Contract - April 2014 - 100

hospitality

Mandarin
Oriental
Guangzhou

Fogo Island Inn

An inn on an island near Newfoundland
captures the spirit of its people and place
By Caroline Tiger
Alex Fradkin, Bent
René Synnevåg,
and Iwan Baan

In the firm's first complete
hotel for the brand, tonychi
and associates reference
history, culture, and luxury
By John Czarnecki
Photography by
Michael Moran

The power of place is immediate and all-encompassing in the design
of the luxurious interiors of the Mandarin Oriental in Guangzhou, China.
A distinctive east-meets-west aesthetic is infused in this hotel by Tony
Chi and his New York-based firm, tonychi and associates.
This is the first complete Mandarin Oriental by Chi and his firm,
which has completed restaurants in Mandarin Oriental hotels in New
York, Miami, and Washington, D.C., and is currently designing four
restaurants in the Mandarin Oriental Taipei.
"The uniqueness of the property is reflected through embracing
the sense of history and location," says Johnny Marsh, senior associate
at tonychi and associates. The Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou includes
233 guestrooms and 30 suites within a large mixed-use complex called
Taikoo Hui designed by Arquitectonica. Besides the hotel, Taikoo Hui
includes a retail center, two office towers, and a cultural center with a
library and public art spaces. Swire Properties Ltd., established in Hong
Kong with British origins, developed Taikoo Hui, including the hotel.
Mandarin Oriental's parent company Jardine Matheson was founded
as a trading company with roots in nearby Hong Kong. Together, Swire
and Jardine Matheson have an international approach with histories
dating to the European colonial presence in southern China.
"It's a modern hotel that reflects part of that history with reference
to the colonial," Marsh says. The references to history begin with the
overall concept of the hotel as a courtyard building, inspired in plan by

hospitality

photography: iwan baan

sources

Ebony restaurant serves both
Chinese and Western cuisine
and features a formal yet
relaxed atmosphere. paintings
by Uruguayan artist Carlos
Capelán enliven the walls.
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Businesswoman Zita Cobb hired architect Todd Saunders to design the architecture, to capture and express what we have learned in our four
hundred years of living on this lovely, rugged rock in the North Atlantic.
Fogo Island Inn on Fogo Island, a remote outpost off the northeastern
Be faithful to the spirit and soul as well as the people of the place."
coast of Newfoundland, because, like her, he is from the area. "She told
me she knew right away it would be me, because I really get that quirky
Embracing the vernacular
bit of Canada," the architect says. "If you didn't grow up there, it's hard
With 29 guest rooms, ranging from 350 to 1,100 square feet, plus public
to understand." Cobb grew up on Fogo Island proper, and although
spaces including a main lobby, restaurant, art gallery, bar, lounge, and
Saunders has spent the last seventeen years in Norway-he moved
library on the ground floor, and a movie theater, conference rooms,
to Norway soon after college-he was born and raised in Gander,
and gym on the second floor, the complicated program intimidated
a town on the main Newfoundland island.
In 2003, Cobb established the Shorefast Foundation with money Saunders until he decided to approach the project like a large house.
"Once I had that in the back of my mind," he says, "it came out really
earned from a successful career running tech companies in Silicon
nicely, because the inn has all these domestic qualities to it."
Valley. The foundation's mission is to replace Fogo Island's decimated
Saunders situated the X-shaped building as close to the ocean as
cod fishing industry with "cultural and economic resilience" buoyed by
cultural production and geotourism. Before embarking on the inn, Cobb possible on a promontory jutting into the Atlantic. Steel stilts, appearing
to hold up the end nearest the water, are a nod to the fishing stages
engaged Saunders to design six self-sustaining, strikingly sculptural
studios around the island for the foundation's artist residency program. where generations of Fogo Islanders have cleaned, salted, and dried
She recalls her design brief for the inn: "Find a way, using contemporary their cod. The island vernacular also shows up in the locally sourced

Commune reimagines the
interior of a historic building
as a cool downtown hotel
By Michael Webb
Photography by
Spencer Lowell

the protruding ends of the
inn are supported by slender
wood columns, preserving
the coastal landscape beneath.
the building is clad in locally
sourced and milled black
spruce panels painted white.
62

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TAO
DOWNTOWN
By Murrye Bernard
Photography by
Eric Laignel

hospitality

Ace Hotel
Downtown Los Angeles
a wood paneled reception desk
occupies the narrow elevator
lobby, and introduces the
idiosyncratic mix of raw and
refined surfaces and details
that characterizes the hotel.

