The Garden Hotel
At the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and Arboretum
A children's centered, garden themed hotel with a focus on hands on education and indoor/outdoor fun!
Research and Brand Identity
The Idea
To create a themed, narrative driven hotel that that will respect and reflect nature, serve the company's mission and improve the guest overall experience.
The Value
Provide a unique, educational, narrative lodging experience that builds upon the mission of the Arboretum to explore, discover and engage.
15 year scenario planning
The Rising Action
Before the hotel instillation is completed the story must be implemented into the existing area of the park. Characters created for the hotel will be seen in other areas of the park, rollouts of their history and role will take place on all social media platforms and promotional events partnering with sponsors will be held before the soft opening.
Currently the FW Arboretum relies heavily on donors sponsors and volunteers to make income that will support their upkeep, maintenance, events and more. To introduce the idea of a hotel to bring more revenue to the arboretum a strategic marketing campaign should take place in order to raise excitement and interest in the new build
The Set Up
The Falling Action
6 months after the opening of the hotel surveys will be completed to find areas that need improvements and bugs that can be fixed. Events for that hotel become more regular and observations are done to see how the guests interact with the hotel, its story and characters.
The Resolution
At this stage we coast until any major renovations or new events need planning. Any guest feedback should be fixed or improved upon and the Arboretum should have paid off any major loans for the hotel and start taking home the income from reservations, gift shops, restaurants and more.
Story and Ideation
The Story for the Vegetable Garden Wing
Mary learned to grow her own vegetables as a young girl during the first world war in what was known as a victory garden. Mary’s garden flourished and with it her love of botany. However, it was hard for Mary to be taken seriously as a female botanist in the 1930s.
After moving to East Texas and leaving behind her backyard garden, Mary found a new garden to nurture at the recently opened Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and Arboretum. Here, she nurtured, taught, and grew with the garden, leaving a lasting legacy to the Arboretum.
After years of working in the garden, the hotel opened, and she soon became the Director of Care and Education for the Wing. When Mary retired, her daughter, Betty, took over her role, and the Arboretum changed the name to “Mary’s Vegetable Garden Wing” in honor of the work, legacy, and time she dedicated to the garden.
The Why for the Vegetable Garden Wing
This history (story) of the hotel will guide my design choices based on the needs and functions of an actual working garden as well as the aesthetics of the reasons in which spaces in the story were built, renovated or expanded.
Mary is a “brand” that allows the hotel to be rooted in her story inspired by the female scientists, botanists and gardeners of her time. In the early 1900s botany was one of the only sciences that was deemed appropriate for women to study, and yet it was still incredibly hard to get the public to take their findings seriously.
Mary's story reflects these women and allows for guests of the arboretum to get a glimpse of what these women contributed to the modern garden today.
The Goal for the Vegetable Garden Wing
Guests see the framework of the hotel’s original design and usage: a small garden shed.
The influence of Mary's life and work is scattered throughout the hotel, through drawings, writings, pottery, books, carvings, and writings on the walls.
They see the influence of other botanists that have visited Mary and the garden (Rachel Carson, Beatrix Potter, Ynes Marie).
Finally, guests see the design choices from expansions and renovations to the hotel on top
of the framework.
Story Timeline
Story Timeline
Story Timeline
Story Timeline
Rhino White Model and Drafts
Final Rendering
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Beautiful, sprawling windows with stain glass designs are the first thing the guest will see
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The colors are meant to bring the colorful outside garden inside to the guests
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Green floors and Blue ceilings
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Touches of yellow, pink and purple in
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the furniture
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A closer look at some of the furniture and you might spy some of the helpful insects that live in the garden
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All pictures and art on the wall will be sourced directly from famous women botanists, nature photographers and more.
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Bunk beds are one option guests can choose from but other more accessible rooms will be available
