The Cambria Boston Hotel frames a prominent gateway into South Boston, anchoring the northern terminus of Dorchester Avenue at the major transportation node of the Broadway T Station. The hotel embraces the drama of this bustling intersection. An original concept design for the hotel was prepared by Minneapolis-based VJAA.

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The building carves out a three-story urban room, framed by a cast-in-place concrete colonnade. The folding curtainwall of the lobby adds a dramatic backdrop to the streetscape, directing circulation between the hotel and the adjacent residential building and opening views out from the hotel common spaces. RODE drew the energy of this moment up through the angular columns and into the building, where it emerges in a facetted ceiling for the event space, and again in the sweeping wood-clad canopy of the roof deck.

 

RODE developed a multilayered design strategy for the location, crafting an upscale atmosphere that is uniquely Boston. The forms and textures of the building are drawn from the brick and beam architecture of the Fort Point district, in a gesture that establishes a dialogue with that district’s industrial history and innovation future. Wood treatments on ceilings and furnishings are complemented by brick wall finishes and stone flooring that convey this heavy tectonic.

 

Light and Nature are layered in to this hyper-urban location in a simple, sophisticated palette of shadows traced over solid forms. RODE collaborated with London-based artist Simon Heijdens to bring his Lightweeds installation of light-projected tree-forms to the common spaces, engaging guests with a moving, interactive experience of the four seasons. Materials transition from exterior to interior, encouraging a shared energy between the public realm and the hotel’s lobby and lounge.

 

The fourteen story, 159-room, Cambria-branded boutique hotel will be operated by Meyer Jabara hotel group, and includes a fitness center, meeting rooms, and conference rooms. A restaurant on the hotel’s ground level includes service to an expansive roof deck with skyline views.