Archinect - News

Jeffrey Beers International presents new leadership team following the death of its founder

2024-04-10T15:20:00-04:00

Jeffrey Beers International (JBI) has announced a new leadership team in the absence of its namesake founder, who passed away last month from cancer at the age of 67.

The firm has appointed partners Michael Pandolfi, Nora Liu-Kanter, and Tim Rooney as new leaders of the 37-year-old New York-based studio practice. Together, they will now lead a team of more than 50 staff members. Pandolfi is the company’s longest-standing employee among the group followed by Kanter, who first joined the office in 2002.

“Jeffrey's impact on our studio, the architecture and design industry, and countless communities around the world is immeasurable. We are coming together to support the firm’s continued growth — our collaboration not only harmonizes our diverse design approaches and deep market insights but also underscores our shared ethos and dedication to upholding Jeffrey’s distinctive aesthetic, devotion to design excellence, and genuine kindness for everyone he worked with,” they each said in a s...

Acclaimed architect Jeffrey Beers passes away aged 67

2024-03-22T11:59:00-04:00

New York's Jeffrey Beers International (JBI) has shared news that its founder Jeffrey Beers passed away from a battle with cancer on Monday, March 18th, at the age of 67.

A prominent figure in hospitality design and planning schemes, Beers began his career as an architect in I.M. Pei's New York office shortly before forming his own studio practice in the city in 1986. The next 38 years have seen its brand grow in influence to be synonymous with celebrity chefs and entertainers, corporate America, and international hotel brands.

Beers credited his Fulbright program mentor Oscar Niemeyer and former RISD professor glass artist Dale Chihuly among his influences as he pursued an architecture that suffused fine art, luxury, and a highly-tuned sensibility for good design.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been very fascinated by the intersection between architecture, design and art. Over the years I have collaborated with many artists, incorporating their work in a space but also bringing their...

Rowan Moore declares an aversion to Heatherwick’s London BT Tower hospitality makeover

2024-02-27T20:05:00-05:00

Its sale, for £275m, by BT to a hotel group, if it gives the tower a secure future, is welcome. I’m more troubled by the reports that the designer Thomas Heatherwick is to “repurpose” the building. His past work shows that he’s not one to leave well alone, but rather festoon structures with over-sized flower-pots and look-at-me swirling shapes. One can only hope that he discovers some restraint. The BT Tower is already an icon. It’s perfect. Let it be.

Readers will remember the critic's jabs at Heatherwick last fall after the publication of his new treatise on architecture and mental health, wherein Moore declared “an outbreak of shallow wannabe Gaudís” will follow in tow should the call-to-action be adopted.

That provocation isn't the first or even second time Moore has harshed the Vessel designer's creative schemes for the capital. In its defense, Heatherwick Studio has yet to detail any of the architectural extravagances Moore is lamenting after the project's February 22nd announcement.

Previously on Archinect: London’s BT Tower to be converted into a hotel by Heatherwick following MCR purchase

The conservation group C20 Society has offered its support for the £275 million project. If history is any guide, MCR's previous re-use of the TWA Hotel at JFK should steer the project away from any gauche gesturing and towards the Swinging London era anachronisms Moore champions nostalgically as "hopeful futurism."

...

Five rural California retreats by ANACAPA: Your Next Employer?

2023-10-16T13:10:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to Portland, MA-based Woodhull, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Santa Barbara this week to explore the work of ANACAPA.

From their studios across Santa Barbara, CA and Portland, OR, the firm has built a portfolio spanning hospitality, custom residential, creative offices, and urban infill mixed-use projects. The studio operates along three core values, namely ‘community’ (including improving the quality of life for current and future citizens), ‘innovation’ (including an open exchange of ideas, insights, and expertise), and ‘sustainability’ (including optimizing the social, cultural, and environmental impacts of space).

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for an architectural designer. For candidates interested in applying for the position, or anybody interested in learning about the firm’s output, we have rounded up five rural retreats by ANACAPA that exemplify the studio’s ethos.

Off-Grid Guesthouse. Image credit: Er...

Learning from Las Vegas’ new Sphere as it shines a light on the future of entertainment design

2023-10-02T15:24:00-04:00

The buzz that followed the recent debut of Populous' $2.3 billion Sphere in Las Vegas has provided one academic at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a valuable teaching opportunity to expose students to cutting-edge concepts integral to the future of high-tech spatial experience, urban development, and entertainment design.

“I’m excited to see some of my own students in the master of architecture program, have played a role in things like commissioning of the Sphere as part of their internships, looking at the building system performance,” Associate Professor of Architecture Glenn NP Nowak told the local affiliate KLAS-TV recently. “We have looked at the integration of digital technology, obviously it’s paramount when looking at that, it’s impossible to ignore and it shows that evolution we’ve seen throughout the Strip.”

