Out Land: 1 Hotel West Hollywood’s Exterior By Rios Clementi Hale Studios

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The inviting and surprisingly private exterior garden of the new 1 Hotel West Hollywood, on the former site of the Jeremy Hotel, is a study in sustainability courtesy of Rios Clementi Hale Studios.

Faced with creating a garden for the new 1 Hotel West Hollywood on one of the business corners of the city, Rios Clementi Hale Studios turned to nature for the inspiration, blurring the line between the natural landscape of the adjacent Hollywood Hills canyon trails and the created one.

The existing landscape is pulled through the hotel’s outdoor spaces and out towards bustling Sunset Boulevard through a series of courtyards. Natural, organic materials, including locally salvaged timber planters from Angel City Lumber, and an exuberance of plantings are used to soften the hotel’s cool-toned surfaces, modern lines and hard edges. Massive, mature canopy trees provide shade in the “canyon” between the hotel’s two towers while, dotted throughout, dry-lush greenery cascades from bespoke pots created by local ceramic artist Evan Vieser and Atelier Vierkant.

Drive-in guests encounter a monumental timber planter, shaded with olives and dotted with agaves. Nestled between the planters and pots are benches sculpted from more salvaged logs. Exuberant Blue Gum eucalyptus and Canary Island pine trees underline the created perception of a naturally occuring setting.

“The grassland meadows sway as Sunset Strip traffic zooms by,” says Principal Architect Nate Cormier, “This oasis beckons all travelers, from humans to birds and butterflies, inviting them to linger with nature for a stolen moment in this public yet private space.” Alice, the hotel’s restaurant, further celebrates this environment, dotting its dining tables within one side of the garden.

“By infusing nature into 1 Hotel West Hollywood in this way,” says Cormier, “Rios Clementi Hale Studios has created an authentic sense of place that welcomes visitors to the city with a unique, yet quintessentially LA experience.”

1 Hotel West Hollywood, 8490 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069, 310.424-1600