Hospitality Design - December 2017 - 90
cultural impact retail + hospitality Our take: It may be nothing new, but since what constitutes a hotel or a restaurant is ever-changing, retail brands entering the world of hospitality are increasingly becoming the norm (and the disruptors). Credit can be given to an evolving business model that asks brands to reach consumers at every touchpoint. Coperaco > The boutique coffee roasting company's journey from micro- lot roaster to brick-and-mortar café is the handiwork of Amsterdam interior and architecture practice Concrete in partnership with brand founder Johan Pesenti. Located inside Harrison, New Jersey's Harrison Urby complex, it is both a sanctuary and oasis, with a design that translates Coperaco's eco-friendly mission into a lush space crawling with foliage, including a 16-foot-tall tree and a two-story wooden treehouse wrapped in ivy and braided rope that acts as another connection to the earth. Bulgari > The fashion house may have been one of the first to try its Photos by TOMMY PICONE and EWOUT HUIBERS, and courtesy of WEST ELM hand at hotels (the inaugural property opened in Milan in 2004), but with four properties open and five in development, the brand-part of Marriott's portfolio-is demonstrating hotels are the perfect way to "showcase the design identity and to project a lifestyle that goes beyond products," explains Silvio Ursini, executive vice president in charge of Bulgari Hotels and Resorts. Case in point, the recently opened 119-room urban resort in Beijing, outfitted with Venetian chandeliers and a Roman-inspired spa, and the upcoming property in Dubai, which will boast a Mediterranean village feel-both courtesy of Milan-based Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Partners. West Elm > West Elm shattered its perception of only being a furniture manufacturer when it announced plans to enter the hospitality industry in six secondary markets, with Detroit and Savannah, Georgia set to open next year. "This is our brand story coming together in this holistic 365-day, 24hour experience," says West Elm Hotels principal David Bowd. That story is best encapsulated in the brand's new headquarters in the renovated Empire Stores warehouse in Brooklyn, New York's DUMBO neighborhood, which brings these retail and hospitality components together in one harmonious nearly 100,000-square-foot space, a collaboration with New York-based VM Architecture & Design (VMAD). 090 December 2017 hospitalitydesign.com
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