HBG Design’s Mark Weaver, FAIA, was recently interviewed about our firm’s design of the 2023 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Tennessee Chapter Conference Host Hotel, the Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis.
Not within the recent history of the AIA Tennessee conferences has the host hotel and conference space been a recently built building designed by a firm based in that city that knows the ins and outs of the local culture. To continue our feature on the 2023 host hotel, we have a special interview with the architect and principal designer Mark Weaver of Memphis based HBG Design to talk more about how much the local culture inspired the design.
What design features are you most excited for your peer architects to see and enjoy?
I am extremely proud of what our talented HBG team accomplished in creating the Hyatt Centric and Caption by Hyatt hotel designs. And I’m even more excited for the opportunity to share these remarkable spaces with the esteemed members of the AIA Tennessee community. For me, these hotels are a showcase of meaningful contemporary architecture and placemaking that honors Memphis’ iconic music history and its heritage of riverfront industry.
The Centric and Caption represent a convergence of this legacy – being the first hotels built on Beale Street on the historic site of the William C. Ellis and Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop, just one block from the Mississippi River. Our team took great care to preserve the Ellis building structures and their historic character to create distinctive must-visit experiences for hotel and conference guests. Visitors will enjoy the charming street-front beer garden and the Talk Shop all-day hangout and lounge at the Caption hotel. We also modernized other Ellis structures for the Centric and Caption’s shared conference and meeting space.
The serpentine-shaped glass wall at the Centric hotel lobby and CIMAS restaurant is a window to the lively atmosphere of downtown Memphis, between Beale Street’s main entertainment district and the riverfront. But my personal favorite spot is the Centric rooftop whiskey bar and lounge deck, called Beck and Call. In my opinion, the venue offers downtown’s best views of the Mississippi River, the “M Bridge” light show and the city skyline. It’s the perfect place to entertain visitors or unwind after a long day.