Caption by Hyatt Recognized by ENR ‘Best Projects’
We’re thrilled to share that the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Hotel, a project close to our hearts at HBG Design, has received the prestigious Engineering News-Record Southeast 2023 Best Projects Award of Merit for Residential/Hospitality!
This recognition celebrates the culmination of our passion for innovative design and the remarkable transformation of the historic Ellis Building into the captivating Caption by Hyatt. It’s a testament to our commitment to preserving history while infusing modern elements in the heart of Memphis.
We are immensely proud of our team’s dedication, navigating challenges like historic integration, supply shortages during the pandemic, and the revitalization of downtown Memphis. Our approach was to honor the historical value of the 1878 Ellis and Sons Ironworks, breathing new life into its structure and design.
This award is a testament to our collaborative spirit, working alongside Carlisle Corporation and an incredible team of professionals, including Flintco, Uzun+Case, Innovative Engineering Services LLC, Canup Engineering Inc., Catalyst Design Group, and JPA Inc., to achieve this milestone.
Together, we’ve created a distinctive, unique space that redefines hospitality in the heart of downtown Memphis.
Caption by Hyatt Wins 2023 Fay Jones Alumni Design Citation Award
HBG Design is pleased to announce that the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street in Memphis, TN, is the recipient of the Citation Award for Historic Preservation / Interior Design from the 2023 Fay Jones Alumni Design Awards competition.
The 136-room Caption by Hyatt Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee marries the 144-year old facade of the Wm. C. Ellis & Sons Machine Shop with a contemporary hotel design. The structure attempts to elevate the awareness of the Machine Shop facade to the status of artifact, in which the highly detailed ornamentation and lost construction technique, original to the year 1878, can be observed and appreciated by both the project's guests and the urban visitor.
The Machine Shop facade along Front Street also acts as a passive functional design element, aiding the lower public levels of the project as a shading device, minimizing the impact of the harsh morning sun. Situated behind the facade is an outdoor courtyard space in which guests can understand design relationships between the old and new elements, as the lower level fenestration and elevation heights of the new design are strategically articulated to mimic the historicity of the existing condition.
The public amenities include a coffee and liquor bar, grab and go market, gallery, outdoor urban courtyard, fitness center and meeting spaces. The first level of hotel rooms is elevated to the parapet of the existing Ellis facade, respecting both the historic elevations and allowing guests to peer into and over the facade deeper into the city.
Reflective of the brand’s eclectic contemporary-meets-urban industrial aesthetic, the interior features open light-filled spaces with a strong industrial flare. The property combines a layering of historic structural elements like exposed brick and original wooden beams, vibrant colors, textures, and hand-painted murals that nod to the storied city it calls home.
The heart of Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis is Talk Shop, the brand’s re-imagined arrival experience where guests enjoy a multi-functional welcome area, all-day lounge and workspace, coffee shop, eatery, grab-and-go artisanal market and cocktail bar. Energy reverberates throughout the colorful space, which was designed to encourage social interaction– a place to eat, drink, and connect – inside, and outside at the adjoining beer garden courtyard. Open to the street’s pedestrian walkway, the expansive patio is uniquely housed within the building’s historic façade in a way that allows guests to fully engage with the active downtown neighborhood.
Eclectic personality and industrial-inspired design continue to the guestrooms, which feature re-purposed non-traditional materials, bold colors, contemporary fabric patterns, and quirky Memphis-inspired graphic wallcoverings. Modular closets and work-play lounges with accessible power outlets allow guests to work, eat and relax separately from the sleeping area.
ULI: Embracing Memphis' Past and Present Through Urban Renewal and Hotel Design
From Urban Land Magazine, Online Issue, July 2023
Located on the iconic bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, Memphis, Tennessee’s downtown district is a distinct representation of the city’s rich commercial and industrial legacy with rows of ornate 19th century buildings and warehouses lining the bustling urban thoroughfares. Even today, the river continues its steady stream of barge traffic, providing a mesmerizing backdrop to this cultural melting pot where the past—from the city’s legendary blues music heritage to Elvis Presley’s Graceland—rubs shoulders with the present.
The latest additions to downtown hospitality include the Canopy by Hilton Downtown Memphis, the Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis, and the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis. Each new high-profile hotel development integrates and transforms Memphis’ obsolete infrastructure for the benefit of Memphis tourism and contemporary livability.
