AvroKO Turns to Warm Brutalism for the Jay Hotel

Warm brutalism may sound like a contradiction in terms, but it aptly describes the interiors of the 24-story, 360-key Jay hotel in San Francisco. AvroKO’s scheme embraces the heavy concrete forms and sawtooth glass facade of the 1988 building and pays homage to its architect, John Portman. His work differs from earlier brutalist projects, observes AvroKO cofounder and principal Greg Bradshaw: “There’s a more intimate scale and quality of softness.” His firm heightened those characteristics with its furniture specs, taking inspiration from San Francisco’s counter-culture movement and late local artist Ruth Asawa as creative muse.

An existing spiral staircase connected the entry to the third-floor lobby, but it felt cold and exposed. Bradshaw and team surrounded it with custom oak fins, creating a slatted cylinder that resembles a similar treatment Portman conceived in the ’60’s for his own home, and added oxblood-colored carpet to the steps; they also retained Arnaldo Pomodoro’s stunning original bronze sculpture that rises beside it. Timber screens reoccur to divide the generously sized guest rooms, where geometric rugs, relief art, and textured headboards speak the language of understated luxury.