Nowak serves as the founding director of the UNLV School o...

Carlo Ratti Associati blends old and new with the theories of Piranesi for its latest Italian design

2023-07-19T18:57:00-04:00

Carlo Ratti Associati has unveiled design details for its latest hospitality sector collaboration with Italo Rota located at the Monferrato UNESCO World Heritage site in Italy.

The studio’s new Roccia project reimagines a hilltop former monastery site in Piedmont into a new residential complex. The project relies on LIDAR scans to enable a new digitally-fabricated timber skin to be inserted amongst the 400-year-old brick ruins. CRA says this element of their design strategy “suggests a new approach for renovating historical buildings" while resolving a “harmony” between the natural and artificial.

Image render courtesy Carlo Ratti Associati

The team describes: "Roccia – the Italian word for “rock” – is a hilltop monastery-turned-farmhouse in the heart of the Piedmontese countryside. The site has been in decay since a fire broke out in the early 20th century. Decades of neglect have further deteriorated the bricks and invited moss, ivy and saplings to set in. Its current conditions ev...

BIG and ICON reveal new 3D printed collaboration with hotelier Liz Lambert in Texas

2023-03-08T15:05:00-05:00

BIG and prominent lawyer-turned-hotelier Liz Lambert have announced they will be teaming up with ICON on a new high-end hospitality project in Marfa, Texas.

The project will reshape Lambert’s 21-acre El Cosmico resort from a collection of disparate yurts, tents, and other small structures into a new, 65-acre development featuring dome-like parabolic dwellings made using ICON’s patented 3D printing technology.

El Cosmico. Image courtesy ICON

Austin’s Long Center for the Performing Arts will also benefit from the collaboration in the form of a new 3D printed performance pavilion that “reflects architectural design themes — cosmic organizations, perfect geometries, and organic forms” of El Cosmico. The new resort itself will be a mix of two-, three-, and four-bedroom homes between 1,200 and 2,200 square feet each, defined by organic curves and large arches. BIG says this is a ”primordial architectural language that can only be achieved by 3D printing.”

El Cosmico. Image courtesy ICON

El ...

Inside the 'robust' new Ace Hotel Toronto by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects

2022-08-05T12:42:00-04:00

The 123-room Ace Hotel has opened in Toronto, designed by acclaimed Canadian practice Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, recipients of the 2021 RAIC Gold Medal. Located in the city’s Garment District, the hotel adopts what the team calls a “robust, solid architecture” with a material palette including brick, concrete, steel, and oak.

Entrance. Photo credit: William Jess Laird

The 14-story building’s exterior is clad in red brick — a “statement of resistance against recent thin and glassy developments in the area,” according to the team The main entrance is marked by a sweeping undercroft detailed in brick, concrete, copper, and wood, while oversized glass windows bring views and natural light into the interior.

Front desk. Photo credit: William Jess Laird

Inside, the lobby features a series of poured-in-place, steel-edged concrete structural arches. Each frame terminates with an oversized industrial steel “knuckle” that transfers the load of the floors above from the arches to the foundation...

Sou Fujimoto’s new resort concept offers guests a revelatory experience of form and philosophy

2022-08-02T19:15:00-04:00

A few months removed from their grand House of Music debut in Budapest, Sou Fujimoto Architects has just unveiled concept renderings and a project website of an undulating coastal resort design on Okinawa’s Ishigaki Island for the Japanese hospitality brand NOT A HOTEL.

The circular home concept includes four bedrooms arranged around an open-air combined living/dining room that includes an island kitchen and panoramic views of the ocean. Its green roof gives way to an internal courtyard that is defined by a 12-meter (40-foot) infinity pool and framed by a singular symbol tree. The construction will equal more than 3,000 tsubos, or about 106,000 square feet, upon its completion, which is scheduled for next summer.

Image courtesy Sou Fujimoto Architects

As mentioned in the project announcement, the design’s near-poetic expression of natural geometries and landscaping is conducive to improved circulation throughout while simultaneously breaking the indoor-outdoor threshold in a refresh ...

High Line developer Robert Hammond joins Therme as the company unveils a $350 million wellness theme park for NYC

2021-10-27T13:51:00-04:00

Luxury spa designer Therme Group is making a big splash as it looks to expand into the U.S. for the first time.

The megaspa makers are back with a new design that would add a “wellness theme park” to the city as part of a $350 million development proposal. That effort will be overseen by former High Line developer Robert Hammond, who has officially joined Therme according to reporting yesterday in Crain’s and the New York Post.

Hammond noted the public’s demand for spaces that come in the form of “a park and a botanical garden and a gathering place and programming,” adding that, like the High Line, Therme “combines nature, community, well-being, and art together.”

