Sun, Sand, and Style

 
The W Fort Lauderdale reception desk centers on a stainless-steel cube that's lower than the flanking Corian counters to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act; LEDs light the custom composite panels behind. A vinyl letter emblazons a window in the lobby. Terence Main's alligator seating and Elena Colombo's fire bowl share the main terrace.

firm: clodagh
site: fort lauderdale, florida

It's a double debut for Clodagh. Florida's W Fort Lauderdale is the Interior Design Hall of Fame member's first W and her first big hotel, period. Big it is. Two 23-story towers, new construction by Adache Group Architects, house 171 apartments in addition to the hotel proper's 517 standard rooms, 18 suites, three lounges run by the Gerber Group, a Bliss spa, a restaurant, and 18,000 square feet of event space and meeting rooms—the latter, she says, with "drop-dead Atlantic views." Aside from the restaurant and spa, her firm designed every interior, involving 3,400 pieces of custom furniture, and worked on the outside, too.


In the bar Whiskey Blue, Tom Dixon pendant globes hang among 2,000 brass rods embedded with fiber optics.

"Materials are a big story," she continues. Concrete flooring resembles brushed sand. Simulated concrete rises 28 feet in a "woven" wall behind the reception desk, which combines Corian, mirror, and stainless steel. Sand and sea colors also play a major role.


A stairway enclosed in acrylic descends through the water of the swimming pool.

She says she made it her mission to give people "something beautiful everywhere they go." Plant walls scent the entry with jasmine. On the main terrace, cast-concrete alligators offer themselves as seating. And ceilings get unexpected attention. Note the 2,000 brass rods suspended overhead at Whiskey Blue, the billiard room's laser-cut stainless steel, and the corridors' vinyl printed with the image of a swimmer's silhouette.


Suites' custom furnishings include a table veneered with driftwood.

Clodagh coined a special mantra for this project: "God is in the wows." Even guest rooms have their own knockout moment. The closet doors open to a jolt of bougainvillea pink.


In the billiard room, ceiling panels are laser-cut stainless steel.

FROM FRONT DUPONT: DESK COUNTER MATERIAL (RECEPTION). TOM DIXON: PENDANT FIXTURES (BAR). FURNITURE JOINT: CUSTOM BANQUETTES. MAJILITE: BANQUETTE UPHOLSTERY (BAR, BILLIARD ROOM). AMUNEAL MANUFACTURING: CUSTOM STOOLS (BAR), TABLES (EXTERIOR). FIELD WORKS: CUSTOM CHAISES (EXTERIOR). ACADEMY AWNINGS: UMBRELLAS. FLEETWOOD FINE FURNITURE: CUSTOM TABLE, HEADBOARD (SUITE). VITALIA SOFA DESIGN: CUSTOM SOFA. ARTEMIDE: SCONCE. MATTEO: CUSTOM BED LINENS. ANDREW MORGAN COLLECTION: CUSTOM THROW. GAME ROOM CONCEPTS: TABLES (BILLIARD ROOM). COLOMBO CONSTRUCTION: FIRE BOWL (EXTERIOR). THROUGH DESIGN WITHIN REACH: LAMPS. THROUGHOUT WITKIN HULTS: LANDSCAPING CONSULTANT. JENKINS & CHARLAND: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER. STEVEN FELLER P.E.: MEP. DCES: CIVIL ENGINEER. C.M. CONSULTING: GENERAL CONTRACTOR.