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Rockwell Group customdesigned many elements
for the project, including
pendant fixtures with shades
enclosed by wire cages that
provide a sense of scale
within the double-height
main dining room.

Rockwell Group designs
a restaurant in which to see
and be seen in New York

For the interior, Roman Alonso, the partner in charge of the
project at Commune, drew inspiration from the modernist cafes
that Josef Hoffmann and Adolf Loos designed in Vienna, and the
house-studio that Viennese émigré R.M. Schindler built for himself in
West Hollywood in 1922. To this fusion of progressive and historicist
design, Alonso added a dash of 1980s punk, which he interprets as a
reincarnation of the flapper era. "It would have been easy to replicate
period ornament, but that didn't feel right for Ace, which likes to twist
things and turn them on their ear," Alonso says. "We wanted the
interiors to be surprising and radically different from the facade."
The narrow elevator lobby for the tower serves as a reception
area that leads to a restaurant with a bar and mezzanine lounge that
can open onto the street. The color palette is black and white, with
a checkerboard floor echoed in the tiled dado. Mirrors dematerialize
the massive columns that were added as part of a seismic upgrade,
giving the room a sparkle and making it feel more spacious. Glasstopped wood screens, modernist light fittings, and a mix of new and
traditional seating intensify the atmosphere. The concrete floor and
partially exposed structure are complemented by white plaster on
which two local artists, brothers Nikolai and Simon Haas, have made
delicate graphite sketches of Hollywood stars and Southern California
hills and flora-a subtle way of adding local flavor.

Downtown Los Angeles is regaining the appeal it had a century ago
as a place to live and play as well as to work. Broadway was almost as
glamorous a theater district in the 1920s as its namesake in New York,
and aging facades conceal several former movie palaces. Ace Hotel
has brought one of these sleeping beauties back to life, restoring
the 1,600-seat United Artists auditorium as an events space, and
repurposing the 13-story office tower as guestrooms.
This is the seventh Ace Hotel for the idiosyncratic brand that
infuses an understated bohemian, hipster-cool vibe within old, existing
buildings. The brand began in Seattle and has now extended its reach
to Manhattan, London, Palm Springs, Panama City, and Portland,
Oregon. "We approach all our projects the same way," says Ace Hotel
Executive Vice President Kelly Sawdon, "looking for a narrative that
will give each of our properties a feeling for place and authenticity."
locally sourced materials and finishes
For the Los Angeles hotel, that sense of place goes back to 1919,
Three meeting rooms occupy the second floor, and here Commune has
when actors Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin,
enlivened the space with wall collages and art glass from the venerable
and director D. W. Griffith founded United Artists to make films
Judson Studios. The tower's typical floor plate is barely 5,000 square
independently of the big studios. It was an era of extravagance in
Hollywood, and United Artists built its own showcase for gala premieres feet, which created a challenge for the designers to exploit every inch
to fit the 182 compact guestrooms and suites. Taking cues from
and to give fans a taste of the exotic. Within a reinforced concrete
structure, a Spanish Gothic fantasy was created that was echoed in the Schindler's house, the designers used Homasote panels to give the
walls a warm, tactile feel, and gray-stained MDF cabinets provide
stone carvings and spiky lantern of the tower. Its glory days, though,
versatile storage. Custom beds have a side pocket for the tuner that
were short-lived: the Great Depression hastened its decline, and the
controls a wall-mounted screen. Bathrooms are a model of space
building was last owned by evangelical preacher Gene Scott for his
planning with a partially enclosed shower and toilet flanking a
ministry. An iconic "Jesus Saves" neon sign, a remnant from the Scott
steel-and-marble vanity. "Eighty percent of the furnishings were
era, remains on the roof. Real estate investment company Greenfield
Partners purchased the building in 2011 and developed it for Ace Hotel. made in California or Mexico," Alonso says.
The opulent theater has been carefully restored and is now an
event space for the hotel and home to the artist collective L.A. Dance
Design team collaborates with artisans
Project. A rooftop lounge and pool extend from a loft-like bar beneath
Commune, a Los Angeles-based firm that also designed the Ace
the tower lantern. Here, and throughout the hotel, local artists have
Hotel that opened in Palm Springs in 2009, was brought on board to
been given a free hand to create site-specific work. "We rely more
complete the Ace Hotel Los Angeles interiors. GREC Architects of
on instinct than calculation," explains Alonso. "Sometimes you hit
Chicago served as design architects and Killefer Flammang Architects
the mark at once, and other times you have to make adjustments.
of Santa Monica were the executive architects. The firms collaborated
Every space needs to provide an experience and Ace allows us to
with specialists and artisans to restore the street facade to its original
do what we want." c
appearance and create a new interior within the shell of the tower.
contract

