Archinect - News

Can the 'first carbon-positive hotel in the U.S.' claims of the Studio Gang-designed Populus be validated?

2024-09-30T10:28:00-04:00

Populus goes one step further in its boast of being 'carbon positive', not just offsetting the hotel’s carbon footprint but actually taking out far more carbon than it puts in – a promise few businesses would dare to make, for both financial and publicity reasons. As a term, however, 'carbon positive' can be linguistically confusing [...] and with no clear definition of what 'carbon positive' means, there are no metrics by which to determine its validity.

The project, first announced in February 2021, has since garnered skepticism amidst its developer Urban Villages' claims of being a first-of-its-kind carbon-positive American design in the typology. The true sustainability of the firm’s 2009 Aqua Tower in Chicago has been scrutinized in the past by online commenters.

The 265-room Populus, with its blinking 'lids' fenestration, opens for the first time on October 15th.

BIG and ICON break ground on Liz Lambert's 3D printed El Cosmico resort in Marfa

2024-09-12T13:17:00-04:00

What could be the world’s first 3D printed hotel development has just broken ground near art and design-rich Marfa, Texas. The vision of a Texas native, the noted Austin area hotelier Liz Lambert, will come together with design and logistical support from BIG and ICON. Both entities announced the project in March of 2023, at the time promising a concept defined by a high desert vernacular that equally purports a "primordial architectural language."

All images courtesy ICON and Bjarke Ingels Group

Their design for the expanded El Cosmico resort calls for multiple structures comprised of different organic forms to be 3D printed on a plot totaling more than 60 acres. Private residences and affordable housing units connect to a hotel with a new amphitheater for the Austin-based Long Center for the Performing Arts included.

All images courtesy ICON and Bjarke Ingels Group

Individually, the homes are to be realized at between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet. The project expands the process and ...

Hotel construction is at an all-time high, new report states

2024-08-08T12:44:00-04:00

The hospitality industry group Lodging Econometrics has released its new prospectus of hotel projects in the construction and planning pipelines, indicating a new all-time high for the growing sector. At the end of Q2, 1,171 projects were reportedly under construction across the U.S. Another 2,350 projects are expected to start construction in the next 12 months, and 250 were reported to have opened in the first two quarters of 2024 alone.

The group also "expects that as interest rates begin to decline, projects scheduled to start in the next 12 months will move to under construction rather quickly." This may be a good sign for nonresidential and non-commercial projects in different markets, as the Construction Starts Index has experienced considerable volatility for over a year.

Looking forward, the new report states: "The LE forecast for the remainder of 2024 includes the ope...

BIG's NOT A HOTEL Setouchi weds Danish and Japanese design

2024-05-17T12:59:00-04:00

BIG has designed a new remote hotel concept on Sagi Island, Japan, for the NOT A HOTEL brand, its sixth property overall. The new Setouchi project follows other hospitality designs from the firm, including the new Hôtel des Horlogers in Switzerland and Vollebak Island in Canada.

Rendering: MIR

Rendering: LIT design

A ribbon-like footpath stitches together the mossy archipelago’s natural landscape with the residential portion of the design. Three villas (‘360,’ ‘270,’ and ‘180’) form a sequence staggered at different elevations on the approximately 323,000-square-foot site overlooking the southwestern cape of Sagi Island. Each features its own unique characteristics and corresponding panoramic views of the sea and inner harbor area, with accommodations that vary between three and four bedrooms.

Rendering: MIR

BIG’s founder, Bjarke Ingels, says: "Our design approach for NOT A HOTEL Setouchi wasn’t about imposing our ideas on the site; instead, it...

New interlocking tower blocks by Foster + Partners open in Dubai

2024-05-08T15:47:00-04:00

A pair of interlocking high-end residential and hotel towers designed by Foster + Partners recently held its official opening ceremony in Dubai.

