The Keating Hotel by Pininfarina, San Diego's premier boutique hotel, was named the project winner of the inaugural Earth-Minded Awards, presented by Hospitality Design magazine and American Society of Interior Designers.
The awards program recognizes exceptional sustainable design in two categories, hospitality projects and hospitality products. Winners were honored last week in Las Vegas at Hospitality Design Green Day, a full day of conference programming dedicated to green design. Submissions were judged by a group of esteemed hospitality designers.
"We are very proud of this award because it confirms that the Keating project outlines possible answers to the complex issue of sustainability - said Paolo Pininfarina, President and CEO Pininfarina Extra. - When approaching a new project, from the microcosm of small objects for everyday use, through to the macrocosm of buildings, we always try to minimize environmental impact and relate people with the natural environment. We did the same while designing the Keating."
"This award is not only a significant honor of being recognized as a leader in the hospitality industry, but a true acknowledgement of the hard work and creativity of our group," says Edward Kaen, CEO & Founder of the Keating Hotel Group. "Another first for the Keating. I am grateful and honored."
Designed by Pininfarina, which expressed itself for the first time into hotel design, the 35-room Keating Hotel, located in an historic building in the heart of San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, made headlines with its sleek red, black and stainless steel decor when it came on the scene a year ago. But more than having the finest combination of premier location, cutting-edge design, and the highest level of true personalized service, the boutique hotel is also setting new standards in San Diego by being environmentally friendly.
An adaptive re-use of a granite and brick structure built in 1890 (original timber and steel building materials were re-captured and re-used saving thousands of local trees and materials), the Keating was on track to be environmentally friendly from the beginning. In the loft-like rooms and common areas, the designers used re-usable and recyclable natural materials for all major furnishings; kept as many existing exposed brick and stonewalls as possible; employed eco-friendly paint materials; added energy-saving motion sensing devices and fluorescent lighting; and used ceiling tile made from ever-lasting metal instead of chemical-based replaceable tiles. Even the subterranean lounge features re-cut and re-shaped recycled Tempur-Pedic bed mattresses for seat cushions. And environmental initiatives trickle down to everyday activities: rooms feature wall-to-wall hard surface flooring, eliminating the need for harsh carpet cleaning solvents and vacuums, all laundry is done on premise in bio-friendly detergents (and the hotel features a state-of-the-art non-chemical water softening system), and The Keating Hotel Group is a paperless company and has its own private recycling services.