The 98-room boutique hotel property SOPHY is set to arrive in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood during the summer of 2018 as the latest unit in the Smart Hotels portfolio. Designed by locally based GREC Architects and New York’s Stonehill & Taylor Architects, the hotel will be installed near the forthcoming Barack Obama Presidential Library.
Slated to achieve LEED Silver certification, the hotel will house a fitness center, bar, and restaurant outfitted with alfresco dining. The design will also anchor the hotel in the intellectual and artistic history of Hyde Park, positioning it as a cultural hub. Interiors will reflect themes ranging from gospel music to science and mathematics. Design elements such as barn doors in private dining spaces are inspired by the World’s Columbian Exposition. Circular details will pay homage to the Ferris Wheel, which debuted during the 1893 event.