Recognizing Sarasota’s identity as the “Cultural Capital of Florida”, the Art Ovation Hotel is an urban hospitality project dedicated to the arts that provides a welcoming space for visitors. Spatially, it serves as a connector between cultural institutions, galleries, restaurants, and shops. Conceived as an architectural companion to an adjacent existing garage, the goal was to embrace a complementary aesthetic and extend pedestrian-flow.
Where many buildings are designed to maximize buildable square footage, the design scheme reduced density and height to respect the existing neighborhood scale. The form aligns with Palm Ave. and then curves north along Cocoanut and is positioned for wide sidewalks, enhanced with expansive canopies. This design gesture connects these two main cross streets as one urban form and has become unlike any other intersection in downtown. Connecting to the garage, a free-form skybridge covers guests as they arrive.
The building palette is limited to five materials: concrete, wood, steel, aluminum, and impact-resistant glass. It’s simplicity, a canvas for daily creativity and play. The curving lobby follows the façade’s lines and lifts the building on a “ribbon of light”. This all-day space is designed for mingling, enjoying refreshments, entertainment, art classes, and revolving exhibitions. Artwork throughout is curated through a partnership with Ringling College.
The rooftop is now a gathering space, similar to an elevated urban park. Its vibrancy is directly tied to the reduced density and height for a feeling of connection to the streetscape.
Quickly transforming visitors arriving by car into pedestrians, there’s a drop-off canopy on one side and a veranda and skybridge on the other. These connection points are extended into the lobby, giving visitors options of walking, cycling and public transit. Natural daylighting, energy-efficient windows, low-flow plumbing, and Florida-friendly landscaping was used. Rooftop rainwater is collected into a 100,000-gallon subterranean cistern.
