Urban Hotel Design: Embracing the Complication
by Thor Harland, Senior Architectural Designer, HBG Design
For me, the excitement of urban architecture originates from its inherent complications. It is the limitations and layers of thought that we as designers must critically analyze before introducing new concepts into an already dense city environment.
In most urban settings, available sites for new construction are tightly positioned between existing structures. Each building serves a different user function yet remains connected to the whole. Aesthetics and materiality often vary significantly from building to building, irregular and sometimes raw depending on the age. Some sites retain elements of structures long unused.
New project designs created within the urban framework should be informed by these and other constraints. Historical precedents and environmental context supply ample opportunity to evolve the city’s character.
Our design teams approach these projects with an open mind to the intensity and diversity of a city’s composition. The solutions to these challenges inform the shape, materiality, and function of all new building designs. After all, the more problems a building solves the more value it brings to its surroundings.
In downtown Memphis, Tennessee, three recent hotels designed by HBG Design serve as diverse examples of how a new, evolved design character can reinvigorate the urban landscape bringing immense value to the city collective.
The Canopy by Hilton Downtown Memphis, the Hyatt Centric, and the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis hotels all represent projects that required thoughtful and rigorous design study to reach their ultimate solutions. Lying vacant for 12 years, the site of a former 50’s era hotel, and a riverside lot with an adjacent 19th century machine shop were each initially viewed as being of limited interest to prospective tenants; some even considered them to be urban blight. Through a new lens, the Canopy, Centric and Caption hotels unveiled opportunities for designers to bring out each building’s individual characteristics and iconic identifiers, ultimately creating enormous community impact.
Canopy by Hilton Downtown Memphis Hotel – Renewing a Gateway Site into Downtown Memphis
Located at an important gateway into downtown Memphis’ urban center and its historic, world-famous attractions, the Canopy hotel replaced the dilapidated Benchmark Hotel, that was still occupying the site. This corner of Union Ave. and BB King Blvd. is the iconic location of the Peabody Hotel and AutoZone Park, only a few shorts blocks from Beale Street.
The Canopy design and construction was extremely complex to navigate, given the owner’s desire to keep existing building structures and foundations from its previous hotel incarnations. The conflicting structural challenges were ultimately transformed into useful square footage and its solution informed a simplified hotel geometry and a comprehensive expression that created a unique dichotomy between upper and lower floor masses.
The project consists of a 171,100 square foot hotel block elevated above a visually transparent podium level and one level of subterranean parking. The hotel block maximizes the site’s guestroom potential through a double-loaded guestroom corridor ring surrounding an internal light well. A sense of transparency and natural daylighting in the hotel’s base level is achieved through floor to ceiling storefront systems along the South and East edges and two large skylights located under the light well that amplify the restaurant, lounge, and bar amenities.
A Discerningly Rebellious Urban Design, of its Time and Place
To me, great architecture evokes unexpected beauty and resistance but is based in unarguable logic. Through our project visioning, brand interpretation and concepts, the Canopy architecture became less about individual expression and more about amplifying the neighborhood experience in Memphis as the city is today.
The Canopy hotel structure is meant to be a building of its time, and an evolution of Memphis’ downtown personality. We considered the historical precedents and the progressive concept of the Canopy brand; and we used these themes as idea generators for our explorations. The result is a concept that is respectful to place, but also a representation of its contemporary generation.
Downtown Memphis architecture has a long industrial history with rows of ornate brick hotel, office and former warehouse buildings lining the urban streets. The materials, proportion, scale and well composed fenestrations of the Canopy are meant to evoke the characteristics of the existing network of mid-rise masonry architecture in the downtown area.
Brick was an important material for continuity, but the size of the brick is slightly different at the Canopy. We used a larger scale brick, and the patterning isn’t a typical running bond; it’s a stacked bond pattern. So, there is some deviation there that helps give the building its own identity. It’s the slight, subtle differences like that and just the overall geometry of the heavy upper floor mass floating above the open public space below that helps to differentiate the design from its neighbors.
