Premier Blog

An upscale full-service hotel conversion, historic conservation, and adaptive reuse project where “European glamor meets Cowboy swagger.”

Premier, an end-to-end architecture, design, procurement, project management, and corporate engineering firm with specialization in hospitality, multi-family residential, student housing, adaptive reuse, and mixed-use development, is pleased to celebrate the completion of its Le Méridien Fort Worth Downtown upscale full-service hotel adaptive reuse and historic conservation project.

As one of the defining accomplishments of this project’s scope, the interior design firm led the delivery of a 188-guestroom hospitality destination by completely transforming the vacant 14 stories of an existing hull of an edifice.  Originally constructed in 1970 as an addition to a former luxury hotel, the annex in which this new upscale boutique hotel serves its guests has sat vacant since 2006, essentially rendering this project a historic conservation and hotel conversion redevelopment.  Ultimately, this new hotel adds a community-defining hospitality destination to this city’s burgeoning downtown entertainment and events district.

Deconstructing the design program, the intent behind the interior design team’s vision was playfully ambitious: “Blend European glamor with cowboy swagger.”  Inspired by both the city’s revered standing as one of the epicenters of America’s western heritage, as well as the modern and glamorous European-inspired aesthetic that defines the hotel’s brand, the interior design team seamlessly blended western bravado with European flair by juxtaposing rough and tumble western design elements throughout the hotel’s otherwise sophisticated spaces.

Starting with the guest arrival experience, the property’s modern design program is immediately communicated.  Through a clever use of screens, lighting projection, and a mix of dramatically differentiated surface treatments, the ground floor’s open concept is ingeniously segmented into functional spaces that intuitively marshal guests.  On select surfaces that anchor each functional space, a blend of textures featuring brutalist geometric shapes clad in a mix of elegantly austere clay colors are interspersed with organic wood panels and organic-hued treatments, effectively creating textural depth and dimension in every glance.  Punctuating the modern aesthetic, the “cowboy swagger” influence is expressed by way of understated elements within the furniture and built-in features.  Lounge wing chairs and dining sets feature leather straps and backrests finished with saddle stitching or brass hardware, while fabric finishing elements including pillows and rugs pop with colors of amber and burnt yellow in modern interpretations of southwestern woven textiles.  In the hotel’s dining and bar areas, including the destination rooftop bar and lounge, biophilic elements including suspended lush greenery are framed by green tiled feature walls, creating an al fresco-like entertaining experience year-round.

In guestrooms, the “European glamor meets cowboy swagger” design program is continued.  Dusty-hued wood flooring and vertically fluted wooden tambour feature walls ingeniously imbue the modern space with a western sensibility.  Furniture elegantly finished with cowhide elements and amber leather, modernized banker’s lamps with green glass shades inspired by a bygone era, throw pillows styled as rolled and buckled saddle blankets, and wall coverings in patterns reminiscent of vintage cowboy shirt patterns add touches of shameless yet elegant cowboy flare throughout the spaces.  Elsewhere in the guestrooms, screens and built-in FF&E share the same modern geometric styling of elements in the lobby, further ensuring the guest experience is seamless between the hotel’s public and private spaces.