The Quirk – a gallery hotel

Quirk is a gallery hotel, designed by ARCHITECTUREFIRM, to create an inclusive environment for the appreciation of art within a unique hospitality setting. The hotel strives to create connections to local artists displayed throughout the venue and in the on-site gallery, using art to extend this exclusivity to locals as well as travelers and to act as the canvas for art and experience rather than the art itself.
The hotel wraps two 19th century historic buildings and uses them to add richness to the hotel program and diminish the presence of the complex on West Main Street. From West Main, the rhythm of the street fronts and side alleys continues so that it feels less like a large hotel than a series of small commercial spaces. The building has a quiet presence but the drama of the lobby is apparent even from the street. A series of split arches in the lobby frame an elegant and playful space that visually and physically connects West Main with the historic Starr Hill neighbourhood to the north. This lobby space is meant to be a semi-public space for both guests and locals and consists of the front desk, a lobby bar, multiple lounges, and a retail shop. The arches also serve as the organisation and wayfinding through the lobby as each pair direct guests to other spaces off the lobby, such as a restaurant, ballrooms, and a barrel-vaulted elevator lobby that takes visitors to guest-rooms and a rooftop bar with expansive views.
The design takes inspiration from the traditional brick buildings of Charlottesville, while also modernising and abstracting that tradition with long, white bricks and exposed wood and cast stone trim. This allows the building to act as background for the historic buildings that it embraces, while still maintaining an elegant presence on the street.