New York Park Lane Hotel ‘Break From The Norm’ Reincarnation

Award-winning studio, Mother Design has unveiled new branding for the Park Lane Hotel in New York, which aims to distance the establishment from so-called “antiquated” traditional luxury, reports Abode2 luxury property magazine.

Constructed in 1971, Park Lane Hotel sits on the city’s “Billionaire’s Row” among some of the most expensive buildings New York offers.

Mother Design says Park Lane Hotel’s previous identity set it “adrift in a sea of old-world sameness”. Traditional luxury aesthetics, which celebrate the “Ritzes, Plazas and Pierres”, feel out of step with modern travellers. The team were therefore approached by the hotel’s management in late 2019 to pitch for the work.

The new Park Lane Hotel wordmark sits at the centre of the identity. It is inspired by both the architecture of the building and the nature found throughout neighbouring Central Park.

There’s a bit of a status quo in how other hotels present themselves around Central Park South; a lot of script-y typography, a lot of gold, a lot of crests and shields. Instead of looking inwards at the convention, the studio has clearly looked outward and found inspiration in Central Park. The building’s meandering lines are reminiscent of wandering paths within the park, and its ornate flairs feel like whimsical, botanical tendrils. Meanwhile, architectural influences are found in the “contemporary straight lines” also found in the wordmark.

The typeface is used across communications, but is also used for wayfinding in the hotel and staff uniforms. Complimenting the form of the wordmark and wider typeface is a “cartouche”-shape framing device, which can be used as a window for imagery, patterns and text across physical and digital spaces. The studio representative says it is inspired by the windows of the hotel.

Alongside the hotel’s external surroundings, the studio says it was also inspired by the refurbished interiors, which have been developed by interiors consultancy, Yabu Pushelberg.

As the interior design was a radical break from the mould of the convention around Central Park, the design has followed-step by breaking from its predecessor. What remains in spirit however was an eccentricity, but visually a carte blanche.