“Adaptive use has become the cornerstone of redevelopment in downtown Memphis,” says Brandon Herrington, ULI Memphis Management Committee chair-elect and director of marketing and business development for Montgomery Martin Contractors in Memphis. “The hospitality sector, especially, has embraced the wealth of historical structures across the central business district. Whether wholesale reuse of a building or the salvage of prominent historical elements, these hotels are now integral to Memphis’ historical fabric.”
Mark Weaver, FAIA, principal at HBG Design, the national hospitality design firm and architect of record for the three hotels says, “Lying vacant for 20 years, the site of the former 1940s era Benchmark hotel, a riverside lot and its adjacent 19th century machine shop were each initially viewed as being of limited interest to prospective tenants—some even considered them to be urban blight.”
Through a new lens, each hotel project unveiled opportunities to elaborate on existing site and infrastructure characteristics and iconic identifiers to create urban renewal that meets the community where it is now, Weaver explains.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE THE ULI ARTICLE
From Urban Land Magazine, Online Issue, July 2023
Read more about the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Hotel
Read more about the Hyatt Centric Beale Street Hotel
RD+D Honors 'Talk Shop' with Form + Function Innovation Award
Click Here to Read the RD+D Awards Feature Article: RD+D Honors 'Talk Shop'
HBG Design is excited to announce that Restaurant Development + Design Magazine has Honored 'Talk Shop' at the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis with the prestigious Form + Function Innovation Award.
Caption Awarded 'Best in Hospitality' by IIDA TN
HBG Design is excited to share that Caption by Hyatt Beale Street was awarded 'Best in Hospitality' in the 2022 IIDA TN Design Awards. The list of winners were selected by members of the IIDA Tennessee Chapter design community.
https://vimeo.com/754241454
Caption by Hyatt Memphis on Top Hotel News 2022 Hotlist
2022 Hotlist: HBG Design's Caption by Hyatt Memphis Named One of Hyatt Hotels Corporation’s top three openings
The Unbound Collection, Caption by Hyatt and Hyatt Centric are all eagerly awaiting the arrival of eye-catching schemes next year, each of which draw on their surroundings for inspiration.
Caption by Hyatt Memphis
Currently under construction and expected to open in the second quarter of 2022, this new Caption by Hyatt hotel in Tennessee will encourage guests to embrace self-expression in a space focusing on experience and connection.
Hyatt is creating this 140-key property, which will be located at One Beale Street and integrated into the historic main building of Wm C Ellis & Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop, in partnership with Carlisle, while HBG Design is the architect and interior designer.
Caption by Hyatt Memphis will be located partly inside this heritage building and partly in a new guestroom tower, providing views of the Mississippi River and the city’s skyline.
Visitors will be encouraged to relax in the hotel’s multifunctional lounge space, Talk Shop, complete with original features, an expansive patio and a double-height beer garden with open firepits.
The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Fuji Speedway, Japan
Hyatt Hotels Corporation is to provide a luxury hotel experience at Japan’s historic racing circuit, Fuji Speedway, after entering into a management agreement with an affiliate of Toyota Group for a proposed 120-key property.
Scheduled to open in Q3 2022, the under-construction newbuild scheme represents The Unbound Collection’s debut in Japan.
Amenities at The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Fuji Speedway are to include multiple fine-dining restaurants, bars, a spa and natural onsen, a fitness centre and indoor pool, a banquet room and conference space.
Drawing on its setting, the property will also boast a car museum, showcasing rare vehicles and the racing circuit’s extraordinary history.
Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
The 150-key Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu, which is being developed by Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad, will welcome guests to the heart of the city in a location that provides easy access to the commercial district, retail areas and countless restaurants, along with local attractions such as the Jesselton Point pier.
The architectural and interior design for this property is being led by Kengo Kuma & Associates, with inspiration taken from the lush green hills and blue ocean that characterise the area.
Notable amenities here are to include an all-day restaurant and lounge, a rooftop pool and bar, a fitness centre and 1,900 sq ft of meeting space.
Currently under construction, the hotel’s expected to open in the second quarter of 2022.
Learn more about Caption by Hyatt Memphis.
