In 2021, shortly after helping her mother move into an assisted living facility, Jill S. Cavanaugh received a call to transform the former Fairfax Hotel in Washington, DC into elevated next generation housing. “I was astounded at the irony—and determined to redirect personal anguish into something professionally rewarding,” says Cavanaugh, partner at Beyer Blinder Belle.
Behind the design of Inspīr Embassy Row
The now-open Inspīr Embassy Row, which joins a sister property in New York, nods to the hotel’s bygone era through a traditional palette of wood, leather, stone, and heavily textured fabrics implemented with a contemporary approach, resulting in elements such as detailed millwork, strong archways, and intimate fireplaces.
“We approached the layout of the interior architecture as we would in planning a city or neighborhood,” Cavanaugh explains. “We relied on the basic building blocks of strong and visually clear paths, nodes along those paths for resting and conversing, and landmarks—or distinct features—at the ends of those paths.”
A hotel-like lobby
The arrival experience is designed like a luxury hotel, meant to capture “a stunning first impression,” says Cavanaugh, which then evolves into more intimate, warmly lit areas that foster small gatherings. Adjacent to the lobby is the market, a space “that could become a part of their daily routine at all times of the day,” Cavanaugh explains, “from coffee and a newspaper in the morning, to a glass of iced tea or wine in the afternoon, to ice cream at night.”
Each space is delineated with clear boundaries created by distinct flooring, ceiling patterns, colors, and finishes that, she says, “allow residents to use long-embedded cognitive patterns of navigating complex spaces through intuitive wayfinding, with the larger goal of facilitating planned as well as unplanned interactions.”
All thresholds were removed to enable flat and obstruction-free mobility, while outdoor spaces, including a rooftop terrace, were maximized for memory care residents who have limited opportunity to leave the building.
An ode to the past
Echoes of the now-shuttered hotel remain alive inside Inspīr Embassy Row.
The library lounge, for instance, is adorned with abstract horse wallcoverings that nod to the hotel’s Jockey Club restaurant, once a social hub where prominent American politicians mingled with celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Lauren Bacall.
More from HD:
Aimasia Villa Embraces the Rugged Terrain of Mykonos
What I’ve Learned Podcast: Cathy O’Brien, Naturopathica
Boutique Motels Are Redefining Route 66
