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Installation In Focus: 1 Hotel Central Park, NYC

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1 Hotel Central Park: A Different Kind of Hotel

Starwood Hotel Group has long been a leader in high design and luxury hospitality around the world. With their new line of 1 Hotels (Manhattan, South Beach, and Brooklyn), Starwood is again bringing design to the forefront of the hotel experience — now with an elevated emphasis on sustainability, authenticity, and the beauty of nature. The development of 1 Hotel Central Park started with a broad concept. According to Starwood CEO Barry Sternlicht: “The world around us is beautiful and we want to do our best to keep it that way. We want to make an impact by reinventing the industry standard for socially responsible hospitality. We want 1 to be a different type of hotel.”

Located at the corner of 58th Street and Sixth Avenue, 1 Hotel Central Park is just one block south — only 100 steps, in fact — from Central Park. And like Central Park itself, the idea behind 1 Hotel was to create a retreat within the city where guests could escape and refresh. New York-based firm AvroKO developed the design for this innovative, 229-room, 110,000-square-foot urban oasis and, from the beginning, meticulously pursued the use of sustainable materials and locally sourced building solutions. The design team worked to complement the building’s existing structure (including exposed concrete ceilings and floors, steel columns and beams, and terracotta block walls) by utilizing materials to enhance the authentic feel of the hotel, including locally made furniture, handmade textiles, and a wealth of indoor greenery (24,000 indoor plants!).

A Diverse Spectrum of Custom-Milled Wood Surfaces

Among the wide range of natural and local materials incorporated into AvroKO’s designs for 1 Hotel Central Park is a diverse spectrum of Hudson Company wood products — from reclaimed flooring and paneling, to historic hand-hewn beams and one-of-a-kind custom statement pieces. Through close collaboration with The Hudson Company, AvroKO was able to incorporate a range of unique wood surfaces that reinforce the hotel’s strong design concept and its goal of “bringing the outside in.” From the hotel’s street-level entrance and lobby spaces, to the guest rooms, fitness center, and presidential suites, a variety of carefully selected Hudson Company wood surfaces can be found throughout 1 Hotel Central Park. The surfaces include 50,000 square feet of Hudson Company Silt flooring, 30,000 square feet of Reclaimed Barn Siding, 50 Reclaimed Hand-Hewn Beams, Reclaimed Gym Flooring (salvaged from the old University of Wisconsin basketball court), Reclaimed Redwood (sourced from retired NYC water tanks), Reclaimed Threshing Floor, Reclaimed Travaux Maple flooring, and a custom-finished, debarked Spalted Elm Stump in the hotel’s lobby.

A Hotel Unlike Any Other in New York

"The natural and local materials emerged as the heart of the design, allowing us to celebrate and enhance their inherent richness with minimal touches, including a warm color palette and atmospheric lighting,” says AvroKO principal Greg Bradshaw. “Our goal was to leave the space feeling somewhat unadorned so the materials and core of the space could speak for itself." All of this careful material sourcing and eco-minded design makes 1 Hotel Central Park a boutique hotel unlike any other in New York City — one that brings the outside in, provides a unique parkside respite for travellers, and, as Ann Abel at Forbes put so well, “feels alive in a way that few others do.”

>> This installation profile originally appeared in The Hudson Company Journal, Volume 2 - click to learn more about our new print journal and catalogue.

>> See more photos and product details from this design installation.

Installation In Focus: Willow Street

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We wanted the space to be a balance of contrasts, open and airy yet respectful of the rooms expected in townhouse living; modern lines and materials, but respecting the character of the house and neighborhood; natural but polished; unique and creative, yet timeless and universal.
— Damian Zunino, Studio DB
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Transformation In Brooklyn Heights

Well known for its tree-lined streets and well-preserved antebellum townhouses, Brooklyn Heights is one of New York City’s most charming neighborhoods. At the very heart of this historic district is the 1834 brownstone on the corner of Willow and Middagh Street. Originally built in a Greek Revival Style, 15 Willow once belonged to the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor but, in 2016, was transformed into a single-family residence — a transformation that required a nuanced balance of innovation and preservation. The development and design team behind the renovation at 15 Willow Street project was Studio DB, led by the firm’s husband-and-wife principals Damian and Britt Zunino.

Damian explains how, as the team endeavored to modernize the 6,400-square-foot, five-bedroom townhouse, their goal was to create a balance of contrasts. “We wanted the space to be open and airy, yet respectful of the kind of interiors expected in townhouse living, [with] modern lines and materials that honored the historic character of both the house and the neighborhood.”

The choice of flooring was central to the architects’ goal of honoring the past while simultaneously integrating modern lines and materials. “We had a vision of how we wanted the floors to feel, so we reached out to The Hudson Company at the very beginning of the process. There was a specific walnut floor we were looking for — we wanted something that felt natural but still had a lot of character, and we knew The Hudson Company could produce this kind of flooring for us.”

Through close collaboration with the Studio DB team, The Hudson Company custom-milled 3,000 square feet of 5” Walnut plank and 1,000 square feet of 5” Herringbone plank for the project.“The new floors feel light but still raw,” Zunino says. “The finish brings a timeless, polished aesthetic to the house’s interior.”

The installation profile originally appeared in The Hudson Company Journal, Volume 2. Read more or learn how to get your physical copy of The Journal here.

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