I came across this rendering today of the 1 Hotel in Washington DC, which is being built across the street from the Washington DC Ritz-Carlton.

I found it on the website for Perseus Realty – which is the company acting as the developer with Starwood Capital in this project.

The building is EXACTLY as described in Portfolio Magazine’s article about Barry Sternlicht in September ’07:

Ivy will cloak much of the first floor and creep up the side of an airy glass-and-steel structure; a hanging garden will appear to cleave the hotel.

We know that the hotel is being designed by Chad Oppenheim, and I visited his firms website again to see if there were any additional renderings but there was not any. I did come across another article from “Building Design + Construction” (believe it or not, I subscribe to that magazine as well.. Yea.) which stated that his firm is in charge of developing the prototype of the 1 Hotel brand, if that’s the case, it’s a very good possibility that the design of the Washington DC 1 hotel will be replicated in most of the 1 Hotels being developed.

There is something to be said for this look & design, a lot of glass enabling sunlight to get into the building, along with greenery up and down the sides of the building – a perfect combination for a hotel brand that is being promoted as an eco-conscious hotel.

I know I say this over and over again – but Barry Sternlicht & the Starwood Capital Group have a great great hit on their hands. I can’t wait to see the brand open up in other locations throughout the world.

andrew@alconic-inc.com