December 20, 2022
3 of Metropolis’s Favorite Hospitality Projects of 2022
ARGO Hong Kong Layers Eclectic Pieces to Form a Tactile, Glamorous Whole
Overlooking Victoria Harbour, the bar contains 136 illuminated glass vitrines that hold the establishment’s collection of rare spirits.
By Catharine Shaw
It’s never easy when you’re asked to re-invent an icon. Yet Hong Kong architects and interior designers AB Concept didn’t hesitate when commissioned to transform the renowned Blue Bar at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong into ARGO, an all-day dining space and cocktail bar.
The design studio’s cofounder Ed Ng had once frequented the original bar—a sophisticated retreat designed in 2005 by Wilson Associates, often filled with patrons from the nearby financial district. He seized the opportunity to change not only the look but the layout too, shifting the bar to face the window and make the most of the spectacular Victoria Harbour views….Read the full story here
Luxury Quonset Huts and Airstream Trailers Encapsulate Joshua Tree’s Off-Grid Essence
At AutoCamp, a high-end “glamping” venture in the Southern California desert, utilitarian forms and luxe touches blend with the natural desert landscape.
By Sam Lubell
Most of us have heard of glamping—a.k.a. luxury “glamorous” camping—but few can name a company that actually offers it. Hospitality start-up AutoCamp is hoping to change that, opening locations around the country that immerse visitors in the outdoors while providing comfort and community in the form of upscale Airstream trailers and communal facilities. The Santa Barbara–based outfit has so far opened AutoCamps in the idyllic destinations of Cape Cod, Yosemite National Park, and Russian River (in Sonoma County, California), and has plans for dozens more. The newest: Joshua Tree, California, the fabled home of moon-size boulders, trippy cacti, and rocky blond desert.
For a team that included HKS (architecture), Narrative Design Studio (interiors), and AutoCamp’s own design staff, the first—and perhaps most challenging—task was to incorporate AutoCamp’s campground spirit and rustic-but-not-too-rustic offerings while creating a spot that authentically captured Joshua Tree’s brash, unpretentious ethos. After a few visits to the desert, they zeroed in on a logical centerpiece: Quonset huts, raw, proudly utilitarian, self-supporting curved and corrugated steel structures that dot the sparsely inhabited frontier and embody the area’s vibe. The Quonset’s curved form, adds HKS principal Mark O’Dell, also echoes the natural curves of Joshua Tree’s mountains and boulders….Read the full story here
1 Hotel is an Unexpected Oasis in Downtown Nashville
Behind a curtain of ivy, the new 1 Hotel in Nashville celebrates the natural beauty of local and sustainable resources.
By Anna Elise Anderson
A new hotel opened last week in downtown Nashville, bringing a rooted sense of place—and a literal breath of fresh air—to the concrete and glass metropolis. 1 Hotel Nashville sits behind a conspicuous, 880-foot curtain of living greenery on Demonbreun Street, directly across from the Music City Center and walking distance from the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Frist Art Museum. The hotel’s striking botanical exterior, designed with AgroSci and locally grown by East Nashville farm Optimara, includes a whopping 56,000 draped Hedera helix ivy plants.
Shielding the hotel’s facade from blazing sunlight, the plants form an eye-catching and unexpected oasis in the heart of one of the city’s most heavily trafficked areas. “We saw a space to fill as the first mission-driven luxury hotel in the city,” says Nicholas Farina, the hotel’s general manager. “Nature is our guide in all the things we do—inside and out.” The ivy provides several benefits in addition to curb appeal: it generates fresh oxygen, regulates the building’s temperature, and provides resistance from the impacts of weather, insects, and humans….Read the full story here
More Hospitality
Projects
Building New York’s First Passive House Community
The Catskill Project is a 90-acre community of carbon neutral homes designed with residents’ health and wellbeing in mind.
Projects
A New Housing Model for the Missing Middle
In Madison, Wisconsin, 301 Vanilla rethinks middle-income housing through prefabrication, low-carbon construction, and an architecture that prioritizes character over convention.
Projects
Gourmega Reconfigures the Communal Table
Designed by Mariam Issoufou for Ghetto Gastro cofounder Jon Gray, the restaurant uses a modular system of tables and a café-tasting room model to reshape communal dining across day and night.
Projects
In Rural Alabama, a ‘Connected Classroom’ Is a Portal to Possibility
Designed by architect Danish Kurani, the Connected Rural Classroom expands access to specialized instruction through architecture and technology.
Projects
On Maui, an Off-Grid House Is Tuned to Culture and Climate
Kupono Hale combines passive design, solar power, and local, upcycled materials in a new vision of Hawai‘i Contemporary.
Projects
The Boredom Factor: Rethinking Sustainable Design for Millennia
MIT’s Matter Design Lab and Cemex imagine a future where architecture is a reconfigurable artifact passed between generations.
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Electrolit’s Houston Headquarters Brings Guadalajaran Craft to a Texan Landmark
For Electrolit’s growing US operations, a team of Mexican, Spanish, and American architects reimagined a 1930 Spanish Revival structure in Houston
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BLDUS Unveils a Cork-Wrapped Home in a Washington D.C. Alley
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Dyani White Hawk Weaves Lakota Symbolism into Monumental Mosaics
The Minneapolis-based artist’s work can be seen in collections across the country, including large-scale installations at Portland International Airport and JFK Terminal 6.