“What if a luxury hotel was an inviting portal to the natural world, instead of a flight from it?”
This is the question that New York architecture and design studio Rockwell Group both asked and responded to when considering the interior for 1 Hotel Toronto. Billed as Canada’s first mission-driven hotel, the property salutes the wonder of Toronto’s natural environment; providing an urban oasis in the heart of the city, whilst offering an elevated standard of the ‘sustainable luxury experience’.
Opting for materials such as reclaimed timber, board-formed concrete, and local marble, the aesthetics for the hotel takes inspiration from the softened colours of Lake Ontario and contrasting tones of the passing seasons. Guest rooms are light and airy with sliding barn wood doors dividing the bedroom and bathroom. A natural wood accent wall can be found behind the bed, alongside a leather headboard, whilst art sourced by a local wood studio and comprising of a fallen tree fragment adds a more local and personal touch.
“Our vision for the hotel invites guests to celebrate Toronto’s ecology through materiality and locally-made artwork,” explains Rockwell Group founder, David Rockwell.
A warm and nest-like space surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass windows greets guests, and provides a seamless flow from the outdoors to the inside. Framing the entrance of this latest from 1 Hotels is a mix of granite and limestone boulders, maple trees, local plants, warm wood, and a trailing green canopy, all reminiscent of Canada’s natural landscape.
With two bars and two restaurants found onsite, the property offers an all-round dining and drinking experience, the contemporary 1 Kitchen sporting a vintage vibe, is located in a glass-walled conservatory-like space with a vaulted wood ceiling, curved trusses hung with greenery, and serves up food sourced from a 50km radius.
Mexican restaurant Casa Madera, meanwhile, follows the design cues of the hotel whilst offering an immersive dining experience throughout the culinary traditions of Mexico and the Mediterranean. Up on the roof, guests and locals can take in the most expansive views of Toronto from Harriet’s Rooftop, a luxurious rooftop space decorated with reclaimed and sustainable materials and serving light bites and craft cocktails.
The inspirational principles of the sustainable luxury 1 Hotels brand seen through the aesthetically clear lens of this renowned New York design studio, 1 Hotel Toronto is an oasis of natural calm for this city on the banks of Lake Ontario.
1 Hotel Toronto Photography, Brandon Barre.
