Archinect - News

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...

Los Angeles City Planning Commission clears Convention Center and J.W. Marriot hotel expansion

2022-03-01T17:29:00-05:00

In a series of votes last week, the City Planning Commission has given the go-ahead to a more than $1 billion project which will simultaneously expand the Los Angeles Convention Center and adjoining J.W. Marriott hotel complex.

The long-awaited expansion led by a public-private partnership between the City of Los Angeles, AEG, and Plenary Group would see the construction of a Gensler-designed, 37-story hotel tower and conference center atop an existing parking garage. Combined with the neighboring J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotel, this project would be the second-largest hotel in California if built.

Previously on Archinect: An expansion of Downtown LA's Convention Center is once again underway

In addition to the hotel complex, plans call for spending more than $500 million on a Populous-led 700,000-square-foot expansion of the Convention Center. The project also includes public realm improvements to the surrounding area, overseen by Olin as the landscape architect. According to Urbanize, the developers aim to break ground on the project within the year, with construction of the hotel expected to occur over three years.

An expansion of Downtown LA's Convention Center is once again underway

2021-12-28T18:45:00-05:00

What once was an ambitious but abandoned expansion of Downtown Los Angeles’ Convention Center and Marriott Hotel has found a second life courtesy of a new proposal backed by a slate of big-name firms, according to a report from Urbanize LA.

Project renderings are emerging of a plan that would greatly enhance the existing site where a failed plan called Farmer’s Field had previously imagined a renewed site anchored by a professional football arena which later became the basis for SoFi Stadium.

An aerial view of the site. Image courtesy of Gensler.

Populous is in charge of the new site plan that calls for a total expansion of around 700,000 square feet (a 45% increase in the Convention Center’s total size) in the form of new multipurpose meeting spaces, an exhibition hall, parking garage, and pedestrian-friendly interventions along Pico Boulevard and Chick Hearn Court.

The expansion also includes significant improvements to the adjacent Gilbert Lindsey Plaza to be overseen by Olin.

A...

Architect Alan Lapidus, son of Morris Lapidus, passes away at 85

2021-10-25T19:42:00-04:00

On October 15, architect Alan Lapidus passed away in his home in Naples, Maine after battling prostate cancer. His legacy is often connected with his architect father, Morris Lapidus, and being "Donald Trump's architect." However, after working with his father for many years, he used those lessons and experiences he gained to establish a long architecture career designing hotels and casinos.

In a New York Times obituary written by Sam Roberts, he notes that even when Lapidus etched a name for himself while working at his father's firm, "Mr. Lapidus did not try to outdo his father, whose motto was 'Too much is never enough.' But he followed his advice, designing palatial lodgings and capacious gambling halls to create 'participatory theater,' he wrote, in which guests could 'indulge and fulfill their fantasies.'"

Alan Lapidus in 2018 speaking on his career and time working with Fred and Donald Trump while building the now-demolished Trump Plaza and Casino in Atlantic City. Image stil...

Now you can stay at the Palace of Versailles for $2,000 a night

2021-07-08T09:00:00-04:00

Looking to spend time and some pretty serious cash in Europe this summer? Longing to live the lavish life of a noble? Now you have the opportunity to do it at one of the most historic buildings in France after the Palace Versailles’ recent announcement that it will begin accepting visitors at a new entity called the Airelles Château de Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle.

Artnet news is reporting that stays in the 17th-century palace, which first was built as a private residence for King Louis XVI, can now be booked by members of the public for prices starting at $2,000 a night.

Le Grand Contrôle was built in 1681 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Image courtesy Airelles.

Architect Christophe Tollemer worked with the help of a committee of cultural institutions on the restoration of the 1681 Grand Contrôle building, which required an army of skilled craftspeople and artisans to work on parquets and stonemasonry that combine with handpicked antique furniture in order to craft a period-appropriat...

Have empty New York hotels and offices turned into 'perfect targets' for commercial real estate developers?

2021-04-23T13:30:00-04:00

Commercial real estate may have been hit hard this past year due to spikes in remote working and the emergence of "post-COVID ghost towns." However, has the opportunity for converting empty offices and hotels turned into a feeding ground for developers? Must the solution always result in some form of housing option? In a recent New York Times article C.J. Hughes reports on the possible future for offices and hotels that have been empty for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While he opens with the notion of plans for transforming these "eerily empty commercial structures and converting them to housing of some kind and perhaps other uses," who actually benefits from these conversions?

