architecture
Located in the midst of the developing Southern California culture, the WA Hotel is a five-start high-end resort that exemplifies the very best California good life. From the moment you step inside the establishment, you’ve arrived at the center of extraordinary. Acting as an addition to an existing conference center, the WA Hotel includes 200,000 square feet of luxury guest suites (170), top restaurants, high-end retail, and spa + salon amenity.
Designed by Gensler, the building revolves around a high-end elegance with modern Art-Deco interpretations, that give the hotel brand it’s own polished atmosphere. Ranging from the drive-way all the way to your guestroom, the hotel is intended to give take the hotel experience to the next level through clean lines, and elegant forms.
building facade
In integration with the functioning of landscape architecture, the main facade of the building can be focused on the main entry. This facade remains to serve a very important function of the hotel itself, which is entry. The entry point sets the tone of the environment and overall experience of the hotel itself. This main facade is comprised of 3 main materials. The use of plaster, steel, and glass finished. This also can be translated more into the roots of an “art deco,” inspired architectural design. Metal finishes were only used on the entry facade, which were finished in bronze.
The facade, in entirety, is made up of mostly low emissive glazing + insulated glass, in order to mitigate undesirable glare, and to take advantage of the many viewpoints within the surrounding city.
sustainability
As part of being located in California in general, the need for sustainable practices was very pertinent to the design development of the hotel. The building is registered under LEED for New Construction Rating System and has targeted LEED certification.
Due to the dense urban culture of the surrounding context, the design took an approach to sustainable transport as a mean of making the building beneficial to the environment. Secure bicycle parking will be enforced and provided for both visitors and employees. In addition of bicycles, designated parking spots will be reserved for clean air vehicles, including Low-Emitting/Fuel Efficient Vehicles. Easy access to public transportation is also a viable option due to multiple bus stops within walking distance of the hotel’s entrance. These features will highly encourage employees to commute sustainably and to decrease dependence on automobiles for hotel guests.
When constructing the building, wherever possible, the project optimized the use of environmentally friendliest products, with an emphasis on regional materials and those that promote healthy air quality.
With the stringent Title 24 requirements, a specific focus to lighting has played a relatively large role within the design. All lighting is LED, with the use of highly sophisticated lighting control strategies to minimize energy consumption of the building as a whole.
building name
WA Hotel
Location + Site
Southern California
occupancy + function
High-End Hospitality; 5-Star w/ 170 Guestrooms (40 Suites)
Size
207,461 GSF; 12 Floors + Rooftop Deck
Dates of Construction
February 2015 - June 2017
Total contract price
$200,000,000
project delivery method
Design-Build
CODE OF COMPLIANCE
ASHRAE 2015, California Building Code 2016 Title 24, IES Handbook
design team
ARCHITECTURE
Gensler
INTERIOR DESIGN
Pierre-Yves Rochon
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
SWA Group
LIGHTING DESIGN
Sean O'Connor Lighting
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
Rosedin Electric
MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Acco Engnieered Systems
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Nabih Youssef Associates
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Matt Construction
roof deck + pool
The rooftop functions as an additional exterior level that tops off the hotel. Considered the third “public area,” of the hotel, the rooftop contains cabanas for guests, a bar + restaurant, and also the hotel’s swimming pool. The roof in general comprises of a corrugated metal deck with concrete fill. It is also protected with a waterproofing membrane (Hot rubberized asphalt with fixed pavers/fixed pavers with grout/sand bed) that covers the deck. The pool is lined with a tile lining with a pool depth that ranges from 4’-0” to 6’-0”.
Some areas of the roof also include plantings. Made up of a similar composition to that of the pool, the water proofing membrane gets integrated specially with planting material rather than pedestal pavers.
Lighting design
Similarly to every space seen within the scope of the project, the WA Hotel was designed with LED Lighting, as a new construction. Due to Title 24 compliance, all new and retro fit application must be filled with LED lighting fixtures. Highlighted within California Building Code, energy savings is a major part of design within the state. Therefore, the building was designed with CalGreen Standards rather than ASHRAE 2015.