april 2014

TAO Group pioneered the Pan-Asian cuisine trend in 2000 when it
opened TAO in Midtown Manhattan, followed by a Las Vegas location.
Capitalizing on the brand's success, the restaurant and nightclub
group engaged Rockwell Group to design TAO Downtown in the
lower levels of the Maritime Hotel in the Chelsea neighborhood
near the Meatpacking District in New York.
Although Rockwell Group did not design either of the previous
TAO locations, TAO Group had established a relationship with the firm
while collaborating on the Marquee Nightclub at the Cosmopolitan
Resort in Las Vegas and could count on it to deliver a standout interior.
"We knew that we had to reinvent ourselves due to the fact that we
were opening a second location in New York and because the original
design, while timeless, was conceived such a long time ago," says Rich
Wolf, co-owner of TAO Group. "Our mantra for TAO Downtown was
'next level shit.'"
a platform for people watching
Levels do, in fact, define the space. The 22,000-square-foot
restaurant-which spans an entire city block and seats up to 400
throughout-is mostly below grade. The space it occupies had
previously contained a restaurant and a music venue, and Rockwell
Group chose to relocate the entrance from 16th Street to Ninth Avenue
to differentiate TAO from those former establishments. This move also
allowed for a dramatic entry procession that begins with coat check
and extends down a long passageway framed by portals made from
weathered wood slats. The old brick basement walls were revealed and
layered with Chinese calligraphy by Studio Hoon Kim and murals of
geisha-style women by UK-based street artist HUSH.
After reaching the hostess station, patrons turn right and enter
the restaurant bar on the mezzanine level and experience a "wow
moment," according to Shawn Sullivan, a partner with Rockwell Group,
as they take in the view of the entire length of the restaurant, down
into the main dining room on the cellar level. The focal point of the
voluminous space is the 40-foot-long grand stair. Made of wood, the
stair has deep landings with rounded custom banquettes along the

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apRil 2014

edges and tables and bench seats positioned at the center for prime
people watching. "We wanted to create a restaurant that was about
encouraging social interaction-it's less about planting yourself at your
table, and more about getting up and moving around," Sullivan says.
The stair can transform into a runway for fashion shows or serve as
bleachers for movie screenings.
True to the TAO brand, the space is bookended by custom-made
Buddha sculptures. A 16-foot-long reclining Buddha rests within the
restaurant bar on the mezzanine level, and at the opposite end, a
20-foot-tall Quan Yin Buddha with 24 outstretched arms stands above
a koi pond on the cellar level. Rockwell Group's LAB studio designed 3D
projection mapping technology that makes waterfalls appear to flow
down the statue, its eyes seem to 'blink,' or tattoos trace magically
along its many arms.
Guests can experience the main dining room from different
vantage points, including two skyboxes, two private dining rooms on
either side of the Quan Yin, or from the INK Bar on the mezzanine level,
which is divided from the main dining room by a two-story, laser-cut
metal screen featuring an abstracted pattern inspired by traditional
Asian screens. Late-night revelers may choose to sip TAO-Tinis in a
separate, but equally sumptuous, two-story lounge with a discreet,
alley-like entrance from 16th Street.
Mixing found treasures with bespoke features
Rockwell Group designers created a vocabulary that references several
Asian cultures and combines curated artifacts with new custom pieces.
The result is a space that feels like a recently discovered tomb, and is
gritty enough for its downtown location. "We wanted to create the feel
of a New York cellar space that had always been there," Sullivan says.
Many elements-including thick, carved stone columns from
Bali and antique statues, furniture, and art pieces-were collected by
design team members on visits to Asia. Rockwell Group designed most
of the light fixtures, from beaded-tassel pendants within INK Bar to
oversized, lantern-like pendants set within wire cages that hang
throughout the main dining room and mitigate the scale of its high
ceiling. Banquettes throughout the restaurant feature luxurious
details by Rockwell Group, such as elaborate stitching, channel
tufting, and edge rivets.
While many elements within TAO Downtown reference
the ancient, the project marks a significant shift in branding for
its owner. According to Wolf, "We wiped the slate clean, and
together with Rockwell Group, created something fresh, sexy,
and breathtakingly beautiful." c

