Located in the Bowery, the Lower East Side Hotel (L.E.S.) designed by the Office for Design and Architecture (ODA) will feature over 220 rooms with minimalistic interiors to allow the ‘guests to use their personal aesthetic as an impromptu installation’. By designing tempered and laminated interior cylinders for the shower, toilet and closet, and using stark colors teamed with expansive city views, the small rooms seem larger than their dimensions.

The relationship between the Owner and Architect was critical for accomplishing the common goal of accommodating an aggressive program within a condensed site. The design concept for entire building grew from the inside out. The owner challenged the architect to create small guest rooms that felt large.

Working within a ten foot six inch wide room, the typical bathroom encasement was the first thing to be eliminated. With the skin of the bathroom removed, the guts of the fixtures were exposed and celebrated. The guest could now experience the entire room from the door to threshold. Tempered and laminated cylinders for the shower, toilet, and closet were designed and engineered off site to provide layers of transparent and efficiency construction.

To make the rooms appear larger from the exterior, ‘an accordion perimeter wall was shaped from the interior…Careful study was given the amount of angle the façade could take at the building line before it would be considered floor area,’ explained the architects. Careful study was given the amount of angle the facade could take at the building line before it would be considered floor area.

City Planning Commission and their strict guidelines were involved in the layout of the public plaza that was used at the ground level. Skylights at the plaza level were used to bring daylight to the cellar floors.

‘With the skin of the bathroom removed, the guts of the fixtures were exposed and celebrated.  The guest could now experience the entire room from the door threshold,’ explained the architects.

The hotel will also include a restaurant, a ballroom and a public plaza.