W Hotel, San Diego

San Diego, CA, United States

Add To Collection

Featured products in this project 2

Other Projects by Mister Important Design

Add To Collection

W Hotel, San Diego

San Diego, CA, United States

Firm

Mister Important Design

Type

Hospitality + Sport › Hotel Restaurant

YEAR

2012

We were asked to update the public areas of the hotel for the initial phase of a complete hotel
renovation. We took on the “living room”, the restaurant and the rooftop deck in this initial phase. The hotel
is used by mix of business and leisure travelers so we were tasked with creating spaces that would be
comfortable for both groups. Large stacked shared tables in the living room function as both a place to
plug in and meet up as well as a spot for individual or groups to enjoy drinks and food from the bar. The
intimate restaurant has one wall that opens up into a meeting room space with a décor that echoes the
interior of the restaurant. This creates a very large multi-functional space for meetings, banquets etc. The
rooftop now enjoys a much larger bar and new deck with additional cabanas, which has radically increased
the options for both business and nightlife functions.

The W design brief was very focused on creating and maintaining an overall narrative for the project. This
particular hotels narrative is focused on the idea of San Diego as a “Wild Coast” environment, both in the
sense of it’s native landscape as well as it’s vibrant nightlife, fashion music and art scene. We felt that the
visceral experience of a beach bonfire taps into both of those concepts. It became the nexus that visually
connects all the spaces. It’s most obvious incarnation is at the rooftop stack of burning chairs, but it’s also
found throughout the living room and the restaurant “Kelvin”.
“It’s a bit like how you feel after a big wave tumbles you under and you come up all dizzy... the burst of the
setting sun, the colors of the water and the sunset intensified by your off-kilter state. Walking into the W San
Diego, you are greeted with a graphic interior that pulls toward a far bar with DJ perched overhead. “Home
Sweet Home” beckons you toward the ignition point of the graphic vortex. Twenty-five foot tall gold- mirrored
obelisks lean this way and that, reflecting the graphic itnerior at angles that seem disconcerting and
beautiful at the same time. Bursts of driftwood combine with brass rod to form the signature chandeliers. It’s
all a bit of fantasy, flotsam and jetsam of the beach mixed with a heaping helping of California golden glam.

A short walk away the restaurant “Kelvin” spins another sunset scenario with smoke from bonfires wafting up
the orange candy glass walls. The piercing blue of the ocean finds a spot at the bar and provides a
contrasting color punch in the marmalade interior.

The final statement of the bonfire-inspired interior takes place on the Rooftop. A stack of aluminum Emeco
chairs is set ablaze nightly and tugboat rope found abanoned on the beach becomes a sparkling
chandelier. And another perfect Southern California sunset passes into the night.”