The Revolution Hotel in Boston’s South End, more than any other project in recent memory, really felt like a massive collaborative effort with a TON of creative and talented people. When we bring these people into our design process it enhances it and opens new doors to things that may not have been possible. It is not easy to let go of control over that process, though with mutual respect and admiration for your partners’ capabilities, it can take you to new heights. 
 
Maybe the way to talk about this is to describe a few examples in more detail.
 
To begin, working with Adam&Co, the team’s Art Director, was a total all-in experience. We were making changes in our design models constantly during our charettes while sketching out various concepts through collage or tracing. We used VR quite a bit to understand the spaces better. We could not design only in vignettes or choreographed views because there were so many elements that needed to work together in the spaces. Understanding what you would also be seeing out of the corner of your eye was critical and finding ways to create balance or emphasis in certain areas was important.

We needed to create a hierarchy within the spaces as we wove the story elements in.
 
One of the most fun aspects of the design process was partnering with local artisans and makers, bringing them in early and leveraging their expertise to help ideas come to life quickly. For example, we leaned on Erik Rueda Design Lab’s expertise and creativity to help us deliver on some of our lofty conceptual goals like the mailboxes we converted to a feature near the reception desk, and the wooden beams in the café riffing off of tea crates and the Boston Tea Party story.
 
We also partnered with artists during our design process. Mark Grundig designed and executed a number of elements in the project including the mid-century modern pattern on the lobby floor and murals in the workspace and gym and helped get design signoffs for out-of-the-box finishes. He provided custom samples along the way and would work with our team to hone in on unique approaches to achieve the looks we were going after.
 
The Innovation Tower – a three-story collage of Boston’s inventions -  involved so many people on its own to make it happen. We started with a Jay-Z album cover reference and a big idea, modeled a concept in 3D and reviewed it in VR, working with the contractors and engineers to figure out how to support it, pulling lists of elements together with Adam&Co, and ultimately partnering with Individuals Collective to execute it.
 
Once you are part of something like this, it leaves you yearning to do it again. The relationships we formed on the project remain strong and these folks will be long-time collaborators with PCA – we can’t wait to find more ways to work together in the future!