Urban Hotel: Eclectic mix

A new-build hotel in New Hampshire combines old and modern elements to fit into its unique surroundings

May 1, 2007
By: Elaine Yetzer Simon
Hotel Design

Building a new hotel in an area bordered by a historic mill district, an area of modern steel and glass construction and a new baseball field could be a recipe for disaster. But for Rolf K. Biggers, principal of BMA Architectural Group, the Hilton Garden Inn Manchester (N.H.) Downtown was a unique challenge.

Biggers says the first challenge was deciding whether to make the hotel look like the modern buildings or the old mill buildings.

"We ended up doing a fusion of the two designs," he says. "We made the body of the building look like an old mill building, but injected a lot of steel and glass elements. It's a brand new building but it looks like a renovated mill building. The new aspects, the high-tech steel and glass, make the older parts look newer and the brick made the new aspects look older."

BMA also handled the interior design of the hotel.

"We couldn't just plug in the Hilton Garden Inn standards because it was such a unique project," Biggers says. "We tried to look for an eclectic mix of old and new, like you would find in a home. It needed to have that eclectic look to have reality and relevance. You see in the interior much what you see in the exterior-fusion of old and new."

Modern artwork is interspersed with traditional pieces to help give the hotel a timeless look.

The hotel features wood floors throughout the lobby area, the back of the hotel and public areas because that's what the old mills had. In the guestrooms, BMA started with the Hilton Garden Inn package and made some tweaks, such as adding flat-screen TVs and different tile.

Biggers says Hilton Hotels Corp. understood what they were trying to do and allowed the variances in the standards.

He said the group tried to have fun with the project, such as adding aluminum baseball bats as the leg supports on the minibars in the guestrooms.

"This appeals to both ends of the spectrum," Biggers says. "People see the new and like those details, and people who like the traditional like those aspects. The overriding positive here is the balance between the two. They complement each other."

—Elaine Simon

PROJECT SPECS

Project:
Hilton Garden Inn Manchester Downtown
101 S. Commercial St.
Manchester, NH 03101

Owner:
Roedel Partners
One Chalet Drive
Wilton, NH 03086

Architectural design/interior design firm:
BMA Architectural Group
12 Middle St.
Amherst NH 03031

Construction manager:
Roedel Partners