In Savannah, Georgia, the First Federal Saving and Loan Association bank was built in 1961 by Levy & Kiley Architects. Thirty years later, the bank was purchased and transformed into the Broughton Municipal Building. Today, the stout building with a granite facade is home to a new 36,850-square-foot hotel, Municipal Grand. AAmp Studio led the adaptive reuse effort, collaborating with local architecture preservation firm, Ward Architecture + Preservation, to reuse original materials and enhance the historic midcentury charm, while also incorporating tropical modernism, in line with the city’s design lineage.
“We were delighted to learn more about the modernist influence evident across the historic core of the city,” said Anne-Marie Armstrong, cofounder of AAmp Studio. “With Municipal Grand we wanted to celebrate this legacy of midcentury design on the city at-large, and position it to be appreciated in the future.” This vibrant mid 20th–century tropical modernism is the inspiration for the design of many of the hotel’s food and beverage programs, drawing from the opulent curves used in the work by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and botanical pops from Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx.
The first bar, Municipal Bar, extends from the lobby. Here original blue and white mosaic tiles clad columns and the mezzanine, which takes advantage of the expansive double-height ceilings. The color is paired with warm wooden tones, applied to the bar, stools, and the backs of the curved benches. The seating textiles continue the warm design language, including velvet sage green benches, rose pink chairs, and cream colored sofas.
Additional seating can be found above along the second-floor mezzanine, allowing a continuous flow between both stories. AAmp custom-designed the green carpet for the mezzanine. The firm drew inspiration from the many gardens found throughout Savannah. Light pendants composed of narrow cylinders wrapped in wood paneling offer unique texture to the space, along with the original 2×2 grid lights that were cleaned and restored to add to the contemporary midcentury edge.
From the bright, airy lobby, guests can go to the original staircase sporting aluminum handrails and head to the basement where the Municipal Hotel’s second bar is located: The Hot Eye. This bar drastically switches the mood with its tufted dark leather booths, burgundy walls, and dark wooden notes. The walls showcase an array of loud modern photographs and paintings, making this cozy bar even edgier.
In contrast, the rooftop bar is open-air. At Sun Club, cocktails can be had at the striped daybeds that are placed on the soft pink checkerboard tiles surrounding the central pool. Blue mosaic tiles make an appearance around the retaining wall of the pool. The team also added an abundance of natural plants along the barrier of the rooftop, calling to the tropical theme even more.
The hotel rooms themselves mark a shift from the tropical influences to a more subdued Scandinavian aesthetic. AAmp custom-designed the black and white carpets in the hallways leading to the rooms, providing a visual distinction from the public areas to the private corridors.
There are five hotel room configurations. Each maintains a subtle similarity to one another, all influenced by Finnish designs, such as the work of Alvar Aalto. The floor in each bathroom is covered with a speckled terrazzo. A half curved, glass vanity mirror makes a statement above a red marble counter. This curved language continues in the sleeping quarters, where a built-in marble bar, custom wood, and velvet headboards cozy up the space. Wood elements were applied throughout and can be found on the walls, floor, and furniture, alluding to the preserved wooden paneling in the lobby and mezzanine.
AAmp Studio designed Municipal Grand to be a destination site for those near and far, offering some of the city’s lesser-known design history for all.