Since this, also is a luxury hotel, the lighting itself can be broken down into about half decorative lighting fixture + the other half being architectural lighting. All calculations from here forth, will only take architectural lighting at full intensity into account.
The main task within the area is to circulate around. The lobby connects all the other areas around, so linear LED fixtures, integrated into coves, create an ambient light distribution to suffice the means of circulation. In addition, downlights serve to cater to the additional tasks (preferably for workers) to carry out throughout the day in their space. These downlights either accent art around, help guest perform individual tasks such as reading or writing, and specifically in the congeries + reception area where workers depend on lighting of that nature.
Decorative lighting (pendants, chandeliers, and sconces) project aesthetically pleasing details and spectacles that compliment the space. They do indeed add to light levels, however they will not be included in relation when accounting for task compliance within the space.
mechanical system overview
Hotel rooms specifically within the scope of design are controlled manually, per room, by the means of an individual fan coil unit. This gives individual control to occupants per their stay in the guest room sold. Like stated above, the individual experience is the biggest design driver with the WA Hotel. Having individual control per room adds to that experience, and gives the occuapnts control of their own environments.
Upon technological advancements within the hospitality industry, the hotel implements the use of a universal touch pad that is located in a location per each guest room, curtosy of Crestron Electronics. This touchpad is integrated within many building management systems in order to give the client as much control to their surroudings.
In addition, the public areas are controlled via air handlers and VAV boxes. There is an existing central plant located upon site that will serve the scope of the WA Hotel, and contains additional chillers + boilers to serves its additional needs.
construction method
As seen above, the project delivery method was completed under a design-build contract. Within the tedious design process within the building's evolution, a lot of collaboration between design disciplines was needed in order to solve problem, and make the construction proceed as smoothly as possible.
The contextual site lies within a relatively populated area, adjacent to two major roadways (the building is located on the corner. The WA Hotel, as stated above as roughly 200,000 SF, was newly constructed in addition an existing historic hotel. In order to connect both of these structures, an inclusive conference center serves as both a common space, and connecting bridge among the two hotels.
Due to these location barriers, a construction that did not affect the means of business within the adjacent hotel areas could not conflict. Building out the property line at this busy area, and keeping the operation of the historic hotel, specifically during a major entertainment event created challenges that made the construction process unique to design.
electrical system
Within the lower parking levels below grade of the WA Hotel, a substation that is specific to the hotel, generates local and back up in order to power the hotel. This is quite individualistic, and creates ease of maintenance when dealing with issues to arise with occupancy. There, a bus duct vertically stretches up through every floor to the hotel, providing wire spanning throughout the hotel's loads.
Serviced from Souther California Edison, the WA Hotel utilizes 480/277V voltage, with local transformers on site to provide 208/120V voltage for decorative lighting loads + receptacles. Since aesthetics are a big part of design within the hotel, the building also utilizes underground service, so that no wires will be see spanning the perimeter and into the building.
safety precautions
Due to the high possibilities of the California wild-fire seasons, it is very important to have a system in place in order to maintain safety in the event of a fire. The concrete structural frame throughout its rated for 3 hours per California building code standards with inner partitions rated for 2 hours throughout (in between guestrooms).
The building itself abides by California building fire codes with a well integrated sprinkler system that runs with emergency lighting loads to signal egress means. In order to maintain safety, the building makes use of a generator, located in the exsisting substations within the parking level of the WA Hotel.
transportation
As stated above, the building is a multi-use hotel, as described as a luxury five-star hotel. Therefore, there is a major combination between private and public areas around. The first, second , and thirteenth floors within the hotels remain public areas within the hotel. There are four elevator shafts that rely as primary vertical circulation throughout the hotel.
Two, remain only open to the public. These specific elevators will only have access to the spa + rooftop levels. The remaining two, service all floors, which gives access by key card in order to travel to guest room corridors.
