Share this on

The Big W

Eskew+ and Powerstrip combine forces to remake a hotel in the New Orleans business district for W Hotels.

Abby Bussel -- Interior Design, 3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

THE DESIGN OF THE 423-ROOM W New Orleans required the reinvention of an uninspired 23-story, glass-and-brick hotel built in 1982, located between the city's French Quarter and the burgeoning arts district. "Our goal for the project," says Steve Dumez, design director at Eskew+, "was to make it more loft-like," echoing the open-plan spaces in the nearby warehouse district. The architects reclad the base of the tower with limestone, replacing a "greenhouse" curtain wall, and added a coat of white paint to the brick podium. Powerstrip, a Los Angeles firm collaborating with Eskew+, produced the conceptual design for the major public areas of the hotel.

"The design," says Dayna Lee of Powerstrip, "is driven by its location in New Orleans, a city that is steeped in historical tradition and unabashed outrageousness." Located near a new casino, the W "wanted to be racy and sophisticated in its color palette of red-hot reds, warm classic camels, dark chocolate, and black mahogany woods," adds Lee. "I wanted it to feel breezy and cool to the touch with its pale bamboo floors, chrome hardware, sheets of clear glass, and modern aluminum propeller fans." The big alterations involved remaking the entry sequences and expanding the lobby vertically into a double-height space-both proactive efforts to combat the hot and humid air that blankets this southern city.

A remade motor court, where an obtrusive foundation gives way to a low reflecting pool, marks the new entry sequence. Looking like "a small draped bedroom" behind a glass wall, the foyer, says Lee, "is designed to have a diorama-like quality, with the hotel's guests immediately cast as our talent." Once guests catch the motion detector's eye, the drape is pulled and the lobby revealed. Behind the limestone reception desk is a glowing wall of backlit onyx panels. One-by-one-by-3¼ in. onyx tiles are adhered to laminated glass panels. The lobby, which was conceived as a loft-style living room, is filled with lounge areas and bars, including a little something called La Boite de Nuit-a secret room for martini drinkers under the main stair. This new grand passageway of Carrara marble leads to the second-story restaurant, meeting rooms, and the hotel's ballrooms and reception spaces; a glass wall, which is back-painted in red, extends from the floor of the ground level to the ceiling of the second floor, making a strong connection between the two levels of public activity.

W Design Group designed the guest rooms, where a deep color palette of black wallpaper, cherry red, and chocolate are accented with camels and mochas. As is typical of W locales, an established collection of sheets, linens, and accessories is employed throughout the hotel.