plenty to do

Wow, it's been way too long since I last posted anything! The blog has been taking a backseat, but I'm about to catch it up with what all has been happening: I am nearly done with my hotel floor plan. I just have to finish my suites up and put the actual furniture I will be using into it. I have pretty much worked out how I want to set up my restaurant and spa. I have finished the layout of both my boards and booklet. I have also gotten all of my title pages done and the headers of my pages. So all I have to do to the booklet is to put my actual design work into it and label the work on each page. In order to configure my restaurant and spa the way I want, I need to find out a couple of things regarding windows and doors. I plan on getting my concept statement down and into my board and booklet today. I would also like to get the research statement finalized. I'm kind of unsure as to what the research statement is supposed to contain. Do I write about the hotels I researched and trends? Do I write about research of the downtown Bowling Green area and what kind of boutique hotel would work well here?
I am getting really nervous about this. The deadline is fast-approaching and I feel the panic attacks are about to set in. I do feel really good about my design, but need to really get the ball rolling and get stuff done! I did get my board frames the other day. That put so much excitment in me. I can't wait to show off my biggest educational accomplishment at the Kentucky Museum!

What's Going On

We just returned from Spring Break. It feels weird to have spent my last Spring Break, or general break, and only have a few weeks left of school after being in school for approximately the past 19 years! It's about to hit big time. While on Spring Break, I was in Ft. Myers, FL and went into a design center/furniture store. I saw it and absolutely HAD to go in. I saw the Eames Molded plastic chairs and Wire Chairs through the window. It's cool to see things like that when I've been seeing them and specifying them in projects. They also had some REALLY cool light fixtures that I took pictures of. One of them looked like it was cut pieces of paper with 3 'finger-like' things and each of the fingers were hinged to a different finger of another piece. It resembled popsicle sticks put together. Anywho, enough of talking about Spring Break happenings.
On the first day back here, I feel like I've finally made some progress! I got a good portion of my hotel floor plan figured out. I need to finish it and make a few minor adjustments like furniture choice. I also found some neat room dividers for my suite rooms. They are called Aparo Dividers. I have yet to find out where to get them or their dimensions, but I think it would be a really unique feature to having movable walls, or dividers, for privacy when necessary. I have integrated the front curve of the Galloway building into my hotel room design. All of a sudden I feel like I finally have ideas that I can work with, and they are pouring in to the point that I haven't even written all of them down. Thank goodness.
Although, I feel better about the situation, I realize we only have about 12 more studio classes left before we have to be completely done and ready to print it and hang it. I still have a lot of work to do, but hopefully I'll keep having productive days like today.

Field Trip

Monday, the class took a field trip to Nashville to visit the Aloft Hotel. This chain of hotels are boutique hotels. They are also very modern and very innovative. I thought it was really neat, but I just wonder how well these kinds of hotels are going to do without things such as room service. The room layout was really neat. I've never seen a hotel bed actually facing the window (that I can remember). It actually does look like a personal residential loft (which they are called Lofts instead of Rooms by the hotel itself). It was interesting to see furniture that I have specified in other projects. The woman who gave us a tour noted how Aloft Hotels are all about affecting the senses. There is a distinct scent in all of the htels and the music & lighting in the lobby are based upon the time of day. I've never thought about the possibility of using the human senses in such a way throughout a space. In between their hotel space and their recreational space, there was a patio area for guests with an outdoor fireplace and seating. Although it was not a covered area, I still like the idea of using a fireplace in between my hotel space and my business space. I may even make it where the large pieces of glass going from floor to ceiing act as windows and can be opened at a diagonal to let fresh air in on a really nice Kentucky day. Another thing I liked in the rooms was the armoire in the sink area that had many cubby holes and places to store clothes and travel supplies. It was very compact, yet pleasing to the eye and including enough space for a guest's belongings.
At the hotel, the woman giving the tour also mentioned the reception/check-in desk being round as to allow for it to be approachable by guests from all angles. That's a nice feature. The one thing I really did not like about the hotel was the elevators. They were extremely dim-lit and felt more like a nightclub than a hotel. There were also quilted blanket-like pieces hung on the walls in the elevator. It almost seemed as if they were trying to cover an imperfection up the easy way. I was not keen on the elevator in any way whatsoever.
That about sums up the field trip to Nashville. It was fun and enlightening.

