Modern Classic

NEW YORK'S year-old Library hotel is a good cover-to-cover read. Fortunately for guests, this is no lightweight material. Behind the witty theme and solution-oriented design lies a solid, upscale hotel with the aesthetic and operational staying power to hold its own in a market where nearly 1,000 rooms opened in the last year.

The Library represents a new direction in theming and boutique design. Interior designer Andi Pepper, head of her own New York-based firm, uses theming in the true literary sense—to unite a series of different experiences and provide underlying continuity. Working with her husband, architect Stephen B. Jacobs, also based in New York, she exploits the freedom of this broad "library" concept to customize not only each guest floor but each of the 60 guest rooms.

It was Jacobs' son, set designer Jordan Jacobs, who originated the idea of using the Dewey decimal system as the starting point for the interiors. Each floor is keyed to the Dewey decimal system, with the theme of the corridor, room, and amenities corresponding to the "category" number. Computer projections on the wall announce the floor's subject directly opposite the elevator on each floor. The theme unfolds in the artwork and furnishings, with topics ranging from the arts and language to social science and math. Computers make it possible to individualize the art in each guest room so that every room is literally one of a kind. True to its name, the detail-conscious hotel also fills the bookshelves in every guest room with volumes related to the floor's theme.

Fortunately, the fact that libraries are places to work and relax, much like hotels, makes the theme viable. The reception desk in the intimate lobby would look at home, albeit on a much larger scale, in the New York Public Library located just down the street. Special touches, such as a simulated card catalogue behind the reception desk, advise guests not to take the theme too seriously.

Behind the whimsy lies the more serious side of the hotel. Unlike the boutique hotels synonymous with three-legged stools and in-room wheat grass gardens, the Library's owners/developers Henry Kallan and Jan Kalanda wanted cutting edge design with enough substance to last more than two or three years without being caught "in a time warp." Cappuccinonued, tufted leather headboards, gold-veined granite counter tops, reversible banana and sage crepe bed coverings, and champagne-filigreed wall coverings send both a visual and tactile message of quality and lasting appeal.

The 25-ft.-by-95-ft. footprint of this former office building required innovative planning and design for the guest rooms. "Every room had to be thought through, with the highest priority placed on guest comfort," says Jacobs, whose firm specializes in adaptive reuse of obsolete and historic buildings. "Virtually all of the furnishings had to be built in, making this more like a yacht design than a conventional hotel."

Since both the architect and designer are avid sailors, they knew how to utilize every nook and cranny to satisfy the need for storage and function. Custom-built, mahogany storage units have space-saving features such as a pull-out table that can accommodate a room service tray. The custom-designed mahogany doors with sandblasted glass panels that lead to the bathroom add dimension and visual impact. This theme is repeated in the window paneling and the proportions of the door near the dressing niche. The result is a high level of design that frees up more living space for the guests.

Pepper and Jacobs point out that, "since two of the six rooms on each typical floor were smaller than we would have wished," they allowed for a disproportionate amount of public space in this boutique hotel. Public spaces take their cue from the Gothic-revival style of the tapestry-brick and terra-cotta exterior. The old-world character Jacobs maintained for the façade is updated for the interiors with limestone flooring, cable lighting, and even a new take on mohair-upholstered furnishings. Lush carpeting serves as a softening counterpoint to the harder stone and wood surfaces.

The second floor Club Room is treated as the guests' living room. Chair and table heights were adjusted to be comfortable for eating the complimentary breakfast and snacks served in the club. Back-of-the-house necessities were squeezed into multi-use spaces to make more room for guest services. Even the rooftop was developed into a usable space thanks to roof-garden terraces, a glazed winter garden, and a hospitality suite available for functions. By investigating every aspect of efficient space usage, the architect and designer were able to include 60 rooms and suites, a lobby and club floor, a leased restaurant operation, and back-of-the-house and function space into a building with less than 30,000 sq.ft.