Project Overview

1 Hotel Central Park stands one block south of Central Park at the corner of 58th Street and Sixth Avenue. Set in an 18-story building, the hotel offers 229 guest rooms and suites; Jams, a 100-seat restaurant and bar from Chef Jonathan Waxman; communal work/meeting/private dining space; a 24-hour fitness center; and a three-story exterior living green wall, among additional features.
With interior designs by AvroKO, 1 Hotel Central Park brings the outside in using source origin materials and features landscape design by Damien Harrison's Harrison Green.

Project Commissioner

Starwood Capital Group

Project Creator

AvroKO

Project Brief

Using the building's original industrial architecture as a reference point, the design brings the outside in to feature the raw beauty and imperfections of natural materials. Source origin materials including woods, bricks, marble, stone and glass from local suppliers are blended with original riveted steel beams and concrete ceilings.

"It is sometimes said that 'green' design and luxury cannot co-exist. We were excited to take on that stereotype and attempt to disrupt the thinking about environmentally-conscious venues," said Greg Bradshaw, one of the principals at AvroKO. "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. Our goal was to leave the space feeling somewhat unadorned so the materials and core of the space could speak for itself."

Project Innovation/Need

Guest rooms boast striking furniture made by local craftsmen, offset by a color palette of warm, neutral colors and accents of blues and creams. Select rooms feature reclaimed wooden timbers and window seats that extend from the building, allowing guests to perch above Manhattan streets, creating cozy corners for reading and daydreaming. Bathrooms are beautifully rendered in tactile natural materials such as Breccia Capraia marble, mushroom wood, concrete tiles and reclaimed brick with rustic copper fixtures and glass-enclosed Napa-style paned walk-in showers reminiscent of indoor greenhouses. Furnishings and infrastructure elements will adhere to green building and LEED standards.

Landscape design by Damien Harrison's Harrison Green creates lush "green moments" thoughtfully placed around the hotel while AgroSci and its forward-thinking technology maintain the three-story living wall on the building's exterior made of individually potted English Ivy plants. Brooklyn-based Sprout Home creates terrariums for each guest room, housed within uniquely shaped recycled studio glass from Brooklyn Glass.

Design Challenge

16,000 fallen twigs artfully embedded into two large steel doors welcome guests to the hotel, greeting them with nature from the moment they arrive. On every floor, unique artistic renditions of the floor numbers are revealed as the elevator doors open; each number is represented in a different design using repurposed materials, such as penny nails or acorns. Preserved moss fills hallway niches.