Rising to 30 and 31 stories, respectively, The Lana and The Lana Residences demand their presence on the skyline of the Marasi Marina waterfront, located between downtown Dubai and the Dubai Design District.

Photo: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

The concept behind the scheme is driven by seven vertical gardens throughout the development, which aim to act as social hubs for guests and residents. The architectural language will be echoed in the design of two more upcoming residential towers nearby, called VELA and VELA VIENTO, which we recently published on Archinect.

Photo: Ahmed Alnaji

"The idea behind the design was to create a building that responds to its surroundings with a unique sense of place derived from its interlocking gardens," said Gerard Evenden, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners. "The fluidity of spaces and the relationship t...

SHoP designs first U.S. real estate tower for Mercedes-Benz in Miami

2024-02-29T11:09:00-05:00

SHoP Architects has designed a residential tower for Mercedes-Benz in Miami, the first branded real-estate project for the car company in the United States. Overseen by JDS Development Group, and designed in collaboration with a Mercedes-Benz design team, the scheme is centered on the theme: “Timeless Design, Inspired by Miami.”

Image credit: JDS Development Group by the Boundary

The tower adopts a cube-shaped profile comprised of interconnected geometric bodies. The designers describe the approach as “two contrasting principles that combine to create clear forms and sensuous surfaces,” with “Sensual Purity” characterized by free-flowing elliptical lines and a stacked-box design representing the “technical side of the design language.” To reflect the signature color palettes of Mercedes-Benz cars, the tower will be clad in monotone silvers, blacks, and whites, while creating “opportunities for distinctive highlights and stimulating contrasts.”

Image credit: JDS Development Group by t...

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."

...

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

2024-02-22T11:39:00-05:00

London’s iconic BT Tower is to be purchased by U.S. hotel owner-operator MCR. Partnering with Heatherwick Studio, the company is to explore the tower’s adaptive reuse as a hotel.

Standing at 620 feet in height, the BT Tower is one of London’s tallest buildings. Opened in 1965, the tower is covered by a Grade II historical importance listing, though such a listing does not prohibit a change of use within the building.

MCR has noted that the tower will not undergo any immediate changes, with current owners BT Group expected to take several years to vacate the premises due to the complexity involved in moving technical equipment. The design process is also expected to include time for community engagement in advance of the proposal’s reveal.

Related on Archinect:The TWA Hotel at JFK is officially open. Photo courtesy of TWA Hotel/David Mitchell

MCR was previously known for its overhaul of the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport which has since become the TWA Hotel. T...

Major cantilevering hotel tower for Midtown Manhattan revealed by Marin Architects

2024-01-29T11:28:00-05:00

New York City-based Marin Architects has revealed its design for a 42-story tower near Bryant Park in Manhattan. Named the Xadia Hotel, and located at 57 West 39th Street, the scheme seeks to “make a tasteful impression on the city skyline through a unique, cantilever façade and eye-catching interior lighting design,” according to the design team.

Image credit: Marin Architects

From the outside, the scheme is defined by an illuminated crown sitting atop the tower. In placing the crown above the tower’s otherwise minimalist facade treatment, the team sought to represent “a departure from excessive ornamentation, focusing instead on the power of understatement.”

Image credit: Marin Architects

The exterior also sees a significant 25-foot cantilever over an adjacent property, which the team estimates has allowed for the inclusion of an additional 68 units in the scheme. Inside, meanwhile, the tower will contain 173 guest rooms, a rooftop bar and restaurant, a plaza, and an arcade.

Image c...

35-story Raffles Boston becomes Hancock Tower's newest neighbor

2024-01-10T13:32:00-05:00

The Architectural Team (TAT) has completed a mixed-use tower in Boston featuring the city’s first sky lobby. The Raffles Boston Hotel & Residences features a 400-foot curved glass form and is described by the team as a “sophisticated new skyline statement within a challenging and historic context.”

