**1 Hotel South Beach
1 Hotel celebrates nature while encouraging sophisticated travelers to live well, do better, and connect with the world around them. 1 Hotel South Beach is consciously designed in collaboration with eco-friendly architects and craftsman, and features high design with low impact.
Occupying an entire city block on Collins Avenue from 23rd to 24th streets, 1 Hotel South Beach sits directly on 600 feet of pristine beachfront. The property offers unparalleled views of the Atlantic Ocean, Miami’s nature paradise Biscayne Bay and Downtown Miami’s ever-expanding skyline. Throughout the 426-room hotel, the celebration of nature is evident, from the graceful twist of driftwood furnishings to the ever-present sounds of the ocean and abundance of living, natural material. The property features four swimming pools, three outlets from James Beard Award-winning chef Tom Colicchio (making his Miami debut), 57 cabanas and daybeds, an 18,000 square foot spa, wellness and fitness center (set to open late 2015), and over 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space.
In a celebration of nature and the locales surrounding the properties, 1 Hotel South Beach brings the outside in with living greenery throughout the guest experience, from the instant they approach a 1 Hotel until the moment they enter their room. At 1 Hotel South Beach, guests will be welcomed with 3,000 feet of living wall wrapped around its exterior with 11,000 local tropical plant varieties and playful art as nature pieces such as interactive hanging terrariums.
Materials for construction and furnishings are regional, reclaimed, or repurposed whenever possible. This includes saving Colorado beetle kill pine to create headboards and Ipe wood from the property’s original boardwalk to cover the redesigned pool deck. The new property was designed from existing buildings that were overhauled to adhere to the brand’s standards for less consumption and more conservation. Every aspect has been updated, such as: installing state-of-the-art, energy efficient heating and cooling systems; installing motion sensors; using LED illumination to reduce electrical demands and heat build-up from lighting; using low V.O.C. paints, adhesives, sealants and finishes; installing Triple Clear Water filters in all taps, sinks, and showers; and using low-flow plumbing fixtures to conserve water.
The interior design team’s approach to selecting materials was one of the most important aspects of design, each decision aimed to use materials in the most honest and natural way. Concrete looks and feels like concrete, wood looks and feels like wood, steel looks and feels like steel. These and more honest materials are carefully combined and thoughtfully contrasted through texture and color. The cooperation and tension found in material relations reflect how they are experienced in nature. Reflecting this narrative throughout the hotel creates an immediate and lasting impact.
The environment of 1 Hotel South Beach is casual, easy, and warm. Immersion is instant – while it is an environment that is entirely new, it feels incredibly familiar and palatable. Earthy qualities in building materials are heightened, sharpened, and exaggerated to draw attention to them. For sustainability as well as a desired look and feel, finishes aren’t perfectly finished, finely sanded, or precisely mitered. Material decisions were made that preserved the scale of the existing space. The design team took time to determine which materials were appropriate to use at what dimension to strike the perfect balance architecturally. Each venue within the hotel is punctuated: from reception’s modern jungle, to a beautiful jewel-like coral stone lobby bar, to an installation of unique woven vessels in a public seating area. Designed to every inch, this property was a labor of love from all angles, and a groundbreaking accomplishment in luxury hospitality.
