Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects
06/05/2013.
[NYC] USA
metalocus, TERESA DEL PRADO
metalocus, TERESA DEL PRADO
Dream Downtown Hotel designed by Handel Architects LLP is a 184,000 SF boutique hotel in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The 12-story building includes 316 guestrooms, two restaurants, rooftop and VIP lounges, outdoor pool and pool bar, a gym, event space, and ground floor retail.
Façade view. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Façade view. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Aerial view. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Façade view. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Façade view. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Access view. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Canopy detail. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Outdoor pool view. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Façade view. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Interior view. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Interior view, ground floor. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Interior view, ground floor. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Interior view, ground floor. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Interior view, ground floor. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Interior view, toilets. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Guestrooms. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Guestrooms. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Guestrooms. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Interior view, toilets. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Interior view, toilets. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Vista interior baños. Dream Downtown Hotel por Handel Architects. Fotografía © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Rooftop. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Exterior view, access. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects. Photography © Bruce Damonte, Philip Ennis
Ground floor plan. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects
Typical guestroom floor. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects
12th floor plan. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects
Section. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects
Facade detail. Dream Downtown Hotel by Handel Architects
Dream sits on a though-block site, fronting both 16th and 17th Streets, and is adjacent to the Maritime Hotel. In 2006, Handel Architects was engaged to convert the main annex for the National Maritime Union of America headquarters, designed by Albert Ledner, into the Dream Downtown Hotel.
Along the 17th Street exposure, the sloped façade was clad in stainless steel tiles, which were placed in a running bond pattern like the original mosaic tiles of Ledner's Union building. New porthole windows were added, one of the same dimension as the original and one half the size, loosening the rigid grid of the previous design, while creating a new façade of controlled chaos and verve. The orthogonal panels fold at the corners, continuing the slope and generating a contrasting effect to the window pattern of the north façade.
The 16th Street side of the building, previously a blank façade, was given new life. The skin is constructed of two perforated stainless steel layers, its top sheet of holes a replication of the 17th Street punched-window design and the inner sheet a regular perforation pattern. The outer rain screen is punctured with porthole-shaped Juliet balconies for the guestrooms and peels up at the ground level to form the hotel canopy and reveal the hotel entrance.
The original through block building offered limited possibilities for natural light. Four floors were removed from the center of the building, which created a new pool terrace and beach along with new windows and balconies for guestrooms. The glass bottom pool allows guests in the lobby glimpses through the water to the outside (and vice versa) connecting the spaces in an ethereal way. Light wells framed in teak between the lobby, pool and lower level levels allow the space to flow. Two hundred hand blown glass globes float through the lobby and congregate over The Marble Lane restaurant. Fixtures and furnishings were custom designed for the public spaces and guestrooms to complement the exterior design and to continue the limitless feeling of space throughout the guest experience.
More information
Architects
Client
Hampshire Hotels & Resorts.
Dates
2011.
Location
355 W 16th St, New York, NY 10011, USA.
Awards
Architectural Transformation Award 2011 | Society of American Registered Architects NY. Best Hotel Award 2011 | Boutique Design Magazine. Best Exterior Award 2011 | Boutique Design Magazine. Best of Year Awards 2011 Finalist | Interior Design Magazine. Top Hospitality Project of the Year 2012 | The Greater New York Construction.
Photography
Bruce Damonte, Phillip Ennis and Adrian Wilson.
Gary Handel. Handel Architects LLP
Handel Architects LLP is an architecture, interior design, and planning firm that began in New York City in 1994. Founded by Gary Handel, the firm has grown to include more than a hundred architects, interior designers, planners and support staff in New York City, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi. The firm has gained national and international recognition for work such as the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC, and the World Trade Center Memorial in Lower Manhattan.
Handel Architects has won numerous Design Awards and is regularly featured in architectural journals and design publications. The firm’s clients range from private developers to publicly funded organizations to institutional and not-for-profit groups.