Image credit: Ed Wonsek

The 35-story high-rise comprises 146 homes, 147 hotel guestrooms, and 16 amenity spaces. To compensate for the site’s narrow plot, the tower’s design sees a cantilever at the fourth-floor extent over the adjacent historic University Club to support the upper 29 stories, with a further cantilever occurring at the 17th floor.

Image credit: Ed Wonsek

In addition to increasing the internal area of the tower, the cantilevering approach forms a distinctive design element of the scheme’s exterior, “granting the tower a contextually scaled street presence while also allowing the building to express itself as a sculptural form on the upper levels,” according to the team. To d...

NYC will convert JFK Hilton hotel into supportive housing

2023-12-28T13:44:00-05:00

A plan to transform the former Hilton Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City into supportive housing has been announced as the inaugural effort of the important new Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA) program by Mayor Eric Adams.

Aufgang Architects will be in charge of overhauling the 350-room hotel into the renamed Baisley Pond Park Residences, a 318-unit residential development aimed at low-income and formerly homeless individuals with rents ranging between $784 per month for studios to $1,493 for two-bedroom apartments. They say their work will be completed in just 21 months thanks to the hotel’s compatible layout, which allows for a minimally invasive slate of amendments to its internal wall structures.

The result will be a life-changing space for residents, complete with all-electric heating and cooling systems, multiple community/computer rooms, space for the RiseBoro Community Partnership’s on-site support staff, a kitchen serviced by the ...

NEOM launches Siranna resort concept on the Gulf of Aqaba

2023-12-04T17:42:00-05:00

Another high-end luxury resort complex has been revealed in Saudi Arabia as part of the country’s NEOM megadevelopment on the Gulf of Aqaba.

The new Siranna development will include a 65-key hotel in addition to 35 “exclusive” residences geared toward tourists and complement the previous Leyja and Epicon resort concepts that were announced this year.

Image courtesy NEOM

Guests will be transited to the destination via water taxis, emerge from the Red Sea surf, and pass through a gateway of natural rock formations to find a tiered approach to the outcropping of hexagonal volumes that spring up from the surrounding landscape like shards of crystals.

Image courtesy NEOM

Paolo Testolini, the Dubai-based Principal and Global Sector Leader of Cities and Places for Woods Bagot’s UAE operation, appears in a promotional video as the architect that will lead its design. His colleague Nik Karalis appears also to be involved, stating that the concept will help “redefine our notions of what touri...

NEOM debuts new Epicon coastal resort and hotel concept

2023-11-17T16:58:00-05:00

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM project has announced another new coastal resort concept located on the country’s Gulf of Aqaba.

The new Epicon destination follows last month’s announcement of Leyja, another hospitality project in the region. It will become the sixth development in NEOM’s portfolio, which includes the Trojena and Sindalah ski and yacht resorts, Oxagon industrial/residential tract, and the controversial 'zero-gravity urbanism' showcase THE LINE megacity.

Image courtesy NEOM

Two towers totaling 225 and 275 meters in height (738 and 902 feet, respectively) are included in Epicon's hotel concept, along with a distant resort and a string of luxury beach villas that are cast along the shoreline — the hotel buildings appearing as though a desert mirage.

Image courtesy NEOM

The 41-key hotel design with 14 apartment units offers twin-tower blocks connected via an elevated platform defined by exposed structural beams extending out in either direction. Its facade can be illuminated from t...

Neri&Hu completes Hainan Island wellness retreat inspired by ancient Chinese cities

2023-10-25T11:51:00-04:00

Neri&Hu has completed a wellness hotel on China’s Hainan Island. Named the Sanya Wellness Retreat, the scheme draws inspiration from the ancient Chinese walled city, which was typically elevated on a heavy plinth and surrounded by water. The resulting hotel is defined by two parts: a wooden dwelling comprising guest rooms and a masonry base beneath containing all public spaces.

