Hospitality Design - October 2014 - 48

perspectives

sketchbook

thompson
miami beach
> For the Thompson Miami Beach, debuting
later this month, creating a cohesive design
story was no easy feat for Martin Brudnizki.
The 380-room hotel-featuring 31 suites,
two restaurants (one helmed by James Beard
award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein), two
swimming pools, and a spa-is three separate
structures melded over the building's 75year history. There's the original 18-story
Lord Tarleton Hotel designed by Victor H.
Nellenbogen, the city's tallest building when
it was completed in 1940; in 1955, iconic local
architect Melvin Grossman added a second
tower, this one eight stories tall, which was
a kosher hotel dubbed the Crown until it
transitioned to a Ramada Inn; and in 2003,
Howard B. Cohen, whose family had owned

the property for more than 40 years, converted
it into 174 apartments and added a third tower.
"With a building that is one part Art
Deco, one part Miami Modernism, one part
21st-century design, and adding in a touch
of Spanish Revival, the interior had to be
postmodern to reflect the rich architectural
history of the building and the prevailing
styles of the time," explains Brudnizki, whose
namesake design firm has offices in London
and New York.
That equated to a 1950s sensibility with
playful yet stylish patterns and colors-yellow

tones in the guestrooms and green hues in
the restaurant-modernist breezeblock walls
in the lobby, and hacienda-style flooring
in the original building. "We wanted the
hotel to stay true to Miami Beach but have
the sophistication and element of fun the
Thompson brand brings," Brudnizki says.
Yet, the challenge: making the large
hotel feel intimate, "so we created a series
of connected spaces, allowing the guests to
experience them as they move through them,"
Brudnizki says.

dos caminos park avenue
> In refreshing the Park Avenue location
of New York's Dos Caminos restaurant-
the upscale Mexican chain's original 2002
location-James Gersten, president and CEO
of restaurant giant BR Guest, wanted to "bring
new energy to the space, to make people feel
like they were able to get away," he explains.
Gersten selected "fresh, modern, and talented
designers," to reimagine the brand's locations,
including locally based Samuel Amoia
Associates for Park Avenue.
"We thought about the idea of Mexico and
how I could reinterpret the space to represent
a Mexican escape or vacation," says firm
owner Samuel Amoia. He selected a muted,
light palette, mixing it with strong colors and
patterns, and distressed walls meant to mimic
those found in Mexican coastal towns. To
update an existing L-shaped wall at the back
of the main dining area, originally a terracotta
red, Amoia repainted it in a vintage black and
white serape blanket pattern. "It's now one of
the first things you notice when you walk in,"
he says.

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October 2014 hospitalitydesign.com

But the highlight, in Amoia's opinion, is
the restaurant's custom booth dividers. "We
repainted and distressed the walls behind
them in a gradient dark to light blue, then
placed the dividers in a gradient light to dark
yellow, creating a reverse ombré effect," he
explains, providing guests a sense of intimacy
without feeling like they are closed off.

Photos by ERIC LAIGNEL
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Hospitality Design - October 2014

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