contract

Mandarin oriental Guangzhou
(page 54)

Ace Hotel Los Angeles
(page 68)

TAo Downtown
(page 76)

who Architect: Arquitectonica.
Interior designer: tonychi and
associates. Interior design
project team: Tony Chi, principal;
Johnny Marsh, senior associate;
Nelson Bicol, senior associate.
Interior lighting project team:
David Singer, principal in
lighting, Arclight; Wesley
Burdett, associate in lighting,
Arclight; Ricardo Fernandez,
associate in lighting, Arclight.
Contractor: Guangzhou Pearl
River Decoration Engineering
Co. Ltd.
what Seating: Dessin Fournir;
George Smith; Pierre by
Promemoria; Michael Berman;
Peter & Son Furniture;
Saladino Furniture. Tables:
Dessin Fournir; Wyeth; Soane
Britain; Troscan Design.

100

Fogo Island Inn
(page 62)
who Design Architect: Saunders
Architecture. Project team:
Todd Saunders, principal; Ryan
Jørgensen, Joseph Kellner, Attila
Béres, Nick Herder. Architect
of Record: Sheppard Case
Architects Inc. Project team: Jim
Case, principal director; Dwayne
Gill, Roger Laing. Interior design
consultants: Rintala Eggertsson
Architects; Studioilse, 2H
Interior Design; Tongtong;
Designholmen. Contractor:
Shorefast Foundation. Lighting
Consultant: Dark Tools.
Structural Engineering: DBA
Consulting Engineers Ltd.
Mechanical and Electrical
Engineering: Crosbie
Engineering Ltd.; Sustainable
Edge Ltd.; Odyssey
Mechanical Inc.; Bayview
Electrical Ltd.; Jenkins Power
Sheet Metal. Landscape Design:
Shorefast Foundation with
Cornelia Oberlander; James
Floyd Associates; M.U.N.
Botanical Garden. Graphics and
Wayfinding: Bruce Mau Design;
Designholmen; Kristina
Ljubanovic. Custom Designs:
Ineke Hans; Studiomama; Glass
Hill; Donna Wilson; Simon Jones;
SCP; Élaine Fortin; Justin
Armstrong; Tjep, Kym Greeley;
Erika Stephens-Moore; Martine
Myrup; Nick Herder; Yvonne
Mullock; Chris Kabel; Winds
and Waves Artisans Guild; Mike
Paterson; Eric Ratkowski; Jessica
Waterman; Reiko Igarashi;
Shorefast Foundation Workshop.
what Wallcoverings: Metro
Wallcoverings. Paint: Benjamin
Moore. Wood: Cottles Island
Lumber Co. Ltd. Hard flooring:
Forest Floors; Mosaic del Sur;
Ascot; Mutina; Unitech.
Lighting: Sistemalux; Delta;
Senso Lighting; Dark Tools;
WAC; Delta; Linea Lighting;
RAB; Pioneer; Shorefast
Foundation Workshop; Arancia
Lighting; Contrast Lighting.
Doors: Bauhaus Windows and
Doors; Delta Windows and
Doors. Glass: Bauhaus Windows
and Doors; Velux. Window
treatments: Cover Ups. Seating:
Shorefast Foundation Workshop;
Nienkämper; American
Seating; SCP London.
Upholstery: Kvadrat; Donna
Wilson. Tables: Shorefast
Foundation Workshop. Signage:
Flash Reproductions. Plumbing:
Dornbracht; WETSTYLE Inc.;
Duravit; Glastender.

