Boutique Design - October 2013 - 32

Housed in a nine-story
atrium, the Trump
hotel’s interior courtyard will be an elegant
affair, with a water
sculpture at its center
and plethora of brass
and crystal chandeliers.

ONE OF THE MOST AMBITIOUS

adaptive-reuse projects in the U.S. is
taking place, appropriately enough, in
the nation’s capital. There, the Donald
(aka Donald Trump, president and
chairman of The Trump Organization)
is leading his company’s $200 million
redevelopment of The Old Post Office
into a 270-key luxury hotel.
Never one for the understatement,
Trump says the Pennsylvania Avenue
landmark “is going to be brought back
to far beyond its original grandeur.” To
help make that conversion a reality,
Trump and his daughter, Ivanka (The
Trump Organization’s executive vice
president of development and acquisitions), hired a high-profile design team
that includes architecture firm Beyer
Blinder Belle; interior design consultants Hirsch Bedner Associates
32

boutiquedesign.com OCTOBER 2013

(HBA); and preservation specialists
John Cullinane & Associates. That
team recently released renderings of
what the converted space will look like
when it opens in late 2015.
“The interiors of the building are
inspired by the strength of the massive
1899 Richardsonian Romanesque
Revival edifice, with its carved stone
and astounding level of detailing,”
says HBA associate Betsy Hughes.
“The materials are more muscular
than they would have been in France
or England, and we have juxtaposed
the masculinity and stateliness of the
building with softer furnishings.”
The property will be anchored
by a nine-story atrium called The
Cortile, which will house the hotel’s
lobby and lounge. Designed as a
stately interior courtyard, the space

will feature a soft canopy of trees,
hand-woven area rugs, a water sculpture and brass and crystal chandeliers, with rays of sunlight streaming
from above.
The hotel will also include 39,000
sq. ft. of meeting and event space,
most notably the 13,000 sq. ft. Grand
Ballroom. A 3,500 sq. ft. library—
which will also serve as a junior ballroom—will feature hardwood floors,
velvet draperies and hand-woven
area rugs. In addition, a 4,000 sq. ft.
Mar-a-Lago Spa by Ivanka Trump is
also slated for the hotel.
Designers say the guest rooms will
exude refined elegance mixed with
American aesthetics, featuring crystal
sconces and chandeliers, thick wool
carpets, stone tops and wood furnishings. A palette of Federal blues, creams

BETSY HUGHES
HBA

and ivories, punctuated with soft
gold, silver and deep red, will be used
throughout. The hotel will also feature
two Presidential Suites in the former
offices of the Postmaster General.
“This project is about the past
meeting the future in a seamless
pairing that will result in a level
of luxury previously unseen in this
market,” sums up Ivanka Trump. 

COUR TE S Y OF TRUMP HOTEL COLLEC TION (HOTEL); COUR TE S Y OF HBA (HUGHE S)

TRUMP INTERNATIONAL HOTEL WASHINGTON, D.C.

http://www.boutiquedesign.com

Boutique Design - October 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boutique Design - October 2013