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Seating area in the Surety Hotel with wood pillars and white stone capitals in white room with recessed ceiling details
Surety Hotel

The Luxury of Social Currency

Project Location

Des Moines, IA

Brand/Flag

Aparium Hotel Group

Keys

137

Services

Interiors, experiential programming

When restoring history, combining a modern lifestyle with unmatched service, one can find an experience with certainty and confidence at the Surety Hotel in downtown Des Moines’ “City of Certainties.” The designed experience results from a challenge to merge part heritage and part modernity – a parallel to how we portray ourselves and each of our collective stories.

 

The guest of the past, as they were in 1913, visited the building intending to deposit, exchange, and consult financially. The guest of today is independent and untethered to the traditional exchange. A new kind of trade is found in this adaptive reuse to a hotel: social currency. Through a network of completely restored historical spaces emerges a local living room and coffee parlor, a contemporary woodfire tavern and connecting solarium and courtyard, meeting spaces, guestrooms and suites that were once offices.

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Explore the Surety Hotel

The Southern Surety Building’s adaptive reuse from a working bank to a hotel explores how architecture and design can evoke reactions and perceptions of the built environment in the ways we observe ourselves and one another.

Awards

Best Guestroom Upscale

41st annual Gold Key Awards

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2021 Platinum: Historic Restoration

Muse Design Awards

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2021 Platinum: Renovation

Muse Design Awards 2021

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2021 Gold: Hotels & Resorts

Muse Design Awards

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2021 Interior Architecture Merit Award

AIA Nebraska

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Historic Confidence Relevant for Today

Originally designed in 1913 as a banking and commercial office skyscraper, the architecture makes a statement in its elaborate American Beaux Arts Classicism vocabulary with symmetrical and flamboyant features. The open lobby, serving as local “living room,” encourages guests to gather and features restored coffered ceilings and ground-glass transom windows that once looked down upon the former bank space. Now serving as a daytime coffee parlor and evening destination for cocktails with intimacy of a home. The designed experience results in a challenge to merge part heritage and part modernity – a parallel to how we portray ourselves and our collective stories.

Sloping wood tables with dark metal legs separated by table with small drawers. Behind, glass and metal shelves of items
Sloping wood tables with dark metal legs separated by table with small drawers. Behind, glass and metal shelves of items
Spiraling paneled light fixture over double height elevator room with geometric grey and black carpet. Plants on each side
View of curving light fixtures from below, separated into two rooms. Light panels extend from central curving support beam
Seating area in the Surety Hotel with wood pillars and white stone capitals in white room with recessed ceiling details.
Seating area in the with wood pillars and white stone capitals in white room with recessed ceiling details. Pool table center
Dark wood bar with stone counter and orange metal details wrapping around. Stools at bar with orange and black upholstery
Seating area with arm chairs and cushioned bench along windows. Dark marbled fireplace on white wall with pillars and molding
Brown pillars with carved white stone capitals in area with comfortable seating with white wall with molding and pillars
Black metal stairs with marble steps in white stairwell at the corner of a tiled hallway with wood walls.
Closeup of old paper crafted into collared shirt with pocket containing slips of paper with building image and information
13

Mulberry Street Tavern

Worldly takes on traditional tavern fare are served in a vibrant setting that features a zinc bar and an open-hearth kitchen. Aptly named Mulberry Street Tavern for its Mulberry St. and 6th Ave. crossroads, this comfortable spot is reminiscent of the neighborhood staple where locals gather. Rich wood, warm red leather booths, and warm lighting make a cozy environment for an after-work drink that lingers into dinner and an eventual night-cap. The restaurant dining area features a hand-fired copper metal cookline visible from the Mulberry St. sidewalk, enticing the senses. The bar design also features additional crafted finishes with a wood and stained glass-back bar.

Large wood bar with built in shelves along the back. Wood overhang over back of bar, and stools with red and black upholstery
Large wood bar with built in shelves along the back. Wood overhang over back of bar, and stools with red and black upholstery
Taxidermy raccoon with geometric jeweled design on a branch hanging on wood wall next to bar
Large wood bar with built in shelves along the back. Wood overhang over back of bar, and stools with red and black upholstery
Dark quilted booths with dark wood accents along side of room with floor to ceiling windows and circular hanging lamps
Red quilted booth with wood table seen from outside floor to ceiling window
Square brown wood table with black chairs with matching seats in white room next to floor to ceiling window
Wood walls and counter with cutout to exposed dark brick kitchen. Wood and metal shelves under counter, appliances behind
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Cleverly Edited but Equally Luxurious

The new hotel guestrooms evoke a humble yet sophisticated design: simple, contemplative, unadorned confidence. Taking shape from former offices outlined by original terra cotta floor plates, the rooms are thoughtfully restrