THE SOCIETY HOTEL, Bingen, Wash.
RETROFIT TEAM
ARCHITECT: Waechter Architecture
- Ben Waechter, FAIA, principal-in-charge
- Alexis Kurland, project lead
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Grummel Engineering
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Orange Construction
INTERIOR DESIGN AND LANDSCAPING: Blossom
MATERIALS
The following is a sampling of materials used in the project:
WINDOWS: Andersen
CABINETS/CASEWORK: Axiom Custom
WOOD PRODUCTS: Lakeside Lumber
BATHROOM FIXTURES: Delta and American Standard
TILE: Modernist Series from Daltile
CARPET TILE: Mohawk
THE RETROFIT
The client’s program consisted of four distinct, yet related components: the adaptive reuse of a former school, 20 hotel cabins, a covered pathway and a spa building. Approaching the renovation of the school with a light touch, the primary design intervention became the reorganization of the cabins, pathway and spa to create a larger figure on the school’s former play fields. In this solution, the individual cabins form a ring that loosely defines the edge of the site. Although each living unit is detached on the ground, each is united through a shared roof that cantilevers out to double as a covered walkway and porches for the cabins.
Built in 1903 and rebuilt in 1937, following a fire, the nearly 90-year-old Bingen Schoolhouse offers 10 private standard rooms and two 24-bed hostels, as well as a library in the reception area, lockers in the hallway and a refurbished gym open to guest use. The floors are original to the building and are a combination of existing and salvaged from the former classrooms.
The ring of cabins defines a shared courtyard. With its connected roof, this ring acts as a frame, allowing views between the cabins and upward to the sky and hills. Visitors are presented with a double perspective—the close view of the courtyard’s garden and the far view of the landscape—to provide a sense of retreat, even in a town setting.
Through the strategic placement of elements, the Society Hotel reconciles the competing needs of site and users. Maximizing views outward, while being respectful of neighbors, the design consolidates the disparate programmatic elements into a singular form that defines an internal community space and embraces its surrounding environment.