Designing for the Caption brand - InspireDesign Magazine interviews the new brand's lead designer
See Full Story in InspireDesign Magazine
Hospitality design firm HBG Design is embracing the new Caption by Hyatt brand with a focus on redefining what hospitality looks like in the modern world; and it couldn’t come at a better time. The first U.S.-located Caption by Hyatt hotel, and second to open worldwide, is a beacon of hope following widespread disruption to the hospitality industry caused by the pandemic. Caption by Hyatt’s upscale, select-service lifestyle brand is targeted to conscientious locals and guests, with a focus on creating social spaces that punctuate connection and interaction with their locale. The Memphis, TN location celebrates the spirit of this iconic American city, steeped in history with many stories to tell.
Caption by Hyatt will become an integral component of downtown Memphis’ One Beale mixed-use development located at the base of Beale St. on the Mississippi River bluff, and will connect with the adjacent Hyatt Centric hotel, also designed by HBG Design, which opened to guests on April 15.
We spoke with Mark Weaver, FAIA, principal/senior architectural designer, HBG Design, who is leading both the architectural design and interior design of the project:
What inspired the hotel’s design?
When complete in 2022, the new Caption by Hyatt hotel will become an integral component of downtown Memphis, Tennessee’s One Beale mixed-use development…The new development represents a merging of vibrant live/work/play functions among downtown Memphis’ landmark structures.
Each hotel sits prominently within the One Beale development offering its own distinct interpretation of brand and Memphis history and culture. Specifically, the new Caption design will offer an inimitable contemporary boutique hotel experience while paying homage to Memphis’ historic riverfront legacy and industrial architectural vernacular.
Where and how do you seek your inspiration?
Inspiration comes from so many places for our hospitality designers—local culture and the regional landscape, branding and market influences, our clients’ project visions, storytelling, and biophilic, sustainability and wellness concepts. We design hospitality and entertainment projects all over the U.S., in both urban and more agrarian environments, and design language based on regional context and culture resonates highly with our clients and their guests.
The Caption hotel benefits from our designers’ knowledge of Memphis; this is HBG Design’s home and has been our company headquarters since 1979, even before we added our San Diego and Dallas office locations. The hotel property is situated in downtown Memphis, a hub of activity near the banks of the Mississippi River, and not far from our design studio. The city has a long industrial history with rows of ornate brick warehouse buildings lining the downtown streets. Our designers walk these streets daily and are inspired by the city’s former life and the possibilities for its current and future growth.
How did local culture, landscape and history influence the design?
Design influenced by local flavor is an important aspect of the guest experience. For example, the hotel design is being integrated into the historic architectural remains of the William C. Ellis & Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop building on Memphis’ Front St., which will house the hotel’s ground and second floors.
The Ellis company was one of the earliest, longest-running businesses in Memphis. The original blacksmith shop once made wrought-iron straps for carriages and shoes for horses and mules, and other structures on-site were used for river trade manufacturing and the repair and building of agricultural machines such as cotton compresses and railroad equipment.
Conceptually, the integration of the historic Ellis facade serves as a distinguishing artifact that will be remembered and appreciated as part of Memphis history.
The Caption’s 136-key hotel guestroom tower will then rise dramatically above the Ellis facade offering guests superb views of the river and the city skyline. The tower’s modern, darker exterior is designed to complement the light-colored Ellis building in front.
The interior design concept reflects this duality with a comfortable, refined ambiance featuring subtle references to the industrial roots of the hotel’s location highlighted with soft colored tones and metal accents. The guestrooms will reveal uniquely designed custom furniture that offer signature touches of comfort and luxury.
How do you define a design vision for the first U.S. property of a new brand?
At the heart of the Caption by Hyatt brand experience will be the F&B concept Talk Shop, which will serve as a welcome area, all-day lounge and workspace, coffee shop, eatery, grab-and-go artisanal market and cocktail bar. A patio and beer garden courtyard will be incorporated into the building’s historic Ellis facade on Front St. The unpretentious style and approachability of the space combines with locally inspired experiences, ideal for socializing and appealing to both travelers and locals.
Additionally, each Caption hotel builds on signature brand features, including marquee signs above each main entrance, local hand-drawn graphic art and animated social and F&B spaces with tech-forward features like digital check-in, digital keys and mobile-order food service.
Keeping with that, what challenges and opportunities did you face in doing so?