A dark charcoal gray palette and simplification of form contemporizes the visual aesthetic of the architecture. It’s discerningly rebellious. I love that an Avant Garde result can be created through rigorous historic, aesthetic, and structural investigation and a direct reaction to the project’s context and objectives.
In the Canopy design, we have produced a unique complement to neighboring buildings, and also a structural acknowledgement of Memphis’ continued evolution as a city with its own intricate personality.
See more Canopy Hotel photos here.
This is part one of two in Thor Harland’s series,
Urban Hotel Design: Embracing the Complication
In part two, Thor and other designers will discuss how Memphis’ One Beale Mixed-Use Development gave rise to a full historic city block of branded hospitality, including the Hyatt Centric, and the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis hotels.
Spotlight on HBG's Emerging Professionals Studio
A discussion with HBG Design’s Emerging Professional Studio (EPS) Leader and recently licensed architect, Ryan Callahan, AIA
Ryan, as the new leader of HBG’s Emerging Professionals Studio (EPS), can you give us some background on the program?
While my involvement in the Emerging Professionals Studio began five years ago, HBG Design’s EPS program was conceived about 15 years ago as a group led "by EPs for EPs", providing opportunities for leadership experience within the firm at an early career stage.
The EPS originally focused on helping emerging architecture professionals through the AXP architecture licensure process and also provided opportunities for team building. The program has evolved to serve expanded EP career needs, including welcoming HBG’s interior designers into NCIDQ licensure study while also focusing on individual leadership development.
As a practice that integrates architecture and interior design to create hospitality design experiences, it was imperative that the EP Studio evolve to support the way our firm works and collaborates. Architects and interior designers have different licensure requirements and different ways we approach a project based on the nature of our disciplines, but we share similar goals and many commonalities, which are incorporated in the EPS program.
Our EPS today is rooted in the idea that emerging professionals desire structure in working towards licensure, but also want the flexibility to easily modify the pace of their journey as their personal or professional life changes. Mentors play a key role in helping EPs find their path individually and as a group, actively developing support strategies and needed resources for licensure in ways that matter most to each individual in their particular stage of development.
How did you become a leader of EPS?
I had just passed my remaining Architectural Registration Exams (AREs) a few months before Nathan [Peak, HBG’s Practice Leader] asked me to lead the EPS group. I think he asked me specifically because I was newly licensed, but also because I was part of HBG’s pre-Covid EPS program culture. As our workplace returned to the office, we all wanted to find ways to reengage our EPs into a group-learning mindset and provide the kind of supportive group environment that we had before the pandemic, and had been missing for over two+ years. Covid was so disruptive to everything, to the way we do things, even to my own growth. I entered and came out of Covid in a different phase of life. A lot of things changed. For example, I was just newly married entering Covid. When we went into work-from-home mode during this weird, sort of hyperbolic isolation, I came back to the office as the father of two boys. Now, I’m more aware of the level of involvement that people in different stages of life can have after work hours, but I’m also more focused.
And, of course, I could not lead EPS without others. In our Memphis office, Chris Wood is co-leading on the interior design side. And in our San Diego office, architect Nathan Blair and interior designer Alexandra Milkovich are leading the local EPS activities.
How has the EPS changed since you started?
For the first two years of my involvement in EPS, we had about 20-30 EPS members. It seemed like our EPS culture revolved around in-person knowledge exchange forums, recreational sports, and group learning activities. Of course, the pandemic changed everything, and put a damper on group events. We are now recapturing that level of camaraderie and have a great EPS group and supportive firm culture. I am seeing our group involvement increase every month.
The “work-from-home era” did teach us how to become more technologically resourceful and interconnected across distances. With more variety of tools enabling us to work virtually, we were able to put study information at each EP’s fingertips. All HBG’s EPS study information was organized, cataloged by topic, and made accessible through our MS Teams cloud-sharing platform. I’m proud to say we didn’t let the pandemic become a huge obstacle to getting our EPs help. For me, the biggest hurdle was just getting started.
