Project Spotlight: Resilience

As we approach one full year of sheltering in place, BraytonHughes Design Studios reflects on resilience and how we have forged a new set of operations since the advent of remote work due to COVID-19.

Grand Hyatt SFO

Resilient design does not mean designing for every unpredictable event but working to ensure designs are better able to weather disruptions when they happen. Our talented team has practiced this idea of resiliency, adapting to remote work, and using innovative resources to stay connected, engaged, and collaborative. From Zoom factory tours and virtual happy hours to Zoom model rooms and installations to our latest Zoom NEWH tour of the Grandy Hyatt at SFO, we learned to evolve, leveraging practices out of necessity but embracing them for the long-term. We tapped into a powerful way to remotely search and sample materials with Material Bank, and with samples delivered within 24 hours, we can easily view and discuss the nuances in various materials and continue to make the best design decisions for each project.

We are proud to look back on the year and our design at the new LEED Silver certified hotel, Canopy by Hilton Baltimore Harbor Point, which opened during a pandemic and reflects how we overcame challenges such as product and installation delays and limited site visits by leveraging technology, community and moving forward.

Canopy by Hilton, Baltimore, MD

Project Spotlight: Fairmont Nanjing

During Chinese New Year this February, a celebration also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, BraytonHughes reminisces on The Fairmont Nanjing, a luxury hotel located on the top floors of the iconic Jinao Tower in China, which appears as a geometric gem against the skyline and features interiors inspired by the beginning of spring in the city of Nanjing.

Nanjing, China, and the faceted, jewel-like nature of Jinao Tower informed the design in unexpected ways. BraytonHughes designed the hotel’s atrium to give the impression of standing inside a giant 30-story Chinese lantern. Guided by the plum blossom tree, the tree of Nanjing, BraytonHughes laser-cut silhouettes of the tree’s growing and falling leaves into faceted metal panels. Behind the metal panels are LED lights that change color to create different moods during different parts of the day or seasons. In addition to expressing the profile of the plum tree leaf throughout the public spaces, guestroom carpets, and fabric patterns, in the spa, the design team captured the crystal frost melting on the plum blossom trees and the full bloom of the trees. The softer, more fluid lines of the leaf and blossoms help balance the building’s faceted planes.

We hope the new year brings newfound harmony and balance into our lives.

Project Spotlight: Canopy by Hilton Baltimore Harbor Point

At BraytonHughes, this New Year inspires both a look ahead toward brighter days and a retrospective mindset on exciting moments and opportunities we had during a challenging year. The newly opened Canopy by Hilton Baltimore Harbor Point ended 2020 on a high note, and we are proud to have designed a project that contributes to the fabric of the neighborhood and builds a spirit of community between tourists and locals.

Located on Baltimore’s stunning waterfront, Canopy by Hilton Baltimore Harbor Point invites interactions between guests and locals and discovery of the City’s rich history and art community. Drawing design inspiration from the historic Fells Point neighborhood, we paid homage to Baltimore’s industrial and shipbuilding past with contemporary interiors that reinvent materials such as copper, steel, wood, and dark metals. Strong, authentic artwork ranges from murals to industrial mixed media landscapes and reinforces the hotel as a portal into the neighborhood by showcasing local artists. Together, the interiors and art program shine a light on Baltimore’s multifaceted character while removing the veil that can divide hotel guests from locals and authentic experiences.

2020 demonstrated the importance of community and solidarity. Cheers to a New Year and design that creates a sense of togetherness in the future!

Designer Diaries - Julia Whittley

Next up on Designer Diaries is one of our Junior Designers, Julia Whittley, a Bay Area native who joined BHD last year. Read on to learn more about her!

1)      What is your favorite BHD project (either that you have worked on or not)?
Grand Hyatt SFO. The spaces have those fresh and inviting vibes that make you want to enter the room with a smile on your face. I am also loving our recently completed Canopy by Hilton Baltimore project, especially because of the high attention to detail, which the designers of this project have excelled at. So, keep a look out for that one!

2)      What is your favorite design product?
The future is here with the Remi Smart Mirror!

3)      What (or who) inspired you to be a designer?
Once when I was a kid, we got an architectural magazine in the mail and I was obsessed with it. I cut out all my favorite images and glued them into a notebook. Not long after that was the first and only time I told an adult what I wanted to be when I grew up. They asked me some questions, and then, said I should probably pick something else. So, I stuffed that dream away until my early 20s when I decided to take a stab at becoming a designer and applied to my school’s interior design program.

4)      What is your favorite hotel or restaurant?

I recently went to Ozumo. It’s a contemporary Japanese restaurant on the Embarcadero. I have never been inside (because COVID) but the food is great.

5)      What is your most used emoji?

Without a doubt 😬 …It’s probably my most common facial expression as well.

6)      What was your first job?

I started babysitting when I was 10. It’s a job that I really enjoyed and stuck with, all the way through college where I had a part time job working with infants and toddlers.

7)      What are you streaming right now?

Does football count?

8)      What is your favorite snack food?

I wanted to put down something healthier but it’s Cheez-it’s. I love Cheez-it’s.

9)      Where have you gotten lost on purpose?

When I was studying abroad in London, I took a trip by myself to Napoli. Each street had a different market and was so different from anything I had ever experienced, so I decided to keep walking and figure out where I was later.

10)      Coffee or Tea? How do you take it?

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my tea. I’m always stocked with a full assortment. Over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten into matcha, and I’ve been able to perfect my matcha latte skills since we’ve been working from home.

The Summer of the Road Trip

It is undoubtedly the summer of the road trip and Ventana Big Sur, a reimagined iconic luxury resort at the edge of California’s Central Coast, is the perfect place to relax amid an unspoiled landscape and discover the unbridled spirit of Big Sur.

Inspired by the history of the region – where untouched beauty drew early homesteaders, those seeking spiritual rebirth, writers and musicians – we leveraged natural design elements and engaged with local designers and artisans to imbue the resort with a rustic, modern touch. 

Ventana is a luxurious oceanside escape designed to connect modern travelers to the natural beauty and history of one of the most scenic landscapes in the world.

The newly renovated spa is a great place to unwind while soaking in a tub overlooking the forest.

In addition to guestrooms, Ventana offers glamping, complete with a Bath House designed to offer a more refined outdoor experience.

No road trip here would be complete without stopping by Big Sur Smokehouse for some of the best BBQ along the California coast.

Statement Spaces: BāBā

BāBā is the true center of action in Yellowstone Club’s Village Core, and we hope it sparks new ideas for other one-of-a-kind statement spaces with a story to tell.

Statement spaces carry subtle magnetism as unexpected, eye-catching elements that stay in harmony with the surrounding context. One such space is Yellowstone Club’s new signature restaurant, BāBā by Ming Tsai, where the barn, school, and ranch house structures of Montana’s past informed the design. Located at the heart of Yellowstone Club’s Village Core, the octagonally-shaped dining room boasts 360-degree views of the scenic Rocky Mountains of Big Sky, Montana, and draws attention through its central location, distinctive shape, and lighting. Natural daylight permeates through glass walls and high clerestory windows, and at night, outsiders are drawn to the central Village Core glow, where sconces suspended from a ring of timber columns create a rhythm around the room and a welcoming feeling. Creating a central hub with indoor outdoor flexibility, architecture firm Hart Howerton enclosed BāBā with a series of glass doors that can open to the plaza, providing a private space for receptions, lectures, and meetings, or for activity to spill out from multiple openings and transform into alfresco dining.