Element Moline Wins Prestigious Design Award in NYC
In front of a sold-out crowd at New York City’s Gotham Hall, the Element Hotel located in Moline, IL was presented with the BDNY Gold Key 2018 Award for the Best Hotel: Focused Service. The Gold Key Award for Excellence in Hospitality Design is the design industry’s most prestigious honor. With 21 categories, designers around the world had the opportunity to showcase their work in every sector of hospitality.
A panel of 12 renowned judges selected the 96-room Element Moline as the “Best Hotel Focused Service” winner over hotels in Hong Kong and Manhattan. “The judges were impressed by the creativity behind Element’s first adaptive reuse project,” Mary Scoviak, emcee and Executive Editor of Boutique Design magazine, shared. “Their view was that the design and architecture showed a great deal of innovation in fitting the brand prototype into a non-prototypical facility. They also appreciated the sensitivity in the choices of materials to ensure the hotel reflected Element’s sustainability mandate.”1
About the Hotel
Originally a 100-year-old warehouse in downtown Moline, the Element is now an eco-friendly, extended-stay hotel designed by Legat Architects and Sheedy/DeLaRosa Interiors and built by Russell. The hotel features 75 suites, 21 standard rooms, a fitness room, two meeting rooms and a saline swimming pool. The original 60,000 s.f. building houses 65 percent of the rooms, while the 22,000 s.f. addition holds the remaining 35 percent.
This project marks the first Element Hotel in the state of Illinois and the first and only historic adaptive re-use for the brand. To retain its historic preservation status, the project was coordinated with the National Park Service. Many of the elements of the historic warehouse are still present through each room’s unique display of red brick walls, pillars, and pipes. Exclusive, eco-friendly artwork made from recycled materials, such as bicycle parts and tennis rackets, also decorate the walls.
The Element Moline also has a unique focus on alternative methods of transportation. They offer a Bikes to Borrow program that allows guests to check out bicycles to use on the Great River Trail along the Mississippi River. The hotel is also within walking distance of many popular downtown locations including the TaxSlayer Center, John Deere Pavilion, and dozens of popular bars and restaurants.
The hotel is also a component of The Q, a transit-oriented development that includes a train station connecting the Quad Cities to Chicago. A new glass pavilion designed by Legat Architects serves as the rail station’s Grand Hall. According to the developer of the Q, Mike Amin, “Connecting these two regions will not only help revive Moline’s downtown, but it will also serve as a rail gateway for the entire Quad Cities region.”
Russell is honored to have played a role in bringing this award-winning hotel to life with the design team of Legat Architects and Sheedy/DeLaRosa Interiors.
Sources:
1Legat Architects (2018, December 10). Element Moline Wins “Best Hotel Focused Service” BDNY Gold Key Award for Excellence in Hospitality Design. Retrieved from https://www.legat.com/element-moline-wins-best-hotel-focused-service-bdny-gold-key-award-for-excellence-in-hospitality-design/
More about the Award and Winners: