BD | NY 2020 Virtual Conference - "The Seelbach Story"

Campo Architects’ own Kerry Soniat participated in the Boutique Design New York 2020 Virtual Conference that took place earlier this week. With over 40 influencers packed into two days of virtual presentations, the conference offered much needed inspiration to offset the change of venue from NYC due to COVID-19. This year’s conference kicked off with four panels featuring leaders among the hospitality development and design industry. The panels provided insight on struggles faced as a result of the pandemic and shared strategic solutions for moving forward as an industry. All panelists emphasized the importance of partnerships now more than ever, and how to establish effective collaborations to develop a successful project. Day two of the BDNY conference held five panels focusing on women leadership in hospitality, the NEWH Beyond design competition, boutique hotel design, hospitality hybrids typologies, and the story of the Seelbach hotel.

“The Seelbach Hotel Story” panel was moderated by Michael Suomi (President, Suomi Design Works). In addition to Kerry Soniat (Campo Architects, Project Architect), the panel also featured Bethany Gale (Interiors Associate, Stonehill Taylor), Jim Merkel (President and CEO, Rockbridge Capital), and Chris Rupp (Sr. Vice President, RB Hotel Development). With the Owner and design team, this panel focused on the rich history of this luxurious hotel and how the renovation plans to bring its iconic architecture back to life.

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Founded by brothers Louis and Otto Seelbach, the Seelbach Hotel opened in 1905 on the outskirts of then downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Since its inauguration, the Seelbach Hotel has had enormous success, which led to subsequent additions to the building in its early years of operation. The hotel’s European-inspired grandeur resulted in the shift of Louisville’s downtown hub and reshaped the city’s planning efforts. Over the past 115 years, the Seelbach Hotel has become a beloved icon of Louisville hospitality, and its upcoming renovation will continue to celebrate the hotel’s luxurious legacy.

Two prominent historic features that are part of the upcoming renovation include the rediscovery of the historic rooftop garden and the invigoration of the hotel’s ground and basement level gathering spaces. At the backside of the building, an addition will be incorporated that features a new rooftop with qualities inspired by the once existing historic roof garden, including a solarium and bar. The Bavarian-styled Rathskeller located in the hotel’s basement is decorated with rare Rookwood Pottery and includes historically preserved ornamentation throughout the space. As a nod to their German heritage, the Seelbach brothers designed this space to resemble a Biergarten and incorporated dozens of pelican figures that are meant to represent good luck.

 
 

The Seelbach Hotel’s renovation will celebrate the building’s grandeur by bringing back a sense of luxury for the guests upon their immediate arrival to the property. The project will relocate the hotel reception, allowing for a comfortable space for guests to check-in and allow the larger public space to reflect the hotel’s historic design intent though it’s interior finishes. During the renovation, the design and development team has been able to investigate the legends surrounding the Seelbach Hotel first-hand, including the discovery of secret passages to underground tunnels of Louisville used by Al Capone.

The panel also communicated challenges they faced when diving into the Seelbach project. For example, to achieve a higher level of luxury, larger bathrooms were incorporated to existing guestroom layouts. These changes required complete alteration of the existing plumbing system and reconfiguration of the guest spaces. As with any historic preservation project, there are unforeseen challenges when converting older buildings into modern facilities. Due to the previous experience and skill-set of this project’s design team, the Seelbach Hotel’s complex renovation will maximize guest experiences and revive the property’s former potential.