there is no final scene, no rolling credits, no end. “True luxury is timeless, and part of that is ensuring that designs endure,” Rochon says. “The most successful interiors are those that tell a story that remains relevant for generations.”
The Woodward’s Bar 37 ‘Adonis’ Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
2 oz. sherry fino
1 oz. 9 di Dante sweet vermouth
1 oz. Marsala Superiore Florio
2 dashes orange bitters
1 orange peel
1 lemon peel
Directions
Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds and strain into a cocktail glass.
Finishing Touches
Garnish with a twist of orange and lemon, first squeezing the peels above the glass to extract the oils.
Variation
Macerate 3.5 oz. vermouth with four to five strawberries in a water bath at 140°F for 2 hours, then stir together and strain before using the mixture in the cocktail.