At a ceremony in Capri, Italy, last month, American design firm ForrestPerkins received a 2019 International Hotel & Property Award. ForrestPerkins’ renovation of the Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square won in the category of “Hotel Suite – Americas & Caribbean.”
“Receiving this recognition is a tremendous honor for ForrestPerkins, especially since so many people took the time to vote from around the world,” said Deborah Forrest, president of ForrestPerkins, in a statement. A verified 16,749 votes were counted for this online design competition, which was open to the public, and an average voter spent 34 minutes reviewing the shortlisted projects. “The roster of top-tier finalists in all categories was significant, making the win even sweeter,” Forrest added.
ForrestPerkins renovated four suites and 613 guestrooms in the Westin St. Francis, located in San Francisco’s Union Square. The luxury suites have a total of 11 bedrooms, each with a different configuration. The bathrooms all have Calacatta and Grigio Verona marbles.
“The complexity of this historic renovation posed many challenges,” said Colletta Conner, associate principal of ForrestPerkins, who led the design and renovation. In particular, Conner noted the challenge of adding bathrooms to a building built in 1904. Conner and her team preserved historic details, including moldings and intricate plaster cornices, throughout the renovation. Inspired by a work by Yves Klein, the standard rooms and corridors integrate French Gray and Parisian Blue with pink and golden embellishments to celebrate San Francisco’s reputation as “Paris of the West.”