“As someone who understands firsthand the healing power of nature and the importance of mindfulness, I believe everyone needs a place where they can comfortably and affordably reconnect with themselves, nature, and the environment around them,” he added.

The group is actively searching for waterfront space in Manhattan an...

Foster + Partners unveil designs for Shurayrah Island in Red Sea

2021-02-12T11:17:00-05:00

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Chairman of The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), has launched the Coral Bloom concept, a "regenerative tourism project" designed by Foster + Partners. The main hub island at the destination, Shurayrah, has been designed to blend in with the island’s vibrant landscape.

"Our vision for Shurayrah is inspired by the island’s natural state, with the hotels designed to give the impression that they have washed up on the beaches and nestled among the dunes almost like driftwood," said Gerard Evenden, Head of Studio at Foster + Partners. "The materials we use are low impact and ensure that the pristine environment is protected, while the additions we make to the island serve to enhance what is already there – hence the name, Coral Bloom."

The island will hold 11 hotels, designed with post-COVID implications in mind, with features such as larger spaces. The design omits high-rise buildings and the village-style resorts will be created with lightweight ...

Gensler designs an Atari Hotel for Las Vegas

2020-10-20T15:18:00-04:00

With the hotel industry looking to regroup due to the effects of the recent pandemic, architecture firms are continuing with upcoming hospitality projects as team with innovation and hospitality groups.

This month, Gensler and GSD Group announced its collaboration with Atari® Hotels. GSD Group is an innovation and strategy hospitality group based in Scottsdale, Arizona. They have already secured their plans to construct future Atari Hotels in Austin, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle, according to Atari Hotels.

Atari Hotel. GIF courtesy of Gensler/GSD Group

Front Entrance: Image render courtesy of Gensler/GSD Group

Although their recent collaboration and planning details are still emerging, many have already expressed excitement towards the highly anticipated video game classic inspired hotel. According to a statement from Atari, the 400-room "family-friendly" hotel will be teeming with "retro-futurism, pop culture, and nostalgia." GSD Group's Managing Partner Shel...

Engineers praise balanced form of ZHA's One Thousand Museum in Miami

2020-02-24T12:40:00-05:00

Engineering News-Record (ENR), a leader reporting news and projects in the construction industry, has recently announced its 2020 ENR Awards of Excellence. Judges have selected 20 winners for this year's "Best of the Best Projects" competition. Among those 20 honorees, Zaha Hadid Architects' One Thousand Museum was chosen as the winner for the Residential/Hospitality category.

As Archinect reported earlier this month, the tower's structural design consists of a volume and facade engineered to withstand Miami's sometimes devastating environmental conditions.

As stated by ZHA's project director Chris Lepine in an interview hosted on the ZHA website, the tower's formal attributes come out of a balanced blend between structure and form. Lepine states, "What you see is literally structure getting thicker and thinner, as needed. There's a continuity between the disciplines, between the architecture and engineering, to create that impression."

Acco...

Atari has announced its first video game-themed hotel

2020-01-28T17:47:00-05:00

The legendary video game company, Atari has just announced a deal it's made with GSD Group, an innovation and strategy agency, and producer Napoleon Smith III, "to acquire the rights to build video game-themed Atari Hotels in the United States, with the first location breaking ground in Pheonix, AZ later this year." The new hotels will provide guests with immersive experiences using technologies such as Virtual and Augmented Reality. Some of the planned locations will also include venues to host e-sporting events.

Phoenix-based real estate developer True North Studio is currently collaborating with Apple co founder Steve Woznaik's Woz Innovation Foundation to develop the first hotel, due to break grown later this year. According to Atari Hotels, additional developments are planned in Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, and San Jose.

"We are thrilled to partner with GSD Group and True North Studio to build the first-ever Atari branded hotels across the United ...

Kengo Kuma-designed Ace Hotel Kyoto will open this spring

2020-01-28T14:14:00-05:00

Ace Hotel Kyoto is getting ready to welcome its first guests, and just in time for the high-travel season for the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer. The boutique hotel chain collaborated with Kengo Kuma and Commune Design for the 213-room hotel, which is part new-build and part historic structure that formerly housed the Kyoto Central Telephone Company, which was originally designed by iconic modern architect Tetsuro Yoshida in the 1920s. First announced in 2018, Ace Hotel Kyoto marks the company's first location in Asia.

Guest room seating area. Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson.

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson.

Inspired by the ancient capital's abundance of nature, art, attention to craft, and profound history, the hotel will feature a lobby, multiple garden courtyards, a gallery, event spaces, collaborations with local artists, a cafe, and three standalone restaurants. Kengo Kuma updated the historic building with a wooden grid system and louvers and meshes that gently filter in natural light ...