Beyond renovation costs and safety requirements, Hughes provides more details on the growing opportunities within New York commercial real estate. He connected with the managing principal of Metroloft Management, Nathan Berman, who shared, "Covid has expedited the ultimate repurposings," and these em...

LA City Council continues to convert hotels into interim housing thanks to Project Homekey

2020-12-15T14:51:00-05:00

In alignment with Project Homekey, LA County's efforts to provide temporary housing pushes forward as the city uses over $68M in grant funding plus $37M in local matching funds to purchase hotels located in the Los Angeles area. In October, the city had acquired ten hotels located in the West Adams, Exposition Park, North Hills, Reseda, Westlake, El Sereno, Harbor Gateway, and Chatsworth areas.

Initial planning steps were reported in September 2020 by Urbanize LA. The group shared the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted towards the "acquisition and renovation" of properties through Project Homekey. "Under the rules of the Project Homekey program - which provides $600 million in grant funding for hotel purchases statewide - individual jurisdictions are required to provide local matching funds for all acquisition costs over $100,000 per unit."

Los Angeles. Photo © Anthony Brown from Pexels

The county is required to complete the acquisition process of each selected hotel by D...

Hotels face mass closures due to COVID-19

2020-09-23T12:19:00-04:00

The Luxe Rodeo Drive is the first high-end hotel in the Los Angeles area to go out of business because of the pandemic, and industry experts point to an unusually high loan delinquency rate among hotel borrowers as a sign that more closures are likely to follow.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the drastic decline of tourism and travel has "devastated" the hotel industry. "High-end hotels have also closed in other parts of the country, including the 44-story Hilton Times Square hotel in New York City, which went out of business this month," writes Los Angeles Times' Hugo Martín.

9 Great Hospitality-Focused Architecture Job Opportunities That Are Awaiting Your Applications

2019-04-25T16:30:00-04:00

Are you an architect or designer looking for an job that focuses on hospitality projects? Whether it's high-end hotels, fine dining, or local restaurants/bars, the hospitality sector offers a wide variety of project types to create unique and memorable experiences for visitors. This week, we have gathered up some exciting hospitality-specific opportunities currently active on Archinect Jobs.

L'escale. Image © Greewich Hospitality

Greenwich Hospitality is hiring an Architect
Location: Stamford, CT
The ideal candidate is responsible for performing all phases of architectural work including planning, designing and overseeing new construction projects. This position also includes new building designs, extensions, alterations, restorations and conservation from the earliest stages right through to completion.

Squares in New York. Image © Reunion Goods & Services

Reunion Goods & Services is hiring a Junior Architect
Location: Portland, ME
The ideal candidate will participate in a wide range of...

Zaha Hadid Architects’ Morpheus hotel in Macau to open tomorrow

2018-06-14T17:40:00-04:00

Opening its doors tomorrow, the Morpheus hotel is already set to become one of Macau's most opulent addresses. Located on the southern edge of China, the area often touted as the "Las Vegas of Asia" has become the region's most popular entertainment destination, welcoming more than 32 million tourists a year and housing a new breed of mega, casino resorts that make the ones in Nevada look modest.

Photo by Virgile Simon Bertrand.

Joining their ranks, the Morpheus hotel will very soon be adding another 770 hotel rooms and sky villas to City of Dreams, a massive 1,400-room integrated resort complex on the Cotai Strip. It is the final chapter for Melco Resorts and Entertainment’s sprawling resort development, and also happens to be one of the final buildings designed by the late Zaha Hadid. Intimately involved with the project prior to her passing, the 150,000-square-meter, 40-story complex is complete with all the posh details one has come to expect.

Photo by Ivan Dupont.

With its openin...

Draped in a fritted glass “curtain”, the Sage Hotel in Melbourne by ACME

2018-04-24T18:56:00-04:00

Located in the affluent Melbourne suburb of Ringwood along Maroondah Highway, the Sage Hotel is the next phase of ACME's ongoing redevelopment of the Eastland mixed-use town center. The center first opened in 2015.

