Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1162043
95 The 11-year-old company, which moved offices from Brooklyn to SoHo this summer, has expanded beyond hotels into designing private homes, along with mixed-use developments in many of the same cities where they have hotels. These developments often preserve buildings and enhance neighborhoods. Take Glassworks, for one, which combines new construction with the rehabilitation of an existing factory space in Brooklyn's gentrifying Bushwick neighborhood. For the project, they teamed with Martin Lomazow, whose family owned and operated a bag and box factory on the site. What's next for Cooper? He's busy designing the company's newest addition to the hotel portfolio, located in the historic Latrobe Building, a former 1911 apartment house in Baltimore's Mount Vernon area. And we must ask: Is Fort Worth on the ASH radar for a hotel? Cooper laughs, then says: "Trust me, I've been looking for years. When the right space comes along, we'll be there. It's Fort Worth or bust!" Home again. I go back once a year to Fort Worth to see family. I always try to make a trip to Joe T. Garcia's — there's no proper Tex- Mex in NYC! Site specific. Everything we put in our spaces is custom-designed by our teams, or vintage and antique pieces — items with soul and character that make a space feel as organic and natural as possible. For Hôtel Peter & Paul, we sent nearly 800 antiques back from buying trips in Italy, France, Belgium. We buy unique pieces of art for every room, and Ari [Heckman] and I place them. Recent treasures. I was at the Grand Bazaar last week in Istanbul, working with an incredible textile dealer, and found these 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century textiles that I'll be using in our upcoming hotel in Baltimore. We are also wrapping up several private homes in NYC and have been sourcing amazing pieces from France and Italy. Diplomatic credentials. The Dean hotel in Providence [a former strip club] was a gem that needed polishing. It's the same story with all the projects we tackle. The area of Downcity in Providence was avoided by pedestrians for years; Ari grew up in Providence and knew it was an area that could use new life. This was the first project we took on where we bought the real estate, then made the wild-hair decision to make it a hotel. There's a lot of politics involved in each neighborhood. We strive to be ambassadors for the city where we're opening a hotel, and it's important to represent the cultural heritage. As much as it's a business, it's also a beacon of culture. Design destiny. My first entree into the world of design was through my aunt, Yvonne, in Washington state. She was always importing containers of antiques from England to her shop. She helped my parents with our house, and I remember paying attention to that. I constantly rearranged my room as a kid. My formal training came at Ralph Lauren, where I worked with store teams on displays and with creative and design teams. I harness that experience every day in our company. Inspiration. For The Siren hotel, we discovered a newspaper article from 1926 when the building opened, and it shows many details of the interiors. From that, we were able to make our own interpretations for the lobby. For example, the walls were green, as we have them now. And we bought some major antiques — mirrors, bookcases, chairs — that give importance to the space, and are some of my favorite pieces. The Candy Bar at Siren hotel, Detroit Siren hotel lobby, Detroit Penthouse suite at Siren hotel, Detroit Pillow Chair, created by Will Cooper, is part of ASH NYC's line of furniture sold on its website and 1sdibs.