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!

Project Spotlight: La Crema Winery at Saralee Estate

This has been a year of challenge and change, and perhaps the best comfort is returning home and enjoying holiday traditions, from festive décor and libations to getting warm by the fire with loved ones. During the most wonderful time of the year, BraytonHughes thinks fondly of a place we designed with a “home sweet home” feeling: La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard.

“The Barn,” originally built by a German immigrant in 1900, was acquired by Richard and Saralee Kunde in 1991 when they planted the 200-acre vineyard while living inside the historic barn. In transforming it into a new wine destination in the heart of Russian River Valley, we made sure to express the warmth and hospitality for which Saralee was known in the iconic red color, fireplace, and cozy nature of the reimagined building. Reclaimed wood, glass, bronze, stone and other materials helped modernize the building while preserving its agrarian charm. A variety of guest experiential spaces reinforce connections to the wine and vineyard, with a magnificent deck extending out from the tasting bar and overlooking the hills. Whether lingering in the main tasting bar, relaxing by the fireplace, or enjoying expansive views of the property nearby, guests will always receive a hearty welcome at the Kunde’s former home.

From the BraytonHughes family to yours, we wish you a very happy holiday season!  

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.

Project Spotlight: Casa San Pancho

On November 1st and 2nd, during one of the most spectacular Mexican holidays known as Dia de los Muertos, people dress in vibrant colors and decorate their homes, inviting loved ones who have passed to return and celebrate life with the living. While in most cultures, death is seen as something to fear and separate from life, this pre-colonial, Mexican tradition turns death on its head, with joyful depictions of skeletons and skulls and reminders that ancestors who have died live on in memory and in the lives of family members.

The artistic, whimsical energy of the holiday is seen in Joel Villalon’s “Casa San Pancho” located in Guanajuato, Mexico. With the help of the original architect, Francisco Moran, Joel created spaces for entertaining large groups and for the art, accessories, tile and textiles collections that mirror his life journey. Just as altars or “ofrendas” on Dia de los Muertos spill over with photographs, flowers, candles, and offerings to commemorate the life of a loved one, Joel’s colorful art and spirited textiles accumulated over the years create a beautiful ofrenda that shows his love for traveling and commitment to keeping cherished moments alive.