The Sage Hotel is a simple volume whose structure is constrained by existing columns and beams. It consists of 120 hotel rooms over six floors, which are enveloped in a white fritted glass facade.

Photo: Michael Gazzola.

Designed with a curtain-like appearance, the facade's fritted pattern helps limit its solar gain. Additionally, it offers views — and provides external privacy — for the hotel rooms.

The facade's draped effect was created by using two different fabric pattern templates, ACME describes. “The vertical folds and the perforations suggest lightness, and an abstract sense of movement.” At night, the building is illuminated with filtered waves of light coming from the hotel rooms.

Photo: Michael Gazzola.

Photo: Micha...

From rotary phones to martini bars, the new TWA Hotel at JFK Airport travels back to 1962

2018-04-24T11:42:00-04:00

It was 1962 all over again at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport yesterday. After three years in development, the public got a first glimpse of the highly anticipated TWA Hotel—and it’s groovy. With the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center as its centerpiece and spiritual core, the 512-room hotel is poised to be a shrine to the so-called golden age of travel.

Connected to Eero Saarinen's TWA Flight Center, the new TWA Hotel plays up its architectural history — from the authentic Saarinen-designed Womb Chairs in each guest room to the rotary telephones. Certainly, the four-star plus hotel is equipped with contemporary amenities, like 512 “ultra-quiet” guest rooms with soundproof glass, conference space for up to 1,400 people, a museum devoted to the Jet Age, and a rooftop observation deck and pool, to name a few.

ACME-designed Canopy Hotel to tell the story of East London's Aldgate neighborhood

2018-01-31T15:36:00-05:00

Canopy London is the latest venture from the Hilton group's new "lifestyle brand," Canopy by Hilton, that caters to a younger, more tech-savvy traveler with a strong emphasis on local design. Guests are gifted local goodies—like Garrett's Popcorn if you're spending the evening in Chicago, or some Rocky Mountain treats when in Denver. The swanky hotel bars host daily happy hours slinging out local craft beers and the guest rooms are decorated with a focus on regional design.

Courtesy of ACME.

Expected to open later this year, Canopy London will tap into the story of the city's Aldgate neighborhood, where it will be located. The area dates back to Roman settlements and was followed by successive waves of immigrants, e.g. 18th century Huguenots, 19th century Jews and 20th century Bangladeshis. In the 1880s, Jack the Ripper roamed its streets. Today, the district is a mixture of centuries-old buildings as well as modern office towers.

Courtesy of ACME.

Headed by the firm...

Oppenheim Architecture opens Emiliano Hotel overlooking famous Copacabana Beach

2018-01-22T15:12:00-05:00

Copacabana has conjured images of beauty, sand and ocean, long before Barry Manilow was singing its praises. Capitalizing on some of the best beach-adjacent real estate north of Havana, the Emiliano Hotel enlisted the help of Oppenheim Architecture for the hotel brands new location on Rio de Janeiro's most famous beach.

The Miami-based studio has designed the hotel to try to make the most of its historic outlook. "The project fronts one of the most beautiful views in the world while being surrounded on three sides by dilapidated apartment buildings from the 1950’s. Through simple yet powerful spatial manipulations, the hotel optimizes its beneficial attributes while subverting its negative forces" the firm stated.

The 90-room hotel features a distinctive façade with weatherproof panels that can open and close to the requirements of each guest. The interiors, designed by Brazilian architect Arthur Casas, feature large windows that allow the flow of ...

WOHA builds Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel extension in just 26 days

2017-08-22T15:32:00-04:00

WOHA unveiled the latest photos of their 103,495 square-foot extension for the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport (CPCA) hotel in Singapore. The extension was completed in a mere 26 days, according to the firm; quite the accomplishment considering the constrained site at one of the world's busiest airports. Completed last year, the 243-room hotel extension is Singapore's first private-sector commercial project that uses pre-fab, pre-finished volumetric construction techniques.

Photo © Patrick Bingham-Hall.

Client OUE Hospitality Trust found that “using the PPVC method has slashed manpower requirements on site by as much as 45 percent. It added that the use of PPVC has shaved off 17 percent in overall construction time, with about 40 percent in manpower savings,” WOHA describes.

