The 2025 HD Awards Project Winners

LUXURY HOTEL
The Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York

Old morphs into the new at the 153-room Fifth Avenue Hotel, the union of a landmarked 1907 mansion and 24-story brick and glass tower. The historic McKim, Mead & White structure, once the Second National Bank, originally housed a grand two-story hall that Perkins Eastman restored.

Now, Café Carmellini capitalizes upon the double-height space with an open kitchen and private dining balconies. New 20-foot-high bronze and etched glass doors open to interiors chockfull of art, including the lobby brightened by Pae White’s kinetic tapestry and the Portrait Bar, which transports guests to an Italian villa with its carved stone fireplace. “There’s a moment in the bar where the walls are lacquered oxblood and lit like a jewelry box; it feels decadent. That’s the joy of the Fifth—it’s rooted in history but always a little theatrical, like stepping into the life of someone who’s lived everywhere, collected everything, and done it all in style,” says Martin Brudnizki, founder of Martin Brudnizki Design Studio.

The guestrooms and suites, with their vivid green, yellow, and pink tones and star-shaped light fixtures, have a Gilded Age air befitting of a jet-setting flâneur’s townhouse. “Every space is filled with objects, furniture, and art that feel as though they’ve been gathered over a lifetime of curious wandering,” adds Brudnizki. “It’s layered and romantic, but never too polished.”

Architecture Firm: Perkins Eastman, New York | Interior Design Firm: Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, New York | Owner, Operator, and Purchasing Firm: Flâneur Hospitality