It seemed that it would be inevitable that I would cross paths with the eponymous hotel that bears my name if I happened to be in downtown New York. The Smyth Tribeca situates on the corner of Chambers and West Broadway just a couple of blocks from the Ground Zero redevelopment site. The façade does little to indicate the presence of one of the Big Apple’s newest hip properties with its minimalist signage and sleek business-like lines. When the soon-to-open restaurant is installed on the corner, the Smyth Hotel will assert its hipness externally to oppose the quirky interiors from the Yabu Pushelburg team.

International architecture and interior design firm, BBG-BBGM created this prominent new downtown hotel from the ground up. Large windows with vertical accents of dark grey mullions offer panoramic views of the five-street junction.

 

BBG-BBGM was very intent on taking advantage of the corner location and diagonal view of Hudson Street. The design intent of the building gives a strong modern presence to the area. Encircled by industrial buildings that echo one another, Smyth Tribeca represents a variation from these surroundings. Though the hotel fits into the 19th century vernacular of Tribeca, it was not designed as a literal representation.

 

The selection of materials helped to reinforce the design concept especially as the city has implemented uniquely extreme restrictions in zoning requirements at this location. “In order to visibly lengthen the constrained proportions city zoning dictated, we introduced the vertical accent of dark gray mullions on windows, which elongates the structure,” says Louis Hedgecock, partner at BBG-BBGM. “The visual result is a building that exceeds its own physical dimensions.”

 

There are three key principles in the fabric of the buildings in this southwest Manhattan neighborhood. The structures tend to run directly up from the street without any setbacks, often times featuring a mix of both stone and brick, and they have rather large windows that are generally subdivided into smaller panes. Smyth’s large windows with distinct articulations make the structure aesthetically pleasing, while incorporating the movement of the city into the design of the window patterns through signature vertical elements that alternate positions to draw the eye upward. 

 

“We set out to create an elegant hotel that offers visitors an intimate neighbourhood hideaway,” says Jason Pomeranc, co-owner of Thomson Hotels.