Photo © Patrick Bingham-Hall.

Photo © Patri...

Gensler's proposed mixed-use Downtown Los Angeles tower to incorporate low-income housing

2017-02-07T13:25:00-05:00

Fifty-two stories, four visually distinct sections, and one playful, gaping hole constitute the major components of Gensler's proposed new 300+ unit residential building for downtown Los Angeles, which would rise from the ashes of a (soon-to-be) former auto dealership on 1600 South Figueroa Street. The 1.14 acre site would play host to the mixed-use building, which would feature 9,000 square feet of retail space in addition to a 3,000 square foot restaurant and a hotel.

The residential units are a mixture of condos and rentals, and include several units set aside specifically for low-income residents. The very top of the tower features a playful, asymmetrically-placed hat-like assembly of penthouses, distinguishing it visually from the more restrained neighboring towers to the north (and creating a weird dialogue with the convention center).

Is Snøhetta's "7th room" 2017's coolest (literally and figuratively) treehouse?

2017-01-19T14:10:00-05:00

Snøhetta's "7th Room" is an addition to the previously existing Treehotel in Northern Sweden. The tree-canopy-level, snow-blanketed room features a pretty cool assortment of sleek furnishings and views, whether you're standing on the ground looking up, or lounging on the fur-lined chairs looking out.

In addition to the tree that grows through the cabin, the arrangement of the rooms, centered around a netted terrace, gives "7th Room" a hyper-sophisticated treehouse vibe.

Gaudí envisioned a parabolic hotel apparently proposed for site of original WTC Twin Towers

2016-07-08T19:23:00-04:00

Dubbed the Hotel Attraction (according to Matamala’s recollection), Gaudí proposed a parabolic skyscraper towering over the city at 360 meters. It would have been the tallest building in the world until the completion of the Empire State Building. The exact location for the proposed tower is unknown, but a group of architects and historians argued that it was intended for the site of the first World Trade Center towers and put it forward for the Ground Zero memorial design competition in 2003.

Increasing development translates to more homeless housing

2016-05-18T13:06:00-04:00

When Amazon donated an empty South Lake Union hotel for use as a homeless shelter, it was investing in a model that Mary’s Place, the service provider, has perfected: turning vacant or transitioning buildings into temporary shelter.

According to decades of research conducted on real-life case studies, providing housing for the homeless is actually cheaper than not doing so. Thriving real estate markets also make it easier to provide permanent shelter, as noted in the article:

It’s perhaps counterintuitive, but Executive Director Marty Hartman says the boom times for the local real estate market have created more opportunities for Mary’s Place than the recession. As companies expand, it’s development more than abandonment that stocks the vacant building pool.

Seattle officials have begun to pivot toward 24-hour shelters as a new approach toward the issue. This is modeled after San Francisco’s Navigation Center, which houses people so they can devote their energy away from survival and toward creating stability in their lives.

For more on homelessness:

"Stop the unpermitted demolition": Roche Dinkeloo's shiny UN Plaza Hotel lobby might be remodeled

2016-01-21T14:35:00-05:00

The more period commentary on these spaces you read...the more you see the hotel's owners are falling into the very trap the interiors were engineered to escape: banality, anywhere-ness, the flimsiness of changing fashion...Are the current going to rip out the mirror and replace it with barn wood and mason jars? Just wait. Stop the unpermitted demolition. Landmark this interior and, in doing so, remind people of its undated and undateable wonder.

Alexandra Lange writes about the Ambassador Grill & Lounge and Hotel Lobby at the United Nations Plaza Hotel (now known as ONE UN New York), which is currently planned for reconstruction and where illegal exploratory demolition has reportedly begun. The remodeling plan has sparked outcry from advocates, who recently filed a Request for Evaluation with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to grant landmark status to the iconic Roche Dinkeloo-designed interior.

A luxury hotel 20,000 leagues under the sea

2016-01-08T18:16:00-05:00

Holidaymakers may soon be able to experience life under the sea by booking a stay at a futuristic hotel on the ocean floor. The Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel has received USA Patent and Trademark approval as the world's first underwater hotel - with Egypt, Malaysia, Hawaii and the Bahamas revealed as some of the designers' preferred locations. Guests would be treated to a one-of-a-kind panoramic view of sea life at a staggering 28ft (8.5 metres) below the surface.

