To encourage more responsible practices for environmental protection without skimping on luxury. At 1 Hotel Toronto sustainability goes beyond the recommendation of using your towels for one more day. It is the principle, the motor, of a communitarian rule that reformulates the hospitality experience, sharing the objective of working in tune with nature and its cycles. A recognizable nature, displayed and in progress, starting with the compositional scheme of the interiors, drawing on the colors and patterns of the landscape – Lake Ontario, its lively waterfront, and Trinity Bellwoods Park – as well as an impressive program of recycling and composting of food waste, utilized as fertilizer for a seasonal garden of herbs and vegetables.
The interior design by Rockwell Group makes good use of the regenerative powers of nature, also relying on the collaboration of local artists and artisans specializing in the recovery of felled trees in the Toronto area, and their transformation into objects and furnishings.
The hall of the hotel welcomes guests into a nest-like location, featuring large full-height windows for indoor-outdoor visual continuity. The entrance recycles structural and salvaged materials to organize an appealing palette of materials: granite and limestone boulders, maple trees, flourishing local plants, warm wood, a green canopy structure and a number of found objects.
In the lobby, over 4 meters high, the elm flooring comes from the Just Be Woodsy timber supplier, while the shelves are made from planks taken from a dismantled Ontario barn. Other elements of biophilic design, like the botanical compositions of variable density and the furnishings made with recycled wood, complete the lounge area. Behind the check-in counter a stone wall with darker grain forms a backdrop for an installation designed by the art duo Moss&Lamm.
In the 112 very luminous guestrooms, salvaged wood continues as a recurring theme: it is used for the headboards of the beds, the sliding doors dividing the bedrooms from the bathrooms, and in the bathrooms themselves hickory is combined with the primary presence of Carrara marble. Fragments of branches, stumps and bark leftover from the furnishings of Just Be Woodsy (re)appear in the bedside units and many of the works of art.
1 Hotel offers two restaurants and two bars. The 1 Kitchen, with a retro look, is located in a space similar to a winter garden, with glass walls, vaulted ceilings and trusses covered in vegetation. Relying on materials sourced from no more than 50 km away, 1 Kitchen is open to guests and local customers.
Madera, the facility’s second restaurant, offers organic Mexican food and extends the biophilic paradigm, utilizing mostly recycled wood, many local plants and examples of local craftsmanship. The Harriet’s rooftop bar is for sushi, with sliding walls and a roof that opens to a view of the city and the lake. The ceiling features ropes woven on wooden beams, the floor is in elm, and the décor focuses on accents of pale leather.
Photo © Brandon Barre
