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HONOLULU COOKIE COMPANY
HOTEL & RETAIL
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Honolulu Cookie Company spreads Aloha spirit through pineapple shaped cookies fused with tropical flavors that embody the energy of a Hawaiian vacation. Their collection is packaged to bring delight and joy as a sweet gift to share with your favorite people around the world.
HOTEL CONCEPT
“Unwrapping Aloha” will manifest the brand’s ideals by inviting guests into the experience of wandering inside a gift. Curved circulation will carve the floor plan. While elements of the cookie’s packaging will translate as materials and finishes. Organic forms and a soft color palette will echo the tropical vacation narrative. Bold patterns will be layered and trim shall emerge to playfully reinforce unwrapping.
OBJECTIVE
Design a hospitality brand experience for client, Honolulu Cookie Company, for their NY expansion
Individual Project - Hospitality & Retail One-Story, ADA Accessible
Manhattan, New York
5,000 SF
AutoCAD, SketchUp, 3ds Max, Photoshop, Enscape, V-Ray, InDesign
RECEPTION SKETCH
RETAIL SALES COUNTER
LOUNGE BAR
Honolulu Cookie Company is a beloved family-owned brand in Hawaii that values hospitality at their core. Their vision is to “share the spirit of Aloha with products and expierences. Aloha is an ideal and philosophy that encompasses a love and respect for people, their culture, and the world around them.” Stores are located in Hawaii, Las Vegas, Guam, and popup shops in Japan.
They can also be found at retailers including Tommy Bahama, Disney, Costco, and Bloomingdale’s. Their goal is to establish a New York presence to increase brand awareness and launch their mainland expansion. The family-friendly hotel targets experience seekers who find joy in color and whimsy. It offers a novel tropical immersion amidst a cosmopolitan city.
BRAND COLOR PALETTE
MARKETING STYLE
LOGO VARIATIONS
EXISTING
hand-dipped chocolate covered cookies inspire the chocolate
It unwraps a scene of a tropical Aloha plant gallery.
PINEAPPLE LOGO INSPIRES FLOOR PLAN
The pineapple core grounds the reception lobby. 1
2 The crown emerges into opposite directions, stretching to become the lounge and bar.
3 The dynamic layout sparks an experience of wandering inside to discover what’s around the corner.
sliding motion of their cookie box inspires the custom headboard. The design focuses on how the pieces join together to create the illusion of sliding down into a
LOUNGE GALLERY
The
box.
TYPICAL GUEST ROOM
Their
colored wall.
The brand’s packaging inspired the pineapple molds framing the cafe seating. Three openings invite guests to experience walking inside a Honolulu Cookie gift. The brand’s slogan, “for the very best, look for the pineapple shape,” acts as the focal point in a neon sign. Menu items with pineapple icons highlight customer favorites.
A customer relationship management (CRM) system is integrated into the store display. After signing up, guests may sample up to three cookies from an automated dispenser. 12 touch screens feature classic flavors that can be updated digitally to offer seasonal varieties.
CROSS SECTION LOOKING EAST
CAFE ELEVATION
RETAIL MERCHANDISING ELEVATION
SAMPLE STATION CLOSE-UP VIEW
PHILIPPINES CULTURAL CENTER
MUSEUM GALLERY
COUNTRY OVERVIEW
The Philippines is a culmination of foreign influences from East to West as a result of colonization. These differences have woven together as a colorful array of contrasts that form their unique culture. As a country they value kinship bonds to support, protect, and nurture the collective community. The bonds reinforce strength while the contrasts create beauty.
DESIGN CONCEPT
“Woven Together” will echo the Philippines’ layered history and values of community. The variety of textured native materials fusing with colonial influences will be its main emphasis. Traditional geometric and botanical motifs will create rhythm, while interlocking details will reinforce the concept of weaving. The design will be unified by a symmetrical layout to provide structure to these layered contrasts.
MISSION STATEMENT
“To promote the artistic values of the Philippines by immersing guests with a cultural experience through galleries, exhibitions, and community.”
CAFE
THEATRE
OUTDOOR GARDEN LOBBY
The Philippines is a tropical country made of 7,000+ islands with three main regions. Colonization drastically shifted its original tribal roots into a mix of influences. It is the only Asian country colonized by Spain which adds a unique layer to their culture.
As a biodiverse tropical landscape, nature is heavily integrated into lifestyle and design. Rustic materials and traditions coexist with modern innovation.
As the third ranking Catholic nation by population, Filipinos are generally more conservative. It is a collective culture that values family and community. Maintaining bonds is a prioritiy and large social gatherings are common.
This sense of community is strongly expressed through the performing arts. Art, music, dance, food, and fashion blend together into vibrant celebrations that are colorful and expressive.
NATURAL & URBAN LANDSCAPE
Abaca Bamboo Basket Capiz
Ceramic Hand Woven Cane & Rattan Narra Wood
The program includes a chapel, cafe, and theatre to reflect the Filipino values of religion, food, and music.
2 3 4
The sun on the Philippines flag inspires the shape of the garden.
The chapel features a horizontal beam that connects a sloped ceiling. It visually overlaps with a vertical bamboo panel to suggest a cross.
