Doing Good

Doing Good

March 17, 2009

By Stacy Shoemaker Rauen
Photography by Christian Horan

Joie De Vivre's creative director Matt Harvey knew that the Good Hotel would be unique right from the start. Located in San Francisco's young and stylish SOMA neighborhood, it's housed in a space that was formerly home to two very different hotels—a 1980s Best Western and a 1920s British-style backpacker hostel—that shared a lobby and staff. "It was a funky situation," explains Harvey, who brought in designers Anthony Laurino and Nao Etsuki Lee for the project. "We knew it was never going to be a great hotel, so we thought how can we make it a really fun budget hotel, and expanded on the idea of what a good hotel could be."

That discussion led to three definitions of good: a positive attitude, environmental sensitivity, and philanthropy. In true JDV fashion, the designers selected ReadyMade magazine, which focuses on design reusing everyday objects, as the personality of the hotel (each one in the brand's portfolio is inspired by a publication and five words describing its readership). "Partnering with them opened up creative opportunities and the stable of designers the magazine uses," says Harvey, noting that the five words were hip, humble, happy, conscious, and inventive. "[The design] just unraveled from there."

For the lobby, the designers enlisted the help of local artists: a recent graduate from the California College of the Arts designed a bench made from felt moving blankets; furniture maker Thomas Wold built a computer station from old cabinets and constructed a coffee table with furniture parts including a skateboard; and product designer David Pierce created the check-in desk with reclaimed wood from Sacramento. "From a designer's point of view, we had to be as creative as we can be, without spending a lot of money," says Laurino, who was JDV's art director before branching out on his own 10 years ago. And for a bit of whimsy, they added a few playful touches—four colorful cuckoo clocks are set to the times of cities throughout the world whose names incorporate the idea of good (Hope Point, Greenland; Happy City Hotel, Cairo, Egypt), a ReadyMade-sponsored vending machine is filled with recycled items, and guests are encouraged to use the photobooth and post their photos on cork walls enclosing the elevator.

Cheeky additions continue in the 117 guestrooms. "Be Good" stretches across one wall, pillows are covered in fabric from the former hotel's bedspreads, a pendant light is made of recycled Voss water bottles, and vertical blinds feature various nontraditional images of a day in the life in San Francisco (like chotchskies in Chinatown, a burrito place in the Mission). "We didn't want to take ourselves too seriously," says Etsuki Lee, mentioning that she and Laurino hadn't worked together before Harvey paired them up for this project.

With two definitions of good explored, altruism—a JDV philosophy—was next. There's a philanthropy concierge phone in the lobby that connects guests to local volunteering matchmaking service One Brick ("It's voluntourism," Harvey says); local artwork throughout the hotel and on key cards is courtesy of Creativity Explored, a San Francisco-based non-profit that works with artists with developmental disabilities; and the hotel offers a carbon offset program for guests. "We wanted to create a community, instead of a destination," Harvey says, adding that he hopes to bring the concept to other cities.

www.builtbyants.com; www.jdvhotels.com

The Good Hotel, San Francisco
Owner: Operated by Joie de Vivre Hospitality
Interior Design Firm: Anthony Laurino and Nao Etsuki Lee, San Francisco
Contractor: Cannon Constructors
Purchasing Firm: Philip Schwartz of PWS Purchasing
Consultant: Harvey Hacker Architects

Guestroom
Bed Frame: David Pierce of Ohio Design
Fold-down Metal Desk: Evolutionary Office
Hee Bar Stool: Design Within Reach
White Side Table/Clip-on Lights: EQ3
Side Chair: Hospitality Furniture Collection
Pendant Light: Recycled Voss bottles
Lamp From ReadyMade magazine
Art Blinds: Photography By Anthony Laurino; printing by Fast Signs
Closet System: Ikea
Carpet: Custom by Shaw Hospitality

Lobby
Front Desk: Ohio Design
Front Desk Counter: RMR Construction
Divider Wall/Computer Terminal and Coffee Table: Thomas Wold
Felt Bench: Katie Murphy
Sectional and Side Bench: Custom Hospitality Furniture Collection
Sectional Fabric: Valley Forge
Halo Light: Custom by Challenger Lighting
Carpet: Custom by Templeton Hospitality Carpet
Vending Machine: Product by ReadyMade
Photobooth: Machine by Digital Centre; Graphics: Nao Etsuki Lee & Anthony Laurino

Artwork
Lobby and Guestroom Keys: Creativity Explored
Local Maps: MUNI, Reineck & Reineck

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