Developed by Lightstone, the Moxy NYC Chelsea has arrived in Manhattan’s Flower District. The 349-room hotel marks the second collaboration between New York firms Yabu Pushelberg, Rockwell Group, and architects Stonehill Taylor, which handled the design of the Moxy Times Square.
The new-build hotel nods to the neighborhood’s retro-industrial style. A soaring three-story glass atrium reveals the vertical gardens within. Guests enter through the overgrown Putnam & Putnam Flower Shop, designed by Yabu Pushelberg, which is envisioned as a botanical library with planter boxes suspended from the 15-foot-tall wall, reachable by a wheeled ladder. Just beyond the flower shop, a bright yellow neon sign spelling out the words “Meet” and “Greet” beckons guests into Moxy’s check-in area. Four butcher blocks, alluding to the nearby Meatpacking District, are suspended from the 12-foot-tall ceiling above, acting as check-in kiosks.
Yabu Pushelberg led the guestroom design, drenching the rooms in natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows. In all three room types, which includes a quad bunk room, furniture includes a writing desk and chair/luggage rack that can be folded and hung on Moxy’s signature peg wall. Other space-saving elements include under-bed storage and a lava-stone sink and vanity area placed outside the bathroom. Tiles in the shower stalls are printed with cheeky phrases like “Some Regrets” and “Wild Thing.” Additional bedroom features nod to the Flower District, like reading lamps that resemble garden lanterns and faucets that recall hose reels. The Mondo suite on the 32nd floor boasts soaring, double-height 18-foot-tall ceilings and a wall of industrial-style windows looking out onto the Empire State Building.
Conceived by Rockwell Group, F&B Feroce Ristorante, Feroce Caffè, and alfresco snack lounge Bar Feroce boast a theatrical quality with overscale terrazzo floors. Rockwell Group was also responsible for the versatile second-floor lobby, and the Conservatory, which occupies the three-story glass atrium on the building’s front façade. On one side, greenhouse-style windows overlook the sidewalk, while on the other, a vast living wall teems with plants. Sunlight refracts through the space’s colored glass screens and creates a kaleidoscope effect across the terrazzo floor. The space transitions to a cocktail lounge at night.
TAO Group and Rockwell also collaborated on rooftop lounge the Fleur Room. The design features a copper-clad bar, glass chandeliers that resemble giant water droplets, and a massive disco ball salvaged from the 1980s-era Los Angeles nightclub Vertigo. The lounge’s glass walls descend at the touch of a button, transforming the space into an alfresco sky veranda.
