The InterContinental San Francisco, next door to Moscone West Convention Center, is a major presence on the street, with floor to ceiling glazing at the ground level public areas where TCA’s new work will be on full display, come 2019.
Hotel interiors get a make-over every five to seven years. Materials get worn, fashions change and customer expectations evolve. Over the past ten years, the boutique concept has matured and become the norm for downtown properties. And now millennial business travelers, who like casual, work-anywhere spaces, cocktail culture and specialty food selections preferably available with all the above, are driving traditional brands to change it up. The owners of the InterContinental Hotel next to the Moscone Convention West Center, in San Francisco realized that their property, originally opened in 2009, while gracious and coolly elegant, was a bit quiet and formal for today’s traveller, and decided to re-create their public space.
The owners selected the very contemporary, bay area- based interior design group, EDG Design for the task, and asked TCA’s Hospitality Studio to support the owners as Architect of Record.
Revisions began incrementally, a couple of years ago, working to maintain operations while upgrading key areas in the main lobby. And the new lobby lounge and concierge area is now a co-working space with an over-sized natural wood table replete with power and data. There’s a hand- crafted feel to the fixtures and furnishings that suits the DIY spirit of younger professionals, but all is elegantly proportioned and finely finished.
Next on the schedule is the remainder of the ground level public areas, including the bar, “888,” named after the building’s address (“ba ba ba” is three times lucky in Chinese culture), a new speciality food station and dining lounge, and a full-scale upgrade of the Luce Restaurant. Build-out for all areas is scheduled for the Spring of 2019, and TCA will be there from start to golden finish.
The hotel’s restaurant needed to boost their street-front presence, and protect diners from a near constant breeze. The solution: a sleek new vestibule, “gilded” in brass panels. And the bar’s name, 888, taken from the building address, means good fortune in Chinese culture.