The Whitby Hotel in New York City emphasizes natural daylight in crowded Midtown Manhattan
By David Malone, Associate Editor
The new Whitby Hotel provides 97,000 sf of hotel space in Midtown Manhattan wrapped up in a limestone façade reflective of the surrounding architecture of the neighborhood.
Despite being located in skyscraper-rich Manhattan, the 18-story Whitby hotel has been oriented to emphasize natural light and uses expansive steel-framed windows to deliver abundant daylight to each of its 86 guest rooms. Of the 86 guest rooms, 10 are suites. The suite balconies and terraces help to provide the building with its shape that gradually scales back as the building rises.
Photo: David Mitchell.
The Stonehill & Taylor-designed building has one of the deepest foundations in the area with a 55-foot below grade excavation. The deep foundation allows the building to offer over 20,000 sf of amenity space. Included in the amenity space is a Dolby-certified theater that will host both public and private screenings and the Drawing Room restaurant.
The Drawing Room features a 30-foot-long bar that connects to The Orangery, an extension of the restaurant equipped with a vaulted ceiling, skylight, and floor-to-ceiling glass partitions. The hotel also features a gym and a connecting courtyard with a traditional English garden, hanging lanterns, and a decorative fireplace.
The hotel is owned by the boutique hotel group Firmdale Hotels and was designed by Stonehill & Taylor. Kit Kemp, Firmdale Hotels’ co-owner, designed the interiors.
