Before: The structure now known as Heritage Tower previously had a nondescript ground floor occupied by a bank office and modest reception area.
After: A four-story atrium serves simultaneously as a hotel lobby and semi-public piazza for hotel guests and locals alike. To create a sense of depth, the team exposed the structure’s original pillars and beams. Bridges and stairways were installed in the atrium, giving the sense of strolling through a city.
“When walking among the building’s furniture and plants, a person has a sense of scale, which changes dynamically as they move about,” Fujimoto says. “With work by various artists added, the space evolved into a complete ecosystem—a place connecting the building’s history to its present incarnation and then to the future.”