21c Museum Hotel Kansas City

The sleek blacked steel reception desk with integrated lighting welcomes guests to the 21c Museum Hotel Kansas City, New York-based Deborah Berke Partners’ eighth collaboration with the brand.

Luftwerk’s saturated Linear Sky installation illuminates a hallway on the second floor as it leads visitors to additional gallery space.

For its latest outpost, the hotel’s robust art collection includes the brand’s signature sky blue penguin, which sits atop original mosaic tile floors

“Where new interventions were done, the details were purposely minimal to allow the historic context to sing and to provide a simple backdrop for the artwork—a very important part of 21c’s mission,” Hufft Projects principal Jeffrey Kloch says of the 6,200 square feet of gallery space. “We also focused on accent lighting to strengthen this contrast.”

For its inaugural exhibition, Refuge showcases works from more than 54 artists who explore the experiences of migration through contemporary art.

Original mosaic tile floors and historic plaster remain intact beneath the property’s restored, satin-glass dome.

The redesign thrives on an eclectic juxtaposition of Victorian details with 20th-century historical markers, including in a seating area where purple walls enhance original stained glass windows.

Formerly the Savoy Grill, the hotel lounge honors original architectural elements like dark wood paneling. Kloch says of the space: “The upholstery and drapery have been replaced with updated contemporary colors and textures, leather and suedes, but still exhibits the weight and elegance of what you would expect from an opulent hotel of yesteryear.”

In the lounge, boldly colored furnishings complement original stained glass windows, reflecting the building’s extensive history.

The restaurant dining room contrasts the lounge with an airiness perpetuated through new windows and a lighting design programmed to subtly change colors throughout the day as a means to shift the mood.

The 120 guestrooms offer a tranquil reprieve from the public spaces with cream walls and velvet-clad benches.

Brass accents in guest bathrooms offer a clean, minimalist design.