Image credit: Chen Hao

The L-shaped building forms a water courtyard at the intersection of the two wings, serving a central feature from which all the hotel’s public amenities spread outwards. Meanwhile, the lobby forms a “garden landscape with a floating lantern hovering above that allows a gentle light to filter in,” while ceilings are lowered to frame views towards the sea.

Image credit: Chen Hao

“At every given opportunity, the design tries to embody the genius loci of Hainan, to blend elements from the island’s collective memory, culture, and natural features,” ...

NEOM reveals new Leyja resort concepts designed by Mario Cucinella, Chris van Duijn, and Shaun Killa

2023-10-18T18:24:00-04:00

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM megaproject has announced a new planned luxury resort development called Leyja that features designs from teams led by architects Mario Cucinella, Chris van Duijn, and Shaun Killa.

Details on the new aspect of the development are scarce, though the plan is to include three hotels and an experience center placed at nodes along a winding gulch leading inland from the Gulf of Aqaba.

Renderings show the structures being inserted into the 400-meter-high natural rock formations at the site.

The Adventure Hotel concept by Chris van Duijn/OMA. Image courtesy of NEOM

The 'Adventure Hotel,' designed by van Duijn, is stepped vertically as though a staircase leading up the walls of the cliff whose topography is accentuated by its form. The hotel is intended to provide a base for tourists to pursue rock climbing and other "high-octane" activities.

It is joined by an oasis-straddling design from Cucine...

Construction begins on Japan’s tallest building, Torch Tower

2023-10-09T15:00:00-04:00

Construction has begun on the Torch Tower, set to be the new tallest building in Japan. The 1,280-foot-tall skyscraper is expected to be completed in March 2028 according to new reporting by The Japan Times.

The Torch Tower is one of four buildings to be constructed as part of a major redevelopment of Tokyo’s historic Tokiwabashi district. Led by developers Mitsubishi Estate, the design team involved in the master plan’s delivery includes Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei, Koji Matsuda, Sou Fujimoto, Yuko Nagayama, and Takanori Fukouka.

Hotel entrance. Image credit: Dorchester Collection

When completed, the Torch Tower will hold a luxury hotel operated by the Dorchester Collection, as well as a 2,000-capacity entertainment hall, offices, and an observation deck. While the hotel, offices, and rooftop observatory will be housed in the tower form, the entertainment hall and retail spaces will be located within a base plinth rising from a single below-ground floor to a sixth above-ground floor.

Ho...

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Tokyo Imperial Hotel prepares for major expansion

2023-09-28T08:00:00-04:00

Paris-based Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects (ATTA) is moving forward with its plans for a major expansion of Frank Lloyd Wright's beloved Imperial Hotel in Tokyo following their selection as the project’s winning design architect in November of 2021.

The project will be the fourth such major overhaul of Yuzuru Watanabe’s original 1890 design and links Wright (who strove in his multiple renovations from 1923 onward to blend eastern and western motifs as much as possible) with the present-day and future development of architecture as a culture-bridging discipline.

Tane’s instincts for the project were based on his beliefs that the hotel should be returned to its late-1920s reputation as the “Jewel of the Orient,” a source of national pride, and an important cultural exchange. His team says they will utilize a “unique archaeological approach” that considers the many layers of history and typology present at the site while in the process of realizing their design for the new Main Buil...

Shma's rippling landscape adds to Neri&Hu-designed hotel in Zhengzhou

2023-08-21T15:21:00-04:00

Bangkok-based landscape architecture firm Shma Company Limited has introduced an elegant, small-scale landscape intervention in front of a Neri&Hu-designed hotel called Le Meridien in Zhengzhou City, China.

Image: Arch-exist

The renovation project comprises approximately 65,000 square feet of space in a densely populated area. The architects were tasked to create a hotel frontage landscape that improves the site’s overall appearance, in addition to enhancing ground parking and vehicular movement.

Image: Arch-exist

The project design pays tribute to Zhengzhou’s historical textile weaving industry through its sculptural landscape weaves and folds. A series of undulating lawn stripes represent silk being woven. The landscape and the existing building seamlessly integrate with each other. A water feature situated in front of the hotel’s lobby drop-off area serves as the main welcoming element.

Image: Arch-exist

Two colors, bronze and black, were used for the finishing of the stainless st...

Ukrainian practice MAKHNO Studio imagines contemporary Hotel Karpaty in the Carpathian Mountains

2023-04-25T11:58:00-04:00

Ukrainian firm MAKHNO Studio has designed a contemporary hotel in the breathtaking natural setting of the Carpathian Mountains.

With the KARPATY Hotel, the architects aimed to seamlessly integrate the approximately 43,056-square-foot structure into the environment, while also forming a striking spectacle.

The firm likens the hotel to a liner in the sky. The connection with the surroundings is reflected through the building’s organic form and muted color palette.

In the heart of the hotel’s courtyard is an expansive suspended pool, surrounded by a border of luminous stones.

The interior is distinguished by a stone garden, which is framed by an opening through the roof that resembles a mountain.

Each room in the hotel offers unique views through carefully crafted panoramic windows.

A colossal hall dominates the space, adding an element of grandeur to the overall design. The interior is crowned by a sleek, sinuous staircase that was designed by studying the intricacies of mountain ...

A look inside ANNA Stay, the World Hotel Building of the Year 2022 winner at the World Architecture Festival

2023-01-04T17:21:00-05:00

A modular, wooden cabin from Dutch designer Caspar Schols has won the World Hotel Building of the Year 2022 Award at the recent World Architecture Festival (WAF). Named ANNA Stay, the project is recognized for its sustainable design that allows its guests to reconnect with themselves and nature.

Image: Tonu Tunnel

Image: Jorrit 't Hoen

The building blends into its surrounding environment through its highly flexible design. The structure features two protective sliding shells: an inner shell comprising double glass and an outer shell made of wood. The shells can be adjusted, allowing the space to adapt to various weather conditions, moods, or occasions.

Image: Jorrit 't Hoen

In the cold, the insulated wooden shell can retain heat inside the dwelling. If it becomes too warm, inhabitants can slide and close the wooden layer to keep the coolness within. The glass layer can also be slid open to inject cool air to enter. The glass layer also invites natural light ins...

Berlin's world-record AquaDom fish tank attraction is kaput after apparent accident

2022-12-16T13:01:00-05:00

A giant aquarium containing a million litres of water in the lobby of the Radisson Blu in Berlin has burst, flooding the hotel and nearby streets. A spokesman for Berlin's fire brigade told the BBC the vast majority of the fish had died, and the cold weather had made rescue attempts more difficult. The tank had contained more than 100 different specie. A police source told local media there is no evidence the break was the result of a targeted attack.

The reportedly €12.8 million ($13.85 million USD) feature inside the central Mitte district’s Radisson Blu Hotel is considered to be the largest cylindrical fish tank in the world and was, until the accident, home to 1,500 fish. Only two human injuries were reported.

The current cold snap that’s testing the country’s morbid winter heating concerns is thought to be the culprit. Berlin police were forced to close a busy stretch of Karl-Liebknecht Street as a result of the damage.

There are no indications of a targeted, violent attack on the large aquarium in central Berlin, police say.

The fire brigade added that the giant tank "burst abruptly."

More: https://t.co/y3Ht4q63q9 pic.twitter.com/IJBKqRfMBm
— DW News (@dwnews) December 16, 2022

Miami's historic Deauville Beach Resort is demolished as a Frank Gehry-designed replacement fails to start

2022-11-15T18:15:00-05:00

The 17-story tower of the historic Deauville Beach Resort in Miami Beach was successfully imploded just after 8 a.m. Sunday. The oceanfront building at 6701 Collins Ave. crumbled to the ground in a matter of seconds after a series of thundering booms, marking the end of the road for a hotel that famously hosted the Beatles in 1964 and fell into disrepair in recent years.

