Hyatt Centric Downtown Nashville

HASTINGS Architecture, LLC

Located in Nashville’s South of Broadway (SoBro) neighborhood, Hyatt Centric – Hyatt’s fast growing lifestyle brand of contextually specific properties – Downtown Nashville introduces a contemporary hospitality experience rooted in the layered history of its locale. The building’s design evokes the historically ad-hoc development of the neighborhood in a refined and forward-looking expression and material palette.
Sited just south of the Central Business District and two blocks west of the Cumberland River, this area historically served industrial functions. Today, with the growth of Downtown and the development of SoBro (South of Broadway), Centric is located in close proximity to the city’s main attractions, including Broadway, Ryman Auditorium, Music City Center, Ascend Amphitheater, Rolling Mill Hill, and Nissan Stadium.
The architect’s first move in planning for Centric was to strategically shift the block of Malloy Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues—where previously there was a jog in the road—to align with the urban grid. This move provides an improved pedestrian experience for visitors and locals while supporting vehicular traffic and access to the hotel. The design solution creates a 14’ structural cantilever over the Molloy pedestrian zone.
The design of the building lifts guest rooms, amenity space, and parking to carve out a fourteen-foot-deep cantilevered overhang at the ground floor. Wide sidewalks, outdoor dining, and ground-floor retail and restaurant spaces are shaded by this generous overhang. Brick masonry detailing on the ground floor pays homage to the historic warehouses, which once populated the neighborhood. The rhythm of the glazed openings along Molloy Street echoes the docking bays of the past warehouse buildings. A warm wood soffit welcomes visitors into the space.
A custom-brushed aluminum perforated metal screen conceals above grade parking. Eleven levels of amenity and guest rooms are clad in clear and tinted glazing. The pattern of both the garage screen fins and the tower glazing was derived from the early SoBro street grid, whose layout contains clues to the area’s history.
Raised above neighboring podiums, floor-to-ceiling windows in the guest rooms take advantage of city and Cumberland River views and viewsheds of landmarks, including the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and Ryman Auditorium.
The 170,000-square-foot, 252-key hotel is complete with ground-floor restaurants, eleven suites, and a variety of meeting rooms and amenity spaces, including a fitness center, and rooftop pool bar.