1 Hotel Central Park, the first New York City location of Starwood Capital Group’s ‘1 Hotel’ brand opened earlier this month, one block south of Central Park.The 111,000-square-foot, 18-storey, 229-room hotel is part of Starwood’s socially conscious brand, 1 Hotels, and has been designed by Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman & Associates Architects (GKSA).
In keeping with the brand’s high-design, low-impact approach, the hotel was created from an existing structure and also has an arresting three-story exterior greenwall of English Ivy. For both the construction and furnishings, natural, reclaimed and repurposed wood, bricks, marble, stone and glass from local suppliers have been used wherever possible. Guestrooms incorporate hewn beams and timbers from New York barns and factories, while the hotel’s façade incorporates redwood staves from New York City water tanks.
Gene Kaufman, principal of Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman said: “This project presented two creative challenges. The first was an existing structure not inherently conducive to commercial use and with a tenant in place on the top floor. The second was the chance to work with legendary hotel developer Barry Sternlicht on a new brand that would have the highest standards and appeal to the hotel market today and in the future.
“Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman met both challenges, designing a building whose architecture speaks for itself and helping to create a brand that will be the benchmark for signature hotels from here on out as W Hotels were before it,” he added.
Nature and the outdoors form the centerpiece of the LEED-certified hotel’s design. In addition to the three-storey exterior greenwall, guests will find kokedamas (a kind of bonsai covered in green moss) hanging in the lobby and terrariums and indoor window planters in the guestrooms.
The hotel’s fixtures continue the eco-friendly theme, with low-flow plumbing fixtures, LED lighting fixtures, and motion sensors to reduce electricity use. Amenities are made of renewable and reclaimed products where possible and eco-friendly dry cleaning is available. JAMS, the 116-seat restaurant and bar of celebrated chef Jonathan Waxman, focuses on farm-to-table cuisine.
In addition to the restaurant and guest accommodations, the hotel offers communal work, meeting and private dining space; a 24-hour fitness centre; and a host of other amenities. Consultants on 1 Hotel Central Park included landscape design firm Harrison Green and the interiors firm AvroKo Hospitality.