who Design Architect: GREC
Architects. Executive Architect:
Killefer Flammang Architects.
Interior Designer: Commune.
General contractor: Benchmark
Contractors. Lighting: Sean
O'Conner Lighting. Structural
Engineer: Nabih Youssef
Associates. MEP/FP Engineers:
Donald F. Dickerson Associates.
Landscape: Matthew Brown
Landscape Design. Graphics:
Atelier Ace.
what Paint: Frazee Paint. Tile
Wall: Commune for Exquisite
Surfaces. Other wall: Homasote.
Hard flooring: Commune for
Exquisite Surfaces. Tile
flooring: Cement Tile for
Exquisite Surfaces. Carpet:
Masland Contract; Commune
for Decorative Carpets. Lighting:
Atelier de Troupe; Noguchi;
Victoria Morris; Michael Schmidt;
Robert Lewis; Adam Silverman.
Hardware: Alma Allen. Glass/
glazing: Arcadia Inc.; Glasswerks
LA, Inc. Decorative glass: The
Judson Studios; Steel City
Glass, Inc. Window treatments:
Schwimmer Drapery;
Environment. Seating: Herman
Miller; Royal Custom Designs;
Michael Boyd; Ton; Hospitality
Design Connecions. Upholstery:
Fairfield Textiles. Tables: Alma
Allen; Hospitality Design
Connections. Shelving: Rehab
Vintage; Atelier de Troupe.
Drawers/casegoods:
Arrowwoods, Inc. Custom
woodworking: ISEC, Inc.
Signage: Atelier Ace; Alert
Light Neon Signs. Plumbing
fixtures: Waterworks.

who Architect: SRAA+E; Adrian
R. Figueroa. Interior designer:
Rockwell Group. Project team:
David Rockwell, Shawn Sullivan,
Michael Sean, Susan Nugraha,
Andy Chu. Interactive
technology: LAB at Rockwell
Group. Project team: Hendrik
Gerrits, Brett Renfer, Quin
Kennedy, Jessica Edmiston, Hall
Ramirez, Benton C. Bainbridge,
David Lublin, Meghna Pathak.
Contractor: Maris Tech. Lighting:
Focus Lighting, Juan Pablo
Lira, Michael Cummings.
Engineering: Pavane &
Kwalbrun Consulting Engineers.
what Paint: Benjamin Moore.
Custom murals: Studio Hoon
Kim; HUSH. Wallcovering: Arte
Studios; Arte International/
Koroseal. Stone Columns: Java
Nola. Brick Wall Finish: Patrick
Marando. Screens: Mordy
Metalworks; Berbere Imports;
Eagle Woodwork; Joshua
Friedman. Wooden Arched
Portal: Joshua Friedman. Hard
flooring: Robusto Stoneworks;
Carlisle; Graniti Fiandre; Terra
Mai. Floor tiles: Robusto Stone
Works; Akdo. Lighting: Focus
Lighting; Babette Holland; Judi's
Custom Lampshade; Arteriors;
Judi's Custom Lampshade;
Canopy Design; Townsend
Lighting; Willow Lamp; Other
decorative: KD Panels; Graphic
Encounter; GC; Samuel & Sons;
Janet Yonaty. Doors:
Berbere Imports. Window
treatments: Martin Albert
Interiors. Banquettes: Dine Rite
Seating. Armchairs and barstools:
JC Furniture. Dining chairs: Lily
Jack; Jay East. Upholstery: Moore
& Giles; Opuzen; Demar Leather;
Townsend Leather; Demar;
Kravet. Tables: Mark White Inc.;
GC; Jay East; Mark White; SMC
Stone International. Reception
desk: Berbere World Imports.

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