The 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge Is The Sustainable Luxury Hotel That Pays Homage To The Beauty Of The Borough

As New York City begins a revival, the 1 Hotel in Brooklyn Bridge isn’t simply one of the hottest places for tourists to stay, it embodies everything about Brooklyn that locals love. LEED Gold Certified and designed by INC Architecture and Design, this hotel goes above and beyond even the highest standards of sustainability. With some of the best views and jaw-dropping architecture in the five boroughs, it offers an experience you can’t find anyplace else. Ready to satisfy your wanderlust? Here’s a look inside.

One Of The 1 Hotels

With nine locations and counting, every 1 Hotel is influenced by the local community. However, 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge is the brand’s first sustainable ground-up development and flagship property.

The Brooklyn Bridge, the beauty of the neighborhood’s natural surroundings, the history of the borough, and the adjacent neighborhoods inspired the overall design concept of the hotel. With reclaimed wood, bricks, marble, stone, and locally sourced glass finishes, there isn’t another hotel that offers an aesthetic that’s so purely Brooklyn.

But none of this is unusual considering 1 Hotels as a brand, Raul Leal, CEO of SH Hotels and Resorts tells me, “1 Hotels was inspired by a simple idea: those that travel the world should also care about it. It is, after all, [one] World. 1 Hotels upholds this vision by channeling nature through design and culinary partnerships, connecting with the local community, and working to ensure resource efficiency wherever.”

One example of this is the two-story industrial spiral staircase located in the lobby. Simply stunning, it is punctuated by a sculpture of obsidian rock boulders wrapped in hand-dyed rope by Brooklyn-based artist, Rachel Mica Weiss. Many of the other details in the hotel were contributed by local artists including Uhuru, Bien Hecho, Harrison Green, and Danielle Trofe.

Blurring The Lines Between The Inside And Outside

The designers of the hotel used sustainable materials throughout the property. The 25-foot high custom green wall in the lobby is one example of this. It features steel grating with integrated hand-placed plants and creeping vines. This way, the vegetation can grow organically. It is an interesting choice for a hotel because the wall will ultimately change over time, evolving as the hotel does. 

The purpose of this element was to integrate the surrounding park into the building. One of the biggest design trends in recent years has been bringing the outdoors inside and the inside outdoors. This wall along with the various plantings including small trees and hanging gardens throughout the hotel created by landscape designers at Harrison Green take this concept to an entirely new level. 

Commitment To Sustainability

There are many ways that the hotel is a sustainable operation. The finishes are a mix of regional and reclaimed materials, including original heart pine beams from the former Domino Sugar Factory, walnut from the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and pine flooring from the Old Crow Distillery in Kentucky.

Even seemingly minor details are green at the 1 Hotel. LED lightbulbs are used throughout the property to cut down on energy consumption. Green cleaning solvents are used to clean all the rooms and wash the linens. There’s even access to an Audi e-tron house car for rides within a three-mile radius. The on-site restaurant, The Osprey also offers menu items with local seasonal ingredients.

The Rooms

There are 194 guest rooms total with nine different room types. The rooms feature floor-to-ceiling sliding windows with water views.

This design choice harnesses natural daylight to illuminate the beautiful interiors. Many of the design details in the room were created by local artisans including the crate-inspired, open-slatted wood closets, corrugated leather headboards, as well as the Fresnel glass light fixtures. 

Even the mattresses are sustainably made by Keetsa and filled with a hemp blend. All the sheets are made of 100 percent organic cotton, while the towels, robes, and linens are made of all-natural cotton.

The rooms also have a filtered water station to cut down on plastic bottle waste. Tumblers and carafes made from reclaimed wine bottles are provided for drinking. But should guests need to dispose of something, the rooms have recycling containers with separate bins for glass, plastic, and paper.

All the spa-like bathrooms feature an open, modern look with filtered water. There’s also an hourglass in each bathroom to educate guests about how long their shower should be to conserve water. Leal tells me, “Our hotels offer educational moments throughout the properties to exemplify how you can make easy changes to your everyday.”

Swim In Brooklyn

While most New York City hotels are known for skylines more than swimming pools, the hotel’s 4000 square foot pool is a true urban retreat. Featuring views of the East River, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Manhattan skyline, there’s also a full-service bar and fire pits.

The surrounding seating area was designed sustainably from reclaimed railroad ties. While Brooklyn might not be a tropical paradise, it certainly is a stylish one.