This Modular Hotel Sports Playful, Imaginative Design
Playful, imaginative, youthful, and organized chaos.
Those are some of the words Ernest Lee uses to describe the design vibe at citizenM's new 300-room New York Bowery hotel. Lee is the international hotel company's managing director of development and investment in North America.
The 20-story, 100,000-square-foot hotel, completed in September 2018, is not only unapologetic in its design—as one of the tallest modular hotels in the U.S., it's also unconventional in how it was built. Most of the hotel is composed of identical, individual modules that were manufactured in Poland and then assembled onsite to form the structure.
"If you walked by [during construction], you saw the elevator core and a platform, and thought, this is a weird way to build a hotel," says Lee. The modules, which arrive on trucks, come with the millwork and bathroom vanity in place, and are then stacked by a crane.
Modular construction is relatively mainstream in Europe and is picking up momentum in the U.S., especially in hotel and multifamily builds. Lee says the approach creates construction efficiencies that enable citizenM to build its hotels significantly faster than a more traditional approach would allow. The New York Bowery project took 13 months to complete.
"That time savings leads to cost savings, not to mention you're delivering income and revenue earlier," he says.
Add in a design concept that's bright, functional and funky, and this hotel stands out even in New York.
Stack 'em up. Designed for single or coupled travelers, this hotel doesn't expect guests to spend much time in their efficiency-sized rooms. "We saw a redistribution of space and an [opportunity] to re-approach how people consume hotels," Lee says.
Living lobby. The hotel is designed with a below-grade lobby (pictured above) meant to be highly energized and constantly activated. Guests can order beverages, drinks, sandwiches, pasta bowls, and other light meals around the clock. The courtyard at the far end offers an outdoor space for reading, smoking, or making phone calls, while the soft seating in the lobby's middle section is intended for guests and locals to watch TV or chit-chat. "It's a comfortable place where you can put your feet up, have a coffee or beer, or work on your laptop," Lee says. The double-height bookcases filled with art objects are meant to be aspirational, a design feature guests will want to replicate in their own homes.
Art and design. This end of the hotel's lobby features stadium seating with nooks and crannies for solo work or one-on-one conversations. It's more intimate than the bar or TV lounge, but still connected to the vibe of the larger space with retro collectibles and interesting art pieces.
Room for one, or two. The guest rooms feature a king-sized bed, wall-to-wall window, vanity, high water pressure shower, blackout shades, and flat-screen TV. Everything electronic can be controlled with a mobile device. Guests are expected to drop their luggage here but hang out in the lobby and bar most of the time.
Sensory stimulation. Counterposing the lobby is the rooftop bar. Half enclosed and half exposed to the elements, the space offers views of lower Manhattan, Midtown, Brooklyn, and Tribeca. "This is where we want you to do nothing," Lee says. "Relax. Have a cocktail. Reflect on your day. It's a casual approach to an area people in New York take a little too seriously."