The demolition brought to a close a tumultuous saga that saw local preservationists and the city government sue its owner Alex Meruelo over what they said was a wanton disregard for local heritage standards and other code violations more or less continuously issued since an electrical fire seriously damaged the Melvin Grossman-designed MiMo-style structure in July of 2017.

Previously on Archinect: Frank Gehry's Equinox Towers scheme is one step closer to reality in Miami Beach

Taking its place might be Frank Gehry’s proposed Equinox Towers scheme that is still awaiting approval before construction can begin on what has been labeled as a “passion project” for megadeveloper and Miami Beach native Stephen Ross. The plan was rejected by voters last week, leaving a void likely to be filled with a similar condominium design needed as a stopgap to the expected exodus brought about by the onset of new Surfside-inspired safety laws.

Today we lost the North Beach landmark Deauville Hotel due ...

RIOS has been selected for a $1 billion redesign of The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas

2022-11-10T17:32:00-05:00

"We are looking to elevate our experiences resort wide [...] Arrival experiences will be different. For both The Venetian and The Palazzo, we plan to renovate, remodel, and redesign all of our suites. We will be offering a number of new [food-and-beverage] concepts, we are taking a deep look at entertainment, nightlife, and bar offerings, and the casino floor will feel significantly different as well.”

In an Instagram post, RIOS said the redesign will “retain the resort's Italian roots reimagined in a refined and evolutionary way.⁠” The hotel and casino was first designed by KlingStubbins on the site of the former Sands property for developer Sheldon Adelson in the late 1990s. The landmark Venetian replicas within the resort will likely be kept intact, though a spokesperson for the company that manages the property said the $1 billion-plus project will refresh its overall design along more contemporary lines.

"We are a themed hotel and we will always be a themed hotel," Venetian CEO Patrik Nichols told T+L. "That sets us apart, but the Italy of the '90s that The Venetian was modeled after has evolved. If we are able to lean into that through the spirit of Italy and discovery, we are not going to look like just another hotel that has refreshed their rooms."

Title of world's highest outdoor pool goes to new supertall tower in Nanning, China

2022-11-10T13:08:00-05:00

Goettsch Partners has completed work on a new 1,322-foot-tall tower in Nanning, China, topped by a special feature they say sets the record for the world’s highest outdoor swimming pool.

The new Guangxi China Resources Tower is a mixed-use design that incorporates a 336-room hotel, office spaces, and retail into its over 2.93-million-square-foot supertall structure, which now stands as the 18th tallest building in China and the 37th tallest in the world.

GP CEO James Zheng called his team’s design a “symbol of rising prosperity for the city.” At 1,060 feet above grade, the swimming pool feature, located inside the 71st-floor terrace of the hotel, is higher than the iconic infinity pool located on the 57th floor of Moshe Safdie’s Marina Bay Sands, which was previously considered to be the world-record holder.

Its tapering form presents clear delineations between the lower-level office program and the hotel amenity above. The t...

SOM reveals design for Singapore’s tallest building

2022-11-08T13:16:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has unveiled the design for 8 Shenton Way, set to be the tallest building in Singapore. Designed in collaboration with local firm DCA Architects, the 1,000-foot-tall, 63-story mixed-use tower is described as an “indoor-outdoor vertical community with public spaces, offices, retail, a hotel, and luxury residences.”

The building’s predominately glazed façade is clad with a blend of terracotta and bamboo, while the building form is fragmented by setbacks holding roof terraces and curving bay windows on most floors. Seven terraces are included in the scheme, with one serving a hotel and three serving residential floors.

Inside, the tower’s “live, work, and play” offering includes offices, retail, a hotel, and luxury residential units. At ground level, the project addresses the street through retail units and a public performance and events space, while on the second floor, an open-air green space accommodates r...

