CHECKLIST

Hotel & Restaurant

The Knickerbocker New York

A Legendary New York Hotel is Reborn

Construction site board

Project name:

The Knickerbocker New York

Location:

USA, New York

Client:

Felcor Lodging Trust

Architects:

Interior designer:

One of New York City's landmark specimens of architecture, the Knickerbocker, has been reborn as a luxury hotel in Times Square. Peter Poon Architects was in charge of reinventing the hotel in cooperation with interior design by Gabellini Sheppard Associates. The project was completed in February 2015.

The Knickerbocker Hotel was originally designed by architects Marvin & Davis, with Bruce Price as consultant. The hotel was built in 1902 with financing from John Jacob Astor IV, one of the wealthiest people in the world at the time and designated as a landmark in 1988. The building features a red brick Beaux-Arts facade, terracotta details and a prominent mansard roof. Over the years, this once magnificent hotel became a mixed-use commercial building. In 2010, however, Peter Poon Architects was commissioned to restore the Knickerbocker's original glory as a luxury hotel. The architects designed a new interior layout, additions to the ground and top floors, and planned the restoration of the Beaux-Arts facade. The restoration project of the 15-storey, 175,000 square foot building includes a new grand lobby, espresso bar, restaurant, wine bar, library, lounge, private event space, health club, rooftop lounge and 330 fully redesigned guest rooms and suites.

The caliber of the hotel’s interior and its fine selection of materials are truly impressive. The grand lobby welcomes guest with a vaulted metallic ceiling, illuminated ceiling panels and warm-toned marble flooring. The adjacent Italian-style espresso bar and café, with its atmospheric lighting and breccia capraia marble bar, becomes a glamorous cocktail lounge in the evening. The 122-seat Charlie Palmer restaurant on the fourth floor has a unique bar designed with lightweight metal mesh curtains and a mica interlayer glass screen. On the roof, the St. Cloud lounge boasts a one-of-a-kind interior bar that wraps around a wooden dance floor with a silver metallic finish.

The 330 guest rooms and suites also offer a tailor-made experience with luxury materials and custom furnishings including floating armoires between the sleeping and bathing areas and beautiful desks to make sure you're productive. Spacious, modern bathrooms feature sinks surrounded by marble, glass-enclosed walk-in rain showers and Villeroy & Boch Architectura wall-mounted toilets. Located on the top floors are suites in four different design themes, each inspired by one of the hotel’s legendary guests: tenor Enrico Caruso, playwright George Cohan, artist Maxfield Parrish, and Martini Di Arma Di Taggia – the hotel’s bartender and inventor of the classic Martini cocktail.

From its bars to its bedrooms and bathroom, the newly renovated Knickerbocker certainly represents New York City style at its finest.