Hotel Indigo launches HBA-designed LA flagship
Hotel Indigo has announced the launch of Hotel Indigo Los Angeles Downtown, a 350-key flagship property set within Downtown Los Angeles’ Metropolis development.
Designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates and featuring a scheme inspired by four distinct eras between the 1800s and 1920s, the project blends elements inspired from The Fiesta de las Flores parade, the budding movie industry and vaudeville glamour, prohibition speakeasies, and the starlets and directors of the city’s storied past. Further, the design infuses moments of each narrative with industrial undertones that speak to the direction that downtown is headed.
The lobby is a progression through each of the four stories, incorporating large murals featuring decorated carriages and crowds that cover the walls of the lounge. Above the reception desk a custom chandelier by Illuminate, composed of 30 large spokes, hangs horizontally with light bulbs shining down their centre and illuminating the freestanding penny-farthing bike below.
Illuminate, HBA’s lighting consultancy, also designed vintage-style luminaires with industrial materials while using LED technology to conserve energy. Architectural lighting is further integrated into the building’s forms and interior details to emphasise the material and character of each space.
Elsewhere, the lobby-level Metropolis Bar + Kitchen restaurant channels the neighbourhood’s prohibition era secret tunnels and underground parties, splitting its space into two by inserting seating and a passageway through concrete tunnels.
The bar on one side of the tunnel is embellished with brass and copper metals, reflected on the 20-foot wall and ceiling cladded in pressed tin tiles. On the other side of the tunnels, a more intimate space with softer tones and a mural baring jazz bands welcomes guests to private events.
Influenced by Downtown Los Angeles’ theatres, and envisioned to be a place where Angelinos would decompress while enjoying 1920s signature drinks and the extensive view, 18 Social is a lounge and bar space located on the 18th floor and features blue velvets and a contemporary interpretation of the era’s design. The space, all in a dark blue tone, is accented by neon lighting and metal finishes.
The movie starlets and famous directors of the period inspired the guestrooms and suites, with specific focus placed on actress Anna May Wong. Both guestroom types are composed mostly of loose pieces of furniture, to give the spaces a residential feel, and include a mural over the bed that imagines what the guest would have seen from their window during the time.
The first style of guestroom took inspiration from Wong during her time living in Downtown Los Angeles, and uses colours from the bougainvillea flower which still grows in gardens throughout the city. For the executive guestrooms, meanwhile, the tone is masculine, and uses shades of brown and maroon from leather and woods.
Lastly, the meeting and convention space draws inspiration from the formalwear patterns and textiles of the early pre-Hollywood galas, and uses those fabrics to upholster seating and carpet the floor. Down the long corridor facing a glass façade, giant images of precious stones are displayed, which shine in contrast to the dark blue painted walls behind them.
“Being involved in the hotel boom that is happening in Downtown Los Angeles is an incredible opportunity for our office – we were able to reinterpret Indigo’s brand story by infusing whispers of Downtown Los Angeles’ famed history,” comments HBA Associate Richard Tennill. “In addition to being able to design a project in our own backyard, we’re able to create a look that is unique to LA’s past where visitors can discover and explore portions of the area’s history they have never before seen.”
