The Watergate Hotel underwent extensive renovations after years of disrepair and closure, reopening with renewed glamour inspired by its elegant and notorious history. The original architect, Luigi Moretti, used curvilinear forms influenced by boat sails to create a sense of dynamic movement. That approach carries through today’s design with layered finishes, gradients, reflections, shadows, and highlights that create a shimmery, immersive experience.

The redesigned lobby is defined by long curved walls and twisted polished bronze columns, with a reception desk that glows in warm and cool tones against reflective metal surfaces. To offset low nine-foot ceilings, concealed light coves above the desk and around key architectural elements visually expand the space while amplifying the material palette through soft gradients and controlled highlights.

A signature feature of the renovation is the Whisky Wall, a floor-to-ceiling curved display of bottles illuminated by individual uplights integrated into a custom stainless steel frame. Developed through extensive mockups and testing in close coordination with the design team and fabricators, the wall becomes a glowing centerpiece and a chandelier-like anchor for the lobby.

The experience continues into the Kingbird Restaurant, an open two-story dining space with soaring stainless steel columns and sculptural spring-like pendants that appear to float beneath a polished black venetian plaster ceiling. Reflections from architectural coves, ambient lighting, and daylight shift the space from a cooler daytime tone to a warm, low-lit evening ambiance, creating depth, contrast, and atmosphere throughout the guest experience.