Just because Hotels Week is over doesn't mean the possibility of a sleek new hotel doesn't get us all aflutter. In this case, the hotel in question is the 40-story goliath proposed for the site adjacent to the domed, landmarked Williamsburgh Savings Bank, which is currently undergoing a massive renovation into a small museum and events space. The same owner, Juan Figueroa, controls the lot next door at 175 Broadway, and Miami-based Oppenheim A+D are the architects behind the fantastical renderings for a boutique hotel there. One teensy little hiccup: there's no word on financing or talk of the city's approval process, so it may not happen. That technicality aside, the firm has posted a bunch of renderings depicting the sky-high "Williamsburghotel" (their name, not ours); some have surfaced before, but others are new, including the image above. The tallest tower would reach 440 feet, but be just 16 feet wide. What stands out is its height?the 86,000-square-foot hotel, which sort of looks like like a three-tiered sandwich on its side, simply dominates everything else around it. What's their rationale, you ask?
According to Oppenheim's website, they designed the hotel to complement both the Williamsburg Bridge and the bank. Some archibabble: "[T]he building expresses itself as three dramatically proportioned, rectilinear volumes of varied height and materiality. Soaring high above the neighborhood, the hotel becomes the third pillar of the bridge, while serving as an archetypical tower to the domed basilica of the historical bank...The three towers engage and dialogue with the distinctive scales and character of the context, with the lowest volume relating directly to the surrounding neighborhood in both scale and material, the middle one to the adjacent iconic Williamsburg Bank, and the third volume extends to the sky in direct dialogue with the bridge. The slender building becomes a beacon upon entering Brooklyn via car or train, yet scales down towards the street." Besides the diagonally patterned steel facade, the architects are also aiming for a platinum LEED rating. If it ever gets built, it would be a beacon all right?one that would be impossible to ignore. But contextual? It's a hard sell.
· Renderings: Williamsburg Hotel [Oppenheim]
· Oppenheim Wins Super-Secret, Supertall 'Burg Hotel Bid [Curbed]
· 40-Story Hotel Planned Next to the Williamsburgh Savings Bank [Curbed]
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