Here's the deal: We only have this week and next week before spring break, meaning I am starting to get nervous about this progress. I started on my floor plan. I'm going to make an outdoor dining patio next to my restaurant to utilize some of the space created by corners in the building, and also to cover up where I will be replacing a large garage door with floor to ceiling windows. In this patio, I'll be using the typical Italian wrought iron fencing with lots of beautiful foliage winding through the iron. I'm also thinking about makeing one of the existing built rooms into a coat closet for the restaurant. In my atrium-like hotel area, I'm going to design bridges to run from one side of each floor to the other. They will be modern, with classic touches. I have an idea for space dividers in the restaurant. These, if used, will be custom designed pieces. Also, I'm thinking of chaning the name from an Italian word, to 'Haven on the Corner' or 'Haven at the Corner'. I was taking the name from the theme of my design, but I thought about it and realized the name doesn't really fit into the Bowling Green area and just because it will have an Italian design theme does not mean EVERYTHING about it has to revolve around an Italian theme. I really like the new name possibility and think it would create a good starting point for my boards.

Well it's been a while. We had critiques yesterday. I decided that I definitely want to stick with my modern italian theme and just roll with the pale yellow tile. We saw the actual building we are preserving and turning into our hotel/restaurant/spa last week. Although it is a large space, it still was not as large as I was picturing. I found out I need to have approximately 30 hotel rooms (of different sizes for different needs). I definitely want to do the atrium in between the buildings and possibly a very narrow atrium/skylight-like area through the middle of the hotel building. I think it would be a great way to bring in some natural light. I would like to have a shallow narrow pool running the length and width of the skylight above. I may incorporate wrought iron into this design (possibly light fixtures and in the spa area as well). idea: wrought iron spiral staircase. alright, for now I'll stop writing and keep working.

Lists

Today, I have felt very scatter-brained and like I just don't know where to go from what I have. It's been a week since I last even looked at this project, and I think I kind of lost my train of thought. That being said, I have tried my best to do a little more researching and look into the essential elements that I will need, along with the elements that I would like to implement into the design. I have some questions regarding guidelines: Does guest parking need to be included in our design (the area we've been given to work with)? Is the storage building on the plan drawing no longer there, and therefore can be eliminated? Are the hotel rooms required to have an exterior window for a fire exit? Can I design different types (sizes) of rooms? I would like to have the standard room, along with suite style rooms available to allow multiple-guest parties to be able to stay within the same general area/living space. Can I create an "atrium-styled" hotel area? Because beautiful landscaping is an important aspect of Italian design, I would like to incorporate that into the hotel part the space that would provide guests on all floors to view this on the inside of the hotel, just outside their rooms. My last big question still remains: can I successfully create a Modern Italian design with the existing materials?
I have researched and found the following things/spaces that I will need to plan for: offices for managers, laudry and housekeeping with possible laundry shoot and housekeeping office, employee entrance, employee bathrooms and lockers, employee dining area, lost and found storage room for guest possessions that have been left behind, a small meeting room, storage, concierge, check-in/check-out area, vending machines, and possibly a small fitness center located near or within the spa.
I need to begin working on my floorplan during next class, but until then, I'll be thinking about my questions and hopefully find the answers.

May Need to Stray a Bit

Ok, so even though I don't feel as if I've gotten a whole lot done, I don't feel as if I'm behind. That's something I haven't felt in a long time. While in class today, I did research on current hotel trends that just so happen to coincide nicely with the design theme that I've chosen (although I have one small reservation about that). I found that many hotels are going in a much more contemporary, simplistic/minimalist, yet also incorporating very rich materials. Zen and calming themes really resonate through lobbies and restaurant/bars. Design utilizes bright pops of color. Spaces are very sleek and geometric. Cost-effective seems is a major issue.
I looked through all of the pictures provided to us and kind of got a better idea of what I'm working with. I made notes on my printout of the current floor plan. I had already decided that I would be using a wood veneer to cover up the stern-looking metal raftors that run acrosst he entire width of each large section of space. I think this will really break up the space and also create nice aesthetics. I plan on connecting my restarant/check-in/spa from the current lawn (future hotel room complex) by an enclosed glass Italian landscaped garden, which I have found are very lavishly designed in themselves. This will create more visual interest for hotel guests. I definitely want my hotel rooms to have balconies so the guests can see the courtyard and other landscaping from their rooms while getting fresh air. Balconies are also very popular in Italian design. I kind of planned out where I want my restaurant and spa to be located and the rooms that need to be incorporated into those areas.
My one reservation about using a Modern Italian design approach is that the walls needs to be white (or as close to white as possible), but the original tile on the outside is also very prevalent on the inside of most of existing building. It is a pale-ish yellow color (not my personal favorite). Since this project is being completed for our "client," the Downtown Redevelopment Association and we are also trying to update and preserve the building, I'm not sure I should do anything to it. Should I stray a little bit from my Italian theme because of the tile or just let it slide and possibly paint or replace it with something else???