INC Designs 529-Room Kimpton Era Hotel Like an Ocean Liner

Architecture studio INC has designed all 529 guest rooms at the Kimpton Era hotel in New York to feel like "a stateroom on an ocean liner", inside a purpose-built 33-storey tower on West 48th Street just south of Rockefeller Center.

The New York studio drew its references from the city itself and from the luxury liners that once docked along the Hudson, blending what it calls Uptown elegance and Downtown grit.

"Every detail of the Kimpton Era is engineered elegance with a room that feels more like a stateroom on an ocean liner – compact, crafted, and refined to the luxury of just enough," said INC partner Adam Rolston.

What materials define the interiors?

Materials throughout pair marbles, brass, leather and glazed ceramics with industrial concrete and blackened steel, a combination INC chose to reflect the city's dichotomy.

In a triple-height atrium wrapped in fluted concrete, a blackened steel-and-glass stair coils around a mobile of organic forms descending from the ceiling. Cerused wood, terrazzo borders and diffused lighting define the elevator lobbies, while the tiered black-marble reception counter gives the arrival area a weighted presence.

"Inspired by the city itself, the Kimpton Era captures New York's layered character — elegant yet gritty, refined yet raw – woven into a vertical voyage of venues and comfort in a purpose-built skyscraper at the heart of Rockefeller Center," said INC's Hillary Kroll.

How do the dining venues reference New York?

The hotel's five dining venues take distinct cues from the city and beyond:

• A Latin American eatery with terracotta walls and ceramic pendants spans the ground floor to the cellar.
• A second-floor brasserie features banquette seating, panelled walls, a scarlet ceramic bar and mosaic floors.
• A third-floor lobby cafe serves coffee in the mornings and cocktails at night.
• A rooftop bar references Chinatown dining rooms through a tomato-red counter framed by tiled portals, temple-like joinery and hand-painted lotus motifs.

How are the guest rooms like ship cabins?

Each "berth" features full white-oak walls that integrate a bed, desk and storage into a single furniture element. Neutral colour palettes are offset by jewel-toned fabrics and brass accents, and wet-room-style bathrooms use frosted, blackened metal-framed sliding glass doors that conserve space.

"[The Kimpton Era] is a self-contained voyage where guest rooms are like staterooms and lounges, and dining rooms unfold like the salons of a great ocean liner in a new expression of New York luxury," said INC's Louisa Revitte.

Where does this fit in INC's portfolio?

INC, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has previously completed the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge with Marvel Architects and the event spaces at the TWA Hotel inside Eero Saarinen's JFK Airport terminal. The studio has also designed "gritty yet inviting" interiors for a restaurant in BIG's The Spiral skyscraper, and filled its own concrete-forward Soho offices with eclectic furniture and plants.

With the Kimpton Era, INC extends that hospitality track record into a full purpose-built tower, translating the compact grandeur of ocean-liner design into a vertical hotel format at the heart of Rockefeller Center.

Photography is by Read McKendree.