23 May 2016
Hilton launches new lifestyle hotel brand Canopy with art-filled Reykjavik property
BY Kim Megson
Hilton Worldwide has launched a new lifestyle hotel brand and plans to open the first property in Reykjavik, Iceland next month.
Canopy by Hilton – a joint venture between Hilton and real estate firms The Buccini/Pollin Group and Federal Realty – will lend its name to a series of hotels opening across Europe and the US in the next two years.
Canopy hotels will provide “unique and local experiences” by incorporating local design, food and drink.
Canopy Reykjavik is scheduled to open in June 2016 on Hverfisgata Street in the centre of Iceland’s capital.
Designed by Björgvin Snæbjörnsson and his architecture firm Apparat, the hotel will celebrate Reykjavik's vibrant art, music and literary culture.
The building’s walls, both inside and out, will be covered in murals, paintings and photographs showcasing local street art.
Graffiti artist Sigurður Ámundasonhe, whose work adorned a house torn down to make way for the hotel, has been invited to create new pieces for Canopy, and a large wall at the building’s entrance will be filled with graphic designs created by architect Paolo Gianfrancesco.
Other street artists will contribute work as part of a collaboration between the hotel and the Reykjavik Arts Festival.
“We had to tear down walls and fill empty spaces when building the hotel, and therefore we had to remove some of the art in the neighbourhood,” said a Canopy spokesperson. “With great respect and in full agreement with all parties, the hotel that rises will recreate the street art that was in situ.”
Snæbjörnsson’s interior designs for the hotel – which has 115 guest rooms, a library, a poetry performance area, a bistro and a rooftop bar and restaurant – include references to Iceland’s columnar rock geological formations and the work of pioneering Icelandic architect Guðjón Samúelsson.
Posters of Icelandic musicians such as Sigur Ros and Björk will be displayed, paying homage to the site’s former life as The Faktory, once one of the city’s most popular music venues.
“Icelandic design is becoming more and more renowned internationally,” said Canopy in a statement. “Though not as established as its Scandinavian counterparts, it is young and vibrant and very much on the rise whether it is graphic design, architecture, fashion or industrial and product design.”
The hotel will be operated by Icelandair Hotels, a subsidiary of Icelandair Group and a long-term partner of Hilton Worldwide. The group manages the Hilton Hilton Reykjavik Nordica, which was also designed by Snæbjörnsson.
Canopy by Hilton will be expanding its international portfolio with a number of openings including:
· Canopy Washington, DC Bethesda North - 2017
· Canopy Ithaca By Commons – early 2018
· Canopy West Palm Beach City Place – early 2018
· Canopy London City – early 2018
· Canopy Oklahoma City Bricktown – mid 2018
· Canopy Charlotte Uptown – early 2019
· Canopy Denver – opening date TBC
· Canopy Dallas, Uptown – opening date TBC
· Canopy Chicago – opening date TBC
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