When creating a hotel in the madhouse that is New York's Times Square, designers can go one of two ways—create a protected sanctuary that provides some quiet from the nonstop bustle on the streets, or make a 24-seven party house that attempts to capture the neighborhood's energy. The newly opened CitizenM, the European hotel brand's first outpost in the U.S., does a little bit of both. With architecture and interiors by Amsterdam-based firm Concrete, the hotel offers an ample lobby for lounging, drinking, and laptop-ing the day away (on plush Vitra furnishings, no less), while compact, streamlined bedrooms provide peaceful sleeping perches. Click through the slideshow for a tour of the bright space.
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At the base of the 22-story hotel in New York's Time Square is a canopied entrance that leads into the double-height lobby. "We tried to incorporate the dynamic of city life by setting the building back from the [sidewalk]," says Erikjan Vermeulen, a partner at the Amsterdam-based firm Concrete. "The large canopy over the entrance plaza reaches over the sidewalk and emphasizes the connection with life on the street." The large, overhead lanterns were designed by Concrete and manufactured by Frandsen. Photo by Adrian Gaut.
