Hospitality Design - September 2009 - 40

news Detroit Rock City For the Greektown Casino-Hotel in Detroit, the owners brought in a powerhouse team of design firms: the Hnedak Bobo Group and Rossetti Architects, who Reno Redo For the new 30,000-square-foot spa at the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada, designers Kimberly Daoust and Jordan Bañares of Las Vegasbased Tandem appealed to all of the senses. Reception and the retail area set the tone of the spa, part of the hotel’s $75 million renovation, with silver veined travertine floors, a monolithic cream stone reception desk, an abstract stone mural of a seashell, dark woods, and polished metal accents. The focal point is a circular ceiling coffer with a chandelier inspired by candles and flowing sheers. “It’s a statement of grace and elegance,” says Bañares. Elsewhere, woven lounge chairs, dark wood millwork, stone, lush fabrics done in a natural color palette of gray and beige, natural imagery, and candle accents create a welcoming, relaxing environment. And water is a common theme throughout, seen in multiple fountains and waterfalls, and hinted in the floor border of natural river rocks that lines the hallways leading to the treatment rooms. “The ultimate spa experience is designed to blend relaxation, pampering, and tranquility,” Daoust says. “The result [here] is a stimulation of the senses, allowing the guest to slip into a haven of serenity.” tandemlasvegas.com; atlantiscasino.com together served as the master architect and handled guestrooms and public spaces, and Cagley & Tanner, who designed the casino. “[We] worked around existing urban structures to integrate this casino expansion, a new 400-room high-rise hotel, and 3,500car parking structure into the bustling, historic Greektown district,” says Rick Gardner, project principal of Memphis-based Hnedak Bobo Group. Serenity in Spain Alejandro Bataller is at pains to stress that the SHA Wellness Clinic in the coastal city of Alicante, Spain is not a spa. “We do want to help our guests relax, but as a wellness clinic we focus mainly on vitality, health, and lifestyle through a blend of eastern and western medicine and macrobiotics,” says Bataller, the development director for SHA. This philosophy is reflected in the minimalist, monochromatic design by Elvira Blanco Montenegro. With the exception of green tones added by verdant window boxes, Japanese style gardens, abundant potted orchids, and the pale turquoise of the rooftop infinity pool, the palette is exclusively white, black, and intervening shades of slate gray. The aqua-lab, with therapeutic pools incorporating physio-hydro massage functions, is surrounded by dove gray cuarcita stone floor tiles out of which shoot silver mosaic covered pillars, suggestive of Roman baths. A Zen-like garden with twisting bonsai trees grown on a bed of black and white river rocks can be seen through the floor-to-ceiling glass window walls. Bataller approached Blanco Montenegro about the project after he saw her work at the Hospes Hotels. Her design warms up the potentially clinical interiors: suites are filled with thick pile carpets and flowing muslin drapes, and Japanese cherry blossoms and bamboo shoots are painted (in the obligatory monochrome) on the headboards in the bedrooms. shawellnessclinic.com “The exterior architectural image is represented by a contrast of two major forms. The lower, pedestrianoriented f loors are faced with traditional brick, chosen to marry with the Victorian-era façades of Greektown in scale, material, and color. A few floors up, a hotel tower explodes from the base rising to its full height in shimmering modernist simplicity.” Almost cobalt blue in sunlight, the hotel is a gleaming mosaic of nine different types of glass placed across nearly 100,000 square feet of curtain wall. Inside, the modern tribute of Greek heritage continues in the lobby complete with a drape wall, derived from a toga and scaled to match the massive space, gold leaf, mirrored ceiling, and dramatic staircase reminiscent of Jacob’s ladder. Bistro 555 showcases equally elegantly crafted drama with overscaled Greek motifs, a palette of royal purple and gold, 40 hospitalitydesign www.hdmag.com
http://www.tandemlasvegas.com http://www.atlantiscasino.com http://www.shawellnessclinic.com http://www.hdmag.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - September 2009
