This dual brand (long and short stay) urban hotel intends to set the bar in improving the urban environment by creating a high-performance building while increasing social interaction for the local community. The design team, the investors, the operators of the hotel, and the community established a shared vision through public meetings and workshops allowed all stakeholders to rally around the design setting the stage for positive outcomes.
The community wanted the park across from the hotel and the street scape improved in exchange for adding height and density to the site. The developer offered a grand plaza, including a synthetic ice hockey surface for youth, and a place for the fans of the Washington Capitals whose practice rink abuts the park. The architects used the angle of the site to inform the massing. The exterior panel of the building take lessons from nature by using an irregular pattern to create visual interest appealing to universal biological proclivities of humans.
The concept uses the narrow trapezoidal geometry of the site to create sculptural forms that are sculptural and beautiful. The interactive light installation on the façade, the colorful iridescent panels are designed to delight the community. The human scaled streetscape, alley, plaza, vegetated vertical screen, the food-producing roof garden provide multiple benefits across the full triple bottom line of social, economic and environmental value.