There are always challenges when integrating historic structural elements with new builds, but HBG Design is accustomed to this challenge through our 40-plus years of experience revitalizing other historic projects, many of which are in downtown Memphis. We are intimately familiar with these older Memphis buildings and appreciate the opportunity to reuse and integrate the long-vacant Ellis Shop on Front St., which has been adapted to hold Talk Shop lounge space and hotel meeting space. Talk Shop’s double-height lounge will be enveloped by the historic building’s original heavy timber framing, decorative brick walls, archways and clerestory windows. The historic building will also accommodate the new Foundry Ballroom and new meeting rooms with names like the Welding Shop and Pattern Shop, serving as a connecting point between the Hyatt Centric and the Caption by Hyatt properties.
Is there anything else readers should know about the hotel and its design?
Developed by Carlisle Corporation, the Memphis Caption by Hyatt hotel is currently in construction with an expected opening date of spring 2022. HBG Design has worked with Carlisle Corporation for over 15 years exploring and leading the planning and design for the One Beale mixed-use development through multiple iterations of development possibilities.
‘Talk Shop’ lounge will anchor One Beale’s boutique hotel
See full article in The Daily Memphian
A lounge called Talk Shop will anchor the ground-floor, public space of One Beale’s boutique hotel, Caption by Hyatt.
Memphis-based architecture firm HBG Design released a rendering and new information about the 136-guestroom hotel, expected to open next spring.
The nine-story hotel at 233 S. Front is connected to a sister hotel, the Hyatt Centric, which opened April 15 at Front and Beale streets. HBG Design also designed the Hyatt Centric.
Both are part of Carlisle Corp.’s One Beale, a riverfront development also comprising apartments, restaurants and a parking structure.
The boutique hotel will be the first Caption by Hyatt in the United States and only the second in the world, behind one in Shanghai, China, according to HBG Design.
The architecture firm designed Caption to be upscale “with a focus on creating social spaces that punctuate connection and interaction with their locale,” states the firm’s release.
The Caption design incorporates the front, two-story walls of the historic William C. Ellis & Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop building on Front. The guestroom tower will rise behind the walls.
“Conceptually, the integration of the historic Ellis façade serves as a distinguishing artifact that will be remembered and appreciated as part of Memphis history,” Joshua Love, HBG Design’s lead architectural designer, said in the prepared statement. The old, front walls’ “highly detailed ornamentation complements the contemporary brick hotel tower with authentic character,” Love said.
Talk Shop will be a lounge space, which will include a patio and beer garden set behind the old machine shop wall.
Tina Patel, the firm’s lead interior designer for the project, described in the release the atmosphere she and her colleagues seek to create.
“The interior design concept has a comfortable, refined ambiance featuring subtle references to the industrial roots of the hotel’s location highlighted with soft colored tones and metal accents,” Patel said.
And, she said, the guestrooms will feature custom furniture.
HBG Design is the Architect of first new-build Caption by Hyatt
See full article in Memphis Business Journal
Developing a new hotel right now is extremely difficult. But, it's apparently not impossible.
Carlisle LLC CEO Chance Carlisle told the MBJ Oct. 22 he is set to close financing within two weeks and start construction by the end of November on One Beale's second hotel.
He knows that sounds risky, as the global pandemic rages on, but he's bullish on Downtown Memphis and the way a second hotel will complement the rest of One Beale.
"My confidence to start construction on the [second hotel] is a combination of my faith in our partnership with Hyatt, the strength of the [Caption by Hyatt] brand, and the belief by our partners in a resurgence in Downtown," Carlisle said. "Both our lenders and Hyatt strongly believe this will be highly successful."
Caption by Hyatt is a brand new limited-service flag that's largely targeted toward millennials. A property in Los Angeles is being converted into the first one; the Memphis location will be the first new-build property.
"[It's for] someone who appreciates good food and beverage [and] wants to be in the middle of the action, not the closest hotel off of the highway," Carlisle said. "It is a hangout hotel."
Carlisle said the new hotel's guests will benefit greatly from being next door to the full-service Centric — with its rooftop bar and abundance of meeting rooms — while paying less.
With the Centric set to open in March 2021, Carlisle is hoping the Caption will be ready by March 2022 — in time to take reservations for Memphis in May. It is set to contain almost 140 rooms on 10 floors.