Conrad Washington, DC | Washington, District of Columbia | 2019

Architects: Herzog & de Meuron
Photographers: Eric Laignel
Client: Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co.
Interior Architects: Rottet Studio
Architects of Record: HKS Architects, Inc.
Developer: Gerald D. Hines Interests
Hotel Operator: Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton
General Contractor: Turner Construction Company
Landscape Architects: Gustafson Guthrie Nichol

Rottet Studio designed the interiors of the Conrad Hilton Washington DC as a contemporary rendition of the classic early American Town Square. This world-class luxury hotel caps the transformation of CityCenterDC, the 10-acre mixed-use development located in the heart of Washington, DC.

In collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron, the hotel is designed as a destination for a new generation of global luxury travelers for whom life, business, and pleasure seamlessly intersect. The design is a nod towards the significance of Washington, DC, in America's history and the making of the law. Featuring textured warm gray-brown wood, white marble walls, shattered blue and white china, and glass with linen and gold inside, the spaces celebrate the historical undercurrent of the nation's capital.

The conceptual study of light further illuminates the hotel's interiors, with lights in the corners running up, down, and across the ceilings, and other light-emitting from floating walls.

The hotel carries Rottet Studio's signature of simple architectural moves, natural materials, and a carefully studied use of light paired with warm contemporary furnishings and accessories. The design is intended to represent a restrained, minimalist expression of Purity of Design as in the colonial Shaker architectural tradition.

The hotel lobby is organized as a modernist "village," anchored by a central atrium surrounded by distinct spaces which emphasize natural light and views onto the cityscape and gardens. The atrium features natural materials constructed in an honest manner. Evoking early American taverns, warm wood walls indicate venues for food, beverage, and celebration, while stone indicates more ceremonial space. Though the design is minimal and pure at first glance, it offers endless entertainment through the discovery of tiny details, light, and reflections that will continue to surprise and delight.

Embracing while not mimicking historical influence, Rottet Studio worked with Herzog de Meuron on the concept design for the hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. The team envisioned the large, third-floor lobby space like an early American village where the inhabitants walk from restaurant to bar, to meeting halls through the central atrium court. As in most colonial towns, the tavern restaurants are clad in wood, and the town hall is clad in stone, a return to the honesty of regional materials. An oversized fireplace, natural walnut walls, and leather finished white marble tables set the stage for dining early American style with hearty but natural dishes.

The walnut, bronze, limestone, and calacatta marble forms sit inside the minimal metal and glass perimeter like sets waiting to be discovered. Within the walls of the Conrad Washington DC await almost endless discoveries through the details of bronze, leather and wood, which continue to surprise and delight beyond the initial look.