Client: Chartres Lodging Group

Location: New York, NY, United States

Completion date: 2013

Artwork budget: $195,000

Project Team

Artist

Michael Suomi

Stonehill & Taylor

Artist

Pavel Spieker

Trellage-Ferrill Studio

Artist

Darcy Ferrill

Trellage-Ferrill

Artist

Shawn Trentlage

Trellage-Ferrill

Overview

The iconic New Year’s Eve ball drop, as well as various traditions that fete the passage of time around the world, inspired much of the design, from video installations on LED-paneled columns to the way the lobby’s tubular bar and the lighting that radiate out from it are supposed to emulate an early astronomical model called an armillary that was used to tell the date.

Goals

A unique outcome from the collaboration between Stonehill & Taylor and Trellage-Ferrill is the lobby bar. Featuring a tall column of light, the bar references the sun, the center of the earth’s yearly rotation. This cylindrical wine bottle rack surrounds LED panels that change color throughout the day, creating different mood settings and experiences for visitors. Lines and facets emulating an armillary sphere break out from the reception area into the main lobby and converge at this visual center of the lobby.

Process

It was an incredibly communicative process between our group and the architects. The acrylic work was designed and fabricated in-house and the custom lighting system was devised and configured by our studio as well. Once the central bar column and custom bar face were installed, the pieces were tied into the overall LED system that combines each element into space through color and motion control.