A new Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites designed by Gene Kaufman Architect has opened at 538 West 58th Street.
The 85,000-square-foot, 18-storey, 226-room hotel sits between 10th and 11th Avenues, within easy walking distance of the beautifully landscaped Hudson River greenway, Columbus Circle, Central Park, and the Time Warner Centre. Barone Management is the developer.
Said Gene Kaufman, Principal and Founder of Gene Kaufman Architect: “This hotel combines the convenience of a midtown location with the quiet street character of a residential neighborhood. Best of all, the zoning-district boundaries bisecting the site gave us the opportunity to create both north-facing views that overlook John Jay College’s beautifully landscaped roof, and high-rise, west-facing views of the Hudson River.”
The hotel features two seemingly separate structures, an 18-story tower and an adjoining 10-story building, recessed from the street wall at different depths. The tower, which projects slightly forward of its shorter sibling, has a compelling verticality, the result of its height and narrow frame. Further enhancing the upward thrust is the curtain wall of the top three floors and the use of aluminum wall panels to separate the tower’s windows. The stylistic fillips come together to create a single architectural through-line from the 18th floor all the way down to the street.
In keeping with GKA’s expertise in maximising key counts without sacrificing quality of the accommodations, the hotel’s ground floor and lobby are below-grade on a floor usually reserved for operations. They are reached through the hotel’s sunken entryway, which also allows for a 2,300-square-foot landscaped plaza in front of the hotel.
The hotel will offer king-sized and double guest rooms as well as adjoining rooms which can be combined to form suites (the interiors are by Hotel Depot with VLDG Interiors). In addition to the streetside plaza, amenities include an office center, a fitness centre, and a breakfast bar.