Technically the hotel is a vessel, as the Daily Mail rightly points out, since it can navigate underwater and seek shelter if there's a hurricane. So basically, think of it as a cruise ship where you can't step out for a bit of fresh air.

"Rates will range between $3,000 to $6,000 for two underwater hotel guests AND two top-side guests who sleep on board the 63 foot catamaran support vessel," the Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel website states. "We are not accepting reservations until we begin fabrication. As soon as the $3,000,000 is received we will then begin accepting reservations."

Related:

Another bittersweet look at Hotel Okura's legacy, as redesign is underway

2016-01-07T14:18:00-05:00

The company promised to “faithfully reproduce” several beloved artifacts in the lobby, including wall tapestries, paper lanterns and sliding doors, the lacquered furnishings and map of time zones...But those plans have done little to assuage the concerns of preservationists, many of whom contend that Tokyo is destroying its greatest postwar architectural assets to accommodate the 2020 Olympics and a recent surge in tourism.

The New York Times profiles the historic Hotel Okura Tokyo, which began reconstruction last September, much to the dismay of preservationists worldwide. The Times covers its modernist legacy and the pressures of the real estate and tourist market that Tokyo can't avoid.

Previous news about the Hotel Okura:

Hurry if you want to own a piece of Tokyo's iconic modernist Hotel Okura

It's lights out at the old Okura: reconstruction of the iconic Tokyo hotel starts next week

As the Okura says sayonara, Tokyo doesn't seem to care much

Sick people in Scandinavia can check into these "patient hotels" as hospital alternatives

2015-11-13T15:37:00-05:00

Over the last few years, we’ve all finally admitted that hospitals are depressing, sometimes toxic places...[But] what if the solution is to redesign the building itself?...Since the late 1980’s, hotels—not hospitals—specifically designed for sick people have been popping up throughout Scandinavia. In [some countries,] a patient’s stay is free, covered by national insurance...Accommodations at patient hotels resemble most traditional 3-star hotel properties.

More about health-related design on Archinect:

Jason Danziger heals psychosis with design

How urban designers can better address mental health in their work, according to a new think tank

Preventing disease and upholding public health through architecture

Construction kicks off for Steven Holl-designed Maggie's Centre Barts in London

Michael Graves' Vision: Making Hospitals More Fashionable

Take a peek inside the mesmerizing Hotel Hotel, the 2015 World Interior of the Year

2015-11-06T20:35:00-05:00

Floating fragmented pieces of reclaimed timber energize the lobby space of the charmingly named Hotel Hotel, located in the blossoming precinct of NewActon in Canberra, Australia. Designed by Australian practice March Studio, the hotel was recently named World Interior of the Year at the INSIDE: World Festival of Interiors in Singapore's Marina Bay Sands.

Coinciding with the World Architecture Festival, INSIDE highlights the most outstanding projects in the international interior design scene. This year's competition started out with over 100 nominations that were narrowed down to nine category winners. After the nine teams vied for the overall-winning title in one final round of presentations, Hotel Hotel scored the prize at the end of the day.

Hotel Hotel is part of a wider scheme that includes offices, private residential apartments, cafes, and a cinema. A grand staircase at the center of the two-floor hotel draws in guests to the building's other main areas, which feature more rec...

Portugal’s architects lead new hotel trend

2014-04-28T19:09:00-04:00

Architects don’t invent anything; they transform reality”, Álvaro Siza Vieira, the giant of Portuguese modern architecture, has often been quoted as saying. Could it be that a need to transform reality then, or even to escape it, is at the root of a new wave of architectural projects in the Portuguese hotel industry?

Roman & Williams On The Design Legacy Of Ace Hotel Cofounder Alex Calderwood

2013-11-20T11:41:00-05:00

Last week Alex Calderwood, cofounder and creative force behind the Ace Hotel, was found dead. He was 47. The first Ace Hotel opened in Seattle in 1999, under Calderwood's direction... When Calderwood and his team took the company east, to New York, Calderwood brought his friends, design duo Roman & Williams, on board to design the space. Here, Robin Standefer of Roman & Williams remembers Calderwood's design legacy.