NEW YORK—The first Cambria Suites in New York City recently opened in Chelsea’s Flower District. The project’s developers are the brothers Robert and Philip Chun of We Care Trading Company LTD. Gene Kaufman Architect (GKA) designed the flagship site.
The 18-story hotel offers 135 suites ranging from 230 sq. ft. to 400 sq. ft. Each suite offers a sleeping area, functional workspace, bathroom and guest seating. They include plank flooring, sliding glass shower doors and, in many of the suites, floor-to-ceiling windows.
GKA’s interior team designed the interior spaces. The group chose materials that recall the area’s industrial past and developed a unifying floral concept, realized in wall hangings, wall coverings and framed artwork.
“Choice invited us to completely reimagine Cambria’s interiors, and that’s what we’ve done,” said GKA principal Gene Kaufman. “The layout and design of both the common areas and the suites work together to maximize open space and deliver a fun, fresh and distinctly New York sensibility.”
For its entry into the New York market, Cambria sought a design concept that would add a sense of luxury and urban chic to the identity of its brand, according to the firm.
Enhancing the loft-like ambiance and recalling Chelsea’s manufacturing past are contrasting areas of concrete and raw-wood planked flooring, concrete wall finishes, fragmented mirror mosaics and bronze-tinted glass. The overhead light fixtures are reminiscent of industrial lighting that might have once been found in Chelsea factories, according to the firm.
Contrasting nicely with the lobby’s warmer tones are the jewel-like colors of the arresting oversize floral wall hangings, handmade in felt by local artist Liora Manne using a needle-punch process. The images of giant flowers in full bloom, replicated in photo collages lining the hallways and in framed artwork in the suites, erupt with intense, bold color, reminding guests of the surrounding Chelsea Flower District.