AC Hotel by Marriott Pasadena, California

A New-Build Hotel Design By AXIS Architecture + Design’s Los Angeles Studio

Serving as Architect of Record on the project in coordination with design architects WATG, the AC Hotel Pasadena represents AXIS’ sixth completed AC Hotel project, and marks the latest addition to AXIS’ extensive ground-up hotel design portfolio.

A development on behalf of Welcome Group Inc., AXIS was commissioned to design the first branded hotel to operate in Pasadena’s iconic Playhouse Village arts district.  Meeting the challenge, AXIS delivered a design that balances the neighborhood’s historical and artsy surroundings with AC Hotels’ modern and contemporary brand aesthetic.  A ground-up construction rising from a former parking lot, the six-story AC Hotel Pasadena delivers 194 rooms across 110,000 sf of hospitality, dining, and retail space, and introduces a new select service destination that ambitiously positions itself amongst Pasadena’s finest upscale hotels.

Viewed from the street, AXIS’ contemporary and European-inspired design program is immediately appreciated.  Extending from the sidewalk to the roofline, the hotel is elegantly framed by balconies and outdoor entertaining spaces on each of the building’s vertices – a design feature that not only defines the extent of the hotel along the streetscape, but one that also starts to hint at the easy-living French Riviera inspiration behind AXIS’ design.  Along the roofline, gradually angled parapets create forced perspective and emphasized scale to the façade, while a fenestration program featuring massive multi-story windows along the top floor add to the effect.  Maximizing the hotel’s interface with the bustling sidewalk, AXIS’ site plan ingeniously tucks the driveway and entrance behind the building, both maximizing the lot’s functional space while at the same time creating a sheltered arrival experience for hotel guests.  Polishing the exterior design, dynamic Trespa paneling set above old-world brick cladding perfectly blends contemporary aesthetics with local Southern Californian ambiance.

More than simply creating the newest select service hotel in downtown Pasadena, AXIS’ design of the AC Hotel Pasadena also creates a new commercial and entertainment destination in the city.  Along the hotel’s streetfront, AXIS included over 5,000 sf of leasable retail space to the site plan, effectively creating opportunities for the addition of new commercial anchors along the block.  Serving the neighborhood’s burgeoning dining scene, the hotel includes two distinct bar experiences, including a lobby-level bar extending out to an al fresco patio with architectural landscaping, and a destination rooftop restaurant and terrace purposefully designed and oriented by AXIS to maximize guests’ views of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Within the interior spaces, AXIS worked closely with Denver-based hospitality interior design experts Wild Muse to execute The Welcome Group’s vision.  Featuring a design that is elegantly modern and in harmony with AC Hotels’ contemporary European aesthetic, AXIS’ design of the lobby creates an austere, open, and bright space.  On the ground floor, streetfront windows appear to recede into infinity framed within recessed alcoves in the ceiling, while at the destination rooftop bar, convertible glass walls accordion out of sight to create a food and beverage venue where interior and exterior spaces seamlessly meld.

AXIS thanks R.D. Olson for their construction and general contracting expertise on the project.  AXIS also thanks Saiful Bouquet for their engineering capabilities.