The 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis is now open in the heart of Downtown. This adaptive reuse project transformed the historic YMCA building, located at 1528 Locust and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, into a destination property featuring more than 14,000 square feet of museum exhibition and event space, 173 guest rooms, chef-driven restaurant Idol Wolf, the Good Press coffee shop, and a 10,500-square-foot athletic and wellness center.
The 10-story Renaissance Revival-style building was built in 1926 and designed by local architecture firm LaBeaume & Klein, which also designed the Kiel Opera House (now Stifel Theatre). In its heyday, the Downtown YMCA was the organization’s largest local branch, providing the broadest range of services including lodging. The Y was operational until 2017, when it relocated to the nearby MX Building.
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21c Museum Hotels worked with Pittsburgh-based architecture firm Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel, which specializes in adaptive reuse and historic preservation. They enlisted interior designers from Kansas City-based Hufft to reimagine the public areas and New York-based Bill Rooney Studio to design the guest room floors.
“We challenged both teams to use the history of the building as a source of inspiration. You’ll see it through some of the details and materiality,” says Molly Swyers, design consultant for 21c Museum Hotels. “There was so much of the historic fabric we were able to restore and we believe the old looks better in the presence of the new.”
In the stylish first floor lounge and billiard room, the team preserved or restored original wood panels and tile floors, layering in new textiles and upholstery. In the second floor exhibition space, the Y’s gymnasium has been preserved. Its original wood floor restored and polished to a shiny gloss and the suspended track still intact, now with a fresh coat of white paint punctuated by contemporary art. The gym serves as both a gallery and large scale event space.
On the lower level, the new Locust Street Athletic & Swim Club includes the restored historic lap pool and hot tub, known for its distinctive tile. The pool was largely intact but 21c worked with Rookwood Pottery tile makers out of Cincinnati to match and replicate the historic tile where it needed patching. A painted message on the bottom of the pool – ‘Swim for Life’– is also a remnant from the YMCA days.
“We were taking what the building was giving us,” says Swyers. “One of our mantras is that details matter.”
The museum exhibition spaces will feature rotating artwork by renowned national artists, but the guest rooms have a more permanent local connection with large format works by St. Louis artist Carmon Colangelo. Suites feature additional works by Missouri-based artists, including Collin W. Elliott, Brandon Forrest Frederick, Bethanie Irons, and La Vispera.
“We’ve tried to make the guest rooms feel more residential, like a home away from home,” says Swyers. “The public areas are so stimulating that we wanted the guest rooms to be more of a respite.”
