The Springhill Suites Hotel is a twelve story, 150 feet tall building and is located in downtown San Diego’s Cortez district on the northeast corner of 10th Avenue and A Street. In addition to the 123 guestrooms, the hotel will provide a roof-top terrace with bar, fitness and a pool area. Two levels of underground parking are provided for a total of 39 spaces as well as three drop-off/check-in spaces at ground level.
The architectural and urban design concept is “to impose articulated apertures (windows) on the hotel’s mass, such that their presence is commensurate with the quality of the view as seen from a guestroom and/or the character of the exterior’s public realm.” The can be seen in the south façade which provides for a monumental element (a 9-story, framed Picture Window) which contributes to a well composed elevation and simultaneously provides a gateway building at the northeastern edge of the downtown area. Moreover, the L-shaped horizontal metal bands (burnt ochre) “re-interpret its use” as a series of banded segments which form the balconies of the guestrooms. This approach provides for the “turning of the corner, continuity of the base, and the opportunity to celebrate the big Picture Window”. This elevation has a decidedly vertical composition as well as a soothing “fluidity in the glass.” Moreover, the picture window is angled to the southeast to capture the best available view.