The “work-from-home era” did teach us how to become more technologically resourceful and interconnected across distances. With more variety of tools enabling us to work virtually, we were able to put study information at each EP’s fingertips. All HBG’s EPS study information was organized, cataloged by topic, and made accessible through our MS Teams cloud-sharing platform. I’m proud to say we didn’t let the pandemic become a huge obstacle to getting our EPs help. For me, the biggest hurdle was just getting started.What’s new for the EPS at HBG Design?
EPS leadership has also been developing onboarding courses to help new hires become fully engrained and fluent in HBG’s design processes. This is the information they didn’t and couldn’t learn in school.
This is a bit like HBG’s version of the NCARB AXP program re-formatted into a series of lessons from seasoned professionals at the firm who each offer over 20 years of industry experience. These seasoned professionals lead regular meetings to share topics on the firm’s building processes ranging from codes to life-safety; space planning to hospitality design to sustainability to construction detailing - all supporting knowledge sharing and the path to licensure through ARE, NCIDQ and LEED testing.
“Knowledge of how something is constructed is very valuable. It doesn’t matter if you are selecting a finish or drawing a wall or designing a building. If you know how it goes together, it goes together better,” says Ryan.
Knocking out AXP experience hours quickly is everyone’s goal when they get out of school, because there are a lot of hours required! EPS continues to coordinate supplemental training, quarterly site visits/project tours, exam study sessions, and professional engagement with design industry organizations. And our project staffing tracks EPs who are actively pursuing licensure to connect them with needed AXP hours.How are EPS participants given a voice?
Everyone in the EPS group is empowered to initiate a discussion, lead an event or portions of a group project, or given freedom to implement a new process they feel passionate about and that will lead to growth of their peers and colleagues.
Weekly ‘Coffee + Collaboration’ mornings offer an all-employee open platform to initiate design discussions based on active project reviews to help inform the general direction of design or seek input on how current projects could be improved. EPs and student interns work together as valued project team members, gaining exposure to design challenges as well as opportunities to exchange ideas. They get a lot of encouragement to add their input in project design critiques in an environment where every voice is respected. This adds to EP’s experience in acquiring increasing levels of hands-on design leadership and really finding their voice.
We also have a number of international AIA members and EPS gives them a road map to licensure in the U.S. after becoming licensed in another country. The EPS is really benefiting from the variety of viewpoints and experiences of our EPS members. They each bring different approaches and well-rounded perspectives to the group.
Is EPS all business?
Career fulfillment is heavily dependent on engagement with co-workers. Now that we are MOSTLY out from under the pandemic, I think it’s important for the EPS to continue promoting relationship building and providing bonding opportunities among co-workers and within the EPS. These group experiences build an authentic sense of camaraderie that builds trust and makes the work experience much more inspiring and positive.
From painting parties to kick-ball and indoor soccer teams; group nights and happy hours at new restaurants to family-centered outings, EPS is actively improving our post-Covid in-person firm culture and making the firm a stronger, more dynamic organization.
Creating Depth, Meaning and Authenticity in the Gaming Experience
"Casino design is its own special artform that has long since evolved from being simply a structural box with slot machines inside. At the best casinos and resorts, the casino designs are exciting and lively, but are also inspired by meaning and authenticity, with a beautiful flow from one amenity to the next.” - Christopher Wood, NCIDQ, IIDA, HBG Design
Christopher Wood, NCIDQ, IIDA, Lead Interior Designer and a casino design specialist contributes to this month's 'HBG Design Thinking'. Chris discusses how inspired, authentic and meaningful design can help differentiate and enhance the guest's gaming experience.
First, Chris, why are you passionate about casino and entertainment design?
Chris: As a casino design specialist here at HBG Design, I love creating spaces of refined elegance with a bit of glitz and glam. I love finding subtle ways to elevate a space. And it helps that I have a penchant for all things that sparkle. That tends to work well in casino design. The casino is the nucleus of the guest experience for a casino resort. Bringing in intricate detailing and refinement through materials that truly shine is something that always gets my creative juices going.