The theatre is inspired by an outrigger boat. Its ceiling tenting acts as a canvas for projecting light effects.
LEVEL 2 RCP
LONGITUDINAL SECTION LOOKING SOUTH
RECEPTION LOBBY
A circular stair acts as the focal point upon entry. A series of bamboo posts create rhythm and signifies its importance as a native material in the Philippines. A metal handrail threads through an open niche within the post to suggest weaving between natural and modern.
The floor design features three rings of machuca tiles to represent the three main regions of the country. A glass floor overlaps them and reveals water underneath to symbolize the regions woven together by the ocean.
CUSTOM RECEPTION DESK
Terracotta tile outlines the circulation path to reflect Spain’s influence to the country. Its sun pattern echoes the Philippines flag.
Machuca tiles on the floor design and stair riser are sourced from a Filipino vendor preserving colonial design traditions.
Custom lobby partition panels are inspired by traditional Filipino tribal motifs and Spanish colonial balustrades.
Reflection pools border the stairs in the lobby to support the water story design of the glass floor.
Horizontal Section
Design Rendering
Inspiration: Paulo Vinluan, Philippines
RAILING DESIGN
Front Model Study
Back Model Study
Capiz was tradtionally used as window panes. The design blends this idea with a traditional tribal motif to punctuate a rhytmic grid pattern.
CAFE INTERIOR
CAFE SEATING
CAFE ENTRY
CAFE OUTDOOR SEATING
CAFE MENU SAMPLES
FILIPINO TRIBAL MOTIF
EMBER EVOLUTION THERAPY CENTER
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Ember Evolution is a therapy center reframing a patient’s relationship with anxiety disorder. Their goal is to provide patients with effective tools to manage their symptoms and support their journey towards building a healthier mind, body, and lifestyle.
DESIGN CONCEPT
“The Light Between” will focus on the hope and potential during a transformation. Volcanoes act as a metaphor for anxiety. Both possess a fire within, balanced by internal and external pressures. But when a trigger disrupts the balance, the pressure can surpass the strength of one’s foundation and lead to an eruption. Volcanoes are typically associated with destruction or fear, but we can also view their existence as potential for a more hopeful tomorrow. Decades and centuries of a volcano’s natural process created the atmosphere, built continents, and formed oceans. Meanwhile, anxiety guided our ancestors towards safety and progress. Both provide the building blocks for life to thrive and evolve.
The design will focus on 3 principles:
1) Spark curiosity-process of reframing fears into awareness
2) Sense of safety- prospect and refuge in spatial layout
3) Regulate body-engage senses without overwhelming them
OBJECTIVE
Design a therapy clinic using evidence-based design to promote the healing of anxiety disorder
Individual Project - Healthcare, ADA Accessible
Manhattan, New York
13,400 SF
SOFTWARE
AutoCAD, SketchUp, Photoshop, Lightroom, Enscape, InDesign
Anxiety Disorder is an emotional state of extreme fear or worry that interferes with daily life. It is driven by an overactive amygdala that activates the fight/flight/freeze/fawn response in the emotional side of the brain. Fear triggers may be inherent or learned. It is the most common mental illness in the United States affecting 40 million adults annually (19.1%).
Demographics vary across ages, ethnicities, and social backgrounds, but women seem to be more prevalent.
The cause of anxiety is complex and generally a mixed set of genetics, brain chemistry, personality, lifestyle, and trauma. It impacts the body directly and immediately. Due to repeated stress caused on the nervous system, many have a co-occuring disorder or physical illness. Patients may lean towards avoidance and behaviors that ease discomfort.
Treatments include talk therapy, medication, mindfulness, meditation, hydrotherapy, and exercise.
ANXIETY DISORDER TYPES COMMON SYMPTOMS
BLOCKING DIAGRAM
The spiraling of an anxious mind drives the idea of the design’s parti.
RCP
CAFE
PATIENT ROOM
Immersive entry sparks curiosity into the space to inspire patients to stay present. 1 2 3 4
Patient rooms are softened with curves for a cozy, safe space. Abstract patterns of motion provide introspection.
Reception seating is arranged to be inclusive yet private, using a chain to suggest partitions.
Wellness area is inspired by basalt stone and rich minerals found in extinct volcaones: copper, gold, silver.
LONGITUDINAL SECTION FACING NORTH
ART INSTALLATION CUSTOM RECEPTION DESK
1 VOLCANO CORE METAPHOR
The reception seating is where the core of anxiety is most alive. The salt crystal orb becomes a focal point. It acts as a sculptural hearth that glows similarly to a fire, helping calm one’s nervous system.
2 SPIRAL PARTI INSPIRES DESK
The parti was mirrored to shape the desk, echoing the narrative of the volcano. It also forms an elongated “E” for “Ember Evolution.”
INITIAL SKETCHES
3 ROUGH TO SMOOTH
The wall panel tells the story of a cracked foundation. “Ember” has a rougher anxious texture, disconnected from the smoother healthier “Evolution”. As one builds healthier habits, the crack transforms into a light bridging the pieces together.
RECEPTION
STONE SOURCE BASALTINA
LITHOS HAMAL BACKLIT WALL PANEL
LITHOS VELLO WALL PANEL
LITHOS SOLE
BACKLIT WALL PANEL