CREJ - Building Dialogue - March 2016
It’s a sign of the times that the Mile High City is experiencing a boom as a meeting destination. How can you go wrong with 300 days of sunshine a year, architecturally significant cultural venues and world-class sports teams? With the boom comes the need to constantly upgrade and improve meeting facilities. The Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center reached out with the idea of renovating its 102,000 square feet of meeting and pre-function space. In anticipation of a two-month build-out schedule, we worked in alignment with Hyatt Regency Brand Standards and sustainability goals to extend a new modern organic aesthetic for the meeting spaces that would blend well with existing building elements. The design and preconstruction team (Howell Construction and NV5 project management) worked closely with Hyatt Regency Denver to align the scope, budget and design goals into one cohesive renovation. As designers of the project, we looked at the environment as a series of spaces that would energize and uplift guest experiences during a wide variety of functions. In alignment with the contemporary design of the overall hotel and newly renovated guest rooms, we focused on imparting a true sense of Colorado spirit and place, evoking the nearby Rocky Mountains through layers of texture and saturated earth tones within a framework of existing contemporary design details. Ballroom and meeting spaces are always a welcome design challenge. We want to create a sense of place, yet the setting needs to complement any event type and color palette. For Hyatt Regency Denver, we found this balance with multiple layers of textures in the custom carpet to provide a solid base to ground the space, then kept the walls light and airy. Chandeliers were a major existing element that would remain, so we also needed to fit the new design seamlessly into the existing details. The main ballroom, Centennial, can be divided up into eight separate conference spaces. With the floor surface as the main design element, it was essential for the carpet to work for both large and small-scale event layouts. When we asked for examples of the typical event layouts from the Hyatt Regency team, they narrowed it down to 20. The organic dot pattern came from this effort to give the set-up team subtle reference cues on where to place furnishings. We collaborated with Desso Hospitality Carpet to combine three textures in a 10-color design that evokes our natural environment while bringing in the urban context and palette of the rest of the hotel. Early on in the design process, the discussions centered on meeting space trends and the expectation to foster collaboration and team building. The new generation of event planners is asking for studio-type spaces, alternatives to typical seating like exercise balls and lounge areas, room for yoga sessions, and mobile technology. This is the benchmark now in office design and trendy event venues, but many hotel ballrooms are still using the typical banquet chair and draped tables. Hyatt Regency wanted to try something new in one of the meeting rooms to create an option that would be flexible with casual seating where participants can gather in a lounge setting. The Lagunitas seating collection from Coalesse was chosen because of the modular design, back cushions that convert to lumbar support cushions for laptop sessions, and the ability to move the pieces easily from pre-function into the meeting rooms. Fun elements to complement brainstorming and team building included side tables with glass marker boards and paper pad tops, a rocking lounge chair by Martin Brattrud, a mobile marker board/TV and marker board wall covering, and powered conference tables. About the finished project, Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center General Manager Greg Leonard shares, “Rowland+Broughton gave the space a great face-lift just in time for our 10-year anniversary last December. The color palette was appealing to clients right off the bat. It can stand by itself or accentuate whatever theme a group might bring in, whether it’s a social or corporate event. It was a very collaborative effort, and I have to credit the R+B team for being very open with ideas and working together with the hotel to create an all-encompassing space our customers can relate to.”