3XN debuts an artistic mixed-use design for Paris’ stolid La Défense district

2022-10-28T15:38:00-04:00

3XN has officially debuted its first-ever French design just west of Paris’ La Défense business district in Nanterre.

Featuring a program that combines a traditional office and hotel accommodation through two separate volumes, joined along an east-west axis, that offer views of La Défense’s adjacent towers and Johan Otto von Spreckelsen’s monumental Grande Arche.

“As the first shape you encounter when arriving from La Défense, this building had to be eye-catching and dynamic,” 3XN Founding Partner Kim Herforth Nielsen explains. “The faceted façade and shifting volumes make it a standout in the busy district. The concept — two distinct but complementary designs — is unique in the area.”

Photo: Jared Chulski, courtesy 3XN.

The scheme makes use of semi-reflective aluminum panel cladding to distinguish the Hôtel OKKO as one unbroken massing, while its partner InDéfense office structure splits into smaller forms, extruding to “open the long and narrow si...

New resort and casino project approved for the Las Vegas Strip

2022-10-24T11:48:00-04:00

Officials in Clark County, Nevada, have voted to approve a new 43-story resort and casino project to be located on the Las Vegas Strip following a successful bid from Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.

According to Construction Dive, the scheme will include a 2,420-room hotel, 2,536-seat theater, chapel, retail, offices, and convention spaces on top of a multiple-level parking structure and be located nearby the larger Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino at 3725-3735 Las Vegas Boulevard South.

The plan will be developed over the next two years beginning tentatively in March and joins the city’s list of other major forthcoming post-pandemic projects, which to date includes DLR’s Group’s 21-story Dream Hotel, the soon-to-be-completed MSG Sphere by Populous, and the expanding Vegas Loop from Elon Musk’s The Boring Company.

An architect for the project has yet to be named. In a s...

MVRDV's first U.S. building creates a 'colorful vertical village' in upper Manhattan

2022-10-03T11:56:00-04:00

MVRDV has unveiled final images of the Radio Hotel and Tower in upper Manhattan, marking the Dutch firm’s first completed building in the United States. Located in New York’s Washington Heights, and delivered for developer Youngwoo & Associates with Stonehill Taylor as architects of record, the scheme is described as a colorful “urban village” providing “much-needed hotel, office, and hospitality amenities” for the area.

The 300 million-dollar mixed-use scheme is composed of a series of stacked blocks whose proportions were derived from the site’s surrounding buildings. The tower is further distinguished by its bold color scheme, which sees eight different colors of glazed brick; colors chosen in reference to the greens, yellows, blues, reds, and oranges of local shopfronts.

“Washington Heights has a unique and exciting character, very different from the other Manhattan nei...

Kisho Kurokawa-designed Capsule House K is now one of Japan's most coveted short-term rentals

2022-08-31T18:57:00-04:00

As private lodging, a maximum of seven individuals can stay per night, and they can use the kitchen to cook. [...] Kurokawa used the building, called Capsule House K, as a villa residence. His son, Mikio, started offering it for private lodging in May. “I hope visitors will spend a leisurely time here and enjoy being in one of the few existing Metabolism buildings,” said Mikio.

The "sister" of Tokyo's recently-demolished Nakagin Capsule Tower was finished the year after the erstwhile apartment building and is now maintained by architect Kisho Kurokawa's son Mikio and an outside company which manages the bookings. Pets are not allowed, but interested parties can reserve a stay starting at the (fairly reasonable) price of ¥14,300 (or $103 USD) a night for one person.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by 牧野友衛 Tomoe Makino (@tomoemakino)

An NFT version of the more famous Tokyo capsule tower is also up for sale until October 20th. Otherwise, fans of Metabolism might have to cough up some heftier change for one of the structure's original capsules, which some speculate could be about to hit the auction block soon.

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...