As a casino designer, where do you and your team find your design inspiration?
Chris: At HBG, we are fortunate to work with many distinctive tribal and commercial gaming clients with strong cultures, brands and regional ties, in some cases, to native ancestral lands. I love learning about our clients’ cultures. Being able to highlight stories of heritage respectfully, creatively, and typically within a more contemporary casino design framework, is challenging yet exciting.
Shown above: the design of Ho-Chunk Gaming, Black River Falls, Wisconsin was directly influenced by the light and shadow filtering through the northern Wisconsin woods.
Nature is also a tremendous aspect of regional design inspiration. There is so much beauty in the world. Finding new ways to bring the outside world into our designed spaces is an unexpected surprise, especially in a casino. I like to reference underlying elements that we don't often think would be associated with a casino. For example, a sunrise, light and shadow, the night sky.
Each story can form the basis of a string of conceptual ideas that are personal and unique to each Owner. One-of-a-kind design really complements and elevates a gaming experience. We use ambience and emotional response to separate a property from the [casino] pack.
Can you give an example of a design inspired by culture or nature for regional customers?
Chris: Yes, the Tule River Tribe in California is currently developing their new 105,000 square foot Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, CA, which will enhance the tribe’s gaming and F&B amenities with a fresh interpretation of Tule River Tribal culture and heritage. Our design team merged cultural storytelling concepts with amenities and distinctive venues designed specifically for the Porterville gaming customer.
Key design concepts are rooted in the land and agrarian context of Tulare County and Central California with the design influenced heavily by a lodge aesthetic with wood and stone structural expressions. Inside, guests will experience an abstract depiction of the Tule River Tribe’s native traditions through art, patterns, and imagery. Soaring vertical features recall the majesty of the Giant Sequoia and the Golden Eagle, each important representations of tribal culture. Flowing forms will recall the winding Tule River and organic curves of nature.
Custom terrazzo medallions of tribal basketry patterns will enhance the entrance concourse. Display cases will feature tribal artwork. The casino ceiling design features the Tule River Tribe's Flight of the Butterfly and Quail Tufts cultural pattern. Chandelier designs are inspired by native basketry. The carpeting is evocative of a shadowed forest floor. Wood accented columns help bring alive the idea of the towering sequoia.
Is there a particular aspect of the Eagle Mountain Casino project that you think will stand out to guests?
Chris: The Eagle Mountain Casino’s ceiling design and center bar is a design that I am particularly proud of for its eye-catching aesthetic. Guests will witness a culturally significant center bar design that harkens to the concept of fire as a community gathering place. We designed in elements reminiscent of glowing embers of a dwindling fire, and sourced custom floating ember-look light fixtures. A focal back bar element recalls stacked firewood. Warm crimsons and deep navy blues help express the color range that fire can have, leaving those gathered feeling warm and social.
Are most Owners receptive to integrating cultural elements into the casino design?
Chris: Our team’s experiences working with Tribal design, especially, have been very diverse. We have created literal interpretations and incorporations of cultural identity into the entertainment experience. And have also designed more contemporary, abstracted nods to culture and heritage.
We design to each Owner’s specific vision; so no designs look alike. And, because many of the tribal casinos are often legacy investments supporting tribal communities, the casino design treatments can be incredible opportunities to create personality, emotion and memory within the context of a meaningful destination experience.
HBG's Five Trends for Transforming Hospitality Design in 2022
The pandemic has redefined hospitality design, but the reason why guests come together to share experiences hasn’t changed. It's more critical than ever to apply thoughtful, flexible and wellness-focused design sensibilities to hotel spaces, guestrooms and amenities. HBG Design Leaders Nathan Peak, AIA, LEED GA, Practice Leader, and Emily Marshall, IIDA, NCIDQ, Interior Design Director, present five trend ideas for transforming hospitality design into 2022.
Multi-Functionality and Spatial Flexibility
Greater work flexibility has resulted in an increase of blended leisure and work travelers. We see a fresh reframing of hotel “zones” into residential-like multifunctional “work / dine / gather” spaces that easily align with evolving travel needs.
“The lines between work, travel, living and leisure are now blurred, which is a clear outcome of the pandemic.” - Emily Marshall
Many of HBG Design’s hotel and resort clients have re-prioritized their amenity offerings to provide an optimum alternative work environment for the “blended traveler”. To accommodate the blurring lines between work, travel, living and leisure, hotel lobby and public spaces are being designed in zones that easily shift from quiet virtual workspaces with auditory privacy to collaboration hubs for business interaction, to social areas depending on the needs of operators and their guests. The wide-open space idea is the foundational element, giving hotel operators the ability to blur the purpose of the space itself, based on the needs and wants of their guests. In fact, the in-room, remote work experience has – in many cases – become as important as delivering exceptional, traditional resort amenities, and that trend shows no immediate slow-down.
At Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis and Canopy by Hilton Memphis, both designed by HBG Design, we created residential inspired co-working zones with the idea of adaptable, flexible and technologically connected public spaces.
Experiential Design for Aspirational Travelers
Travelers are “breaking free” after months of pandemic isolation in some cases. Aspirational travelers are in search of memorable experiences and shareable moments inspired by art, architecture, design, history, and unique locales.
Hotels must offer new and creative experiences for guests in order to compete with the myriad of accommodation options in the marketplace, such as VRBO and SONDER. Local and regional materials, local artisans and custom design will all play a vital role in expressing authenticity in unique and artful ways, as designers seek to achieve an aesthetic that is “of the area” and create experiential moments.
At the Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis, HBG designers created a strong sense of place and a distinct ‘localvore’ Centric brand experience by drawing conceptual inspiration from Memphis’ rich music and riverfront industrial history. The contemporary hotel's staggered patterning of the window placement recalls sheet music and guitar fret patterns accentuated at night with bars of light to provide a musically inspired programmable light show. The Beck and Call rooftop whiskey bar features several selfie-worthy design opportunities like a colorful rooftop mural, the best river view in the city, and portraits of famed musicians with Memphis ties, including Tina Turner, Justin Timberlake, Isaac Hayes, Valerie June, and Yo Gotti.
Restoration Through Nature
To enhance mental well-being, guests will seek out serene environments that offer respite and natural context that blurs the lines between indoors and outdoors. We anticipate an elevated demand for wellness-related amenities.
“The pandemic highlighted our need, as humans, to interact with nature.” - Nathan Peak
Humanity is hard-wired to seek physical and emotional connection with nature to feel healthier and more energized. It’s about creating a relationship between the interior and exterior that enhances guest responses to environmental stimuli and creates sensory experiences. Biophilic design methods underscore how a guest feels in a given space, which contributes significantly to experiential design. Bringing the outdoors inside through light, open design and integration of natural elements creates a feeling of restoration, wellbeing and happiness where guests respond positively --- a result every property seeks to achieve.
The architecture and shaping of the Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis lobby space creates beautifully framed views of the Mississippi River while dappling the public spaces with ample sunlight and reflections from the constant movement of the mighty river beyond. Outdoor Riverview dining and a landscaped pool and event courtyard “oasis”, complete with green lawn and a green wall, create a distinctive respite in the downtown core.
Guestroom Technology
Automatic technology will continue to advance the curated and customized guestroom experience offering options for convenience and comfort.
There are times when the greatest luxury in travel is knowing you’ll have no surprises upon arrival. Everything you want, exactly how you want it can be ordered and confirmed for your stay, before you ever walk through the hotel entrance. Not only can you check-in to your hotel room virtually, but you can select your room size, floor, view, accessibility to amenities, upgrades, etc. Access to no-contact services and experiences aren’t reserved for check-in; literally everything a guest wants or needs can be delivered directly to the guest room, and often by simply using voice commands from the comfort of your room. From voice-activated concierge services to voice or motion control of lighting, audio-visual systems, and room temperature, automation is proving to elevate convenience for the guest and permeating all aspects of the hotel experience.
"Within the room, I am especially fond of the motion detecting floor lighting technology designed into the beds in our Hyatt Centric Beale Street project. Gone are the trappings of navigating an unfamiliar room in the middle of the night; the integrated technology in our bed design creates a soft glow of light in the room as soon as your foot hits the ground." - Emily Marshall
Regional and Early Material Sourcing
Material shortages, higher costs and longer-lead times are straining hotel project schedules. Regionally sourced materials will help overcome supply chain demand challenges. Procurement in the early design phases will help ensure construction availability.
“Carefully sourced regional options can not only circumvent such transportation and tariff issues, but they can also promote greater connection to place in meaningful ways.” - Emily Marshall
Many of these issues the industry is experiencing can be navigated during the early design phases with the right guidance from a knowledgeable team who understands the inner workings of available products and materials. Interestingly, we are seeing a stronger focus on the specification of domestic made products, which is good for the economy at large. The engagement of an experienced designer, construction company, FF&E procurement agents, and vendors early in the design process is critical, as products and materials quantities require early confirmation and additional lead time in ordering.
One way HBG Design is working around the supply chain situation is by using more regional manufacturers who employ skilled tradesmen who build case goods and millwork in a shop, versus working onsite. This not only keeps the level of quality high, but also increases efficiency of labor.
"HBG Design is looking at everything from design to delivery through a different lens heading into 2022, while reimagining the way spaces are used, designed, and furnished. And that, in the long run, will be better for everyone." - Nathan Peak
Caption by Hyatt Memphis on Top Hotel News 2022 Hotlist
2022 Hotlist: HBG Design's Caption by Hyatt Memphis Named One of Hyatt Hotels Corporation’s top three openings
The Unbound Collection, Caption by Hyatt and Hyatt Centric are all eagerly awaiting the arrival of eye-catching schemes next year, each of which draw on their surroundings for inspiration.
Caption by Hyatt Memphis
Currently under construction and expected to open in the second quarter of 2022, this new Caption by Hyatt hotel in Tennessee will encourage guests to embrace self-expression in a space focusing on experience and connection.
Hyatt is creating this 140-key property, which will be located at One Beale Street and integrated into the historic main building of Wm C Ellis & Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop, in partnership with Carlisle, while HBG Design is the architect and interior designer.
Caption by Hyatt Memphis will be located partly inside this heritage building and partly in a new guestroom tower, providing views of the Mississippi River and the city’s skyline.
Visitors will be encouraged to relax in the hotel’s multifunctional lounge space, Talk Shop, complete with original features, an expansive patio and a double-height beer garden with open firepits.
The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Fuji Speedway, Japan
Hyatt Hotels Corporation is to provide a luxury hotel experience at Japan’s historic racing circuit, Fuji Speedway, after entering into a management agreement with an affiliate of Toyota Group for a proposed 120-key property.
Scheduled to open in Q3 2022, the under-construction newbuild scheme represents The Unbound Collection’s debut in Japan.
Amenities at The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Fuji Speedway are to include multiple fine-dining restaurants, bars, a spa and natural onsen, a fitness centre and indoor pool, a banquet room and conference space.
Drawing on its setting, the property will also boast a car museum, showcasing rare vehicles and the racing circuit’s extraordinary history.
Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
The 150-key Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu, which is being developed by Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad, will welcome guests to the heart of the city in a location that provides easy access to the commercial district, retail areas and countless restaurants, along with local attractions such as the Jesselton Point pier.
The architectural and interior design for this property is being led by Kengo Kuma & Associates, with inspiration taken from the lush green hills and blue ocean that characterise the area.
Notable amenities here are to include an all-day restaurant and lounge, a rooftop pool and bar, a fitness centre and 1,900 sq ft of meeting space.
Currently under construction, the hotel’s expected to open in the second quarter of 2022.
Learn more about Caption by Hyatt Memphis.
