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Trumbar
The Franklin Residences
834 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
AIA Philadelphia Devine Detail Award 2016
Inspired by Trumbauer’s original 1920’s hotel design, Trumbar was designed to have a speakeasy ambience. Tucked into what once served as a hotel check-in window, a full service bar and liquor display was compressed into less than 100 SF.
Several architectural devises were used to enhance the perception of space and light. A patron seated at the counter is meant to feel like they’ve arrived at a destination wholly within the larger hotel lobby. Corners were dissolved by introducing a gentle arch in the back wall, and in a technique borrowed from theater sets, the ceiling surface is tilted to draw the patron into the experience of the golden room. Mirrors are employed on each end of the space to further extend the lines and blur the true dimensions of the space. Bottle display shelves float from the wall to minimize shadows and are themselves distributors of light, creating a continuous and even glow of soft light across the gold leaf.
custom bottle display
The desire to have a warm, hearth-like glow emanate from the space without adding a distraction to the larger lobby drove many lighting and material choices. Low levels of light, mostly linear LEDs distributed through many sources rather than fewer, brighter lights were employed. Much experimentation was performed in the application of the Muntz Metal, and final light diffusers and color gels were used to adjust light levels in the field.
The project was featured as one of the Most Beautiful Bars in Philadelphia by Philadelphia Style Magazine
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