Westin is bringing the outdoors inside — with nature inspired lobbies and public areas.
Part of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts portfolio, Westin teamed up with Ambius— a global interior landscaping provider— to create living walls of plants in public seating areas.
These vertical gardens are currently on display at the Westin Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, and will continue rolling out to participating properties worldwide. The hotels featuring them will include Westins in locations across the country, such as Indianapolis, Boston Waterfront, Birmingham, Georgetown (D.C.) and Bethesda.
Additional lobby upgrades include better Internet connectivity options for business travelers.
"The vertical garden is a unique focal element of the new Westin lobby concept designed to improve indoor air quality and create a calming, more natural environment," says Erin Hoover, vice president of design for Westin, in a press release.
Ranging from 100 to 300 square feet, each vertical garden is custom designed and integrates wall-mounted plant modules with infill panels of unique textured materials inspired by the interior architecture and the location’s regional identity.
Experts from Ambius work with Westin's brand design team and each individual property, in order to determine which plants are best suited for their lobby space. Factors also include the amount of natural and artificial light, as well as the location’s natural climate.
The new lobby design also brings improvements for road warriors to stay connected. Seating areas are adaptive and include meeting tables with plenty of power outlets, computers and printers.
The flexible spaces can easily transform in order to accommodate varying levels of interaction, from semi-private meetings to casual gatherings with friends. New acoustic and architectural screens have also been added to improve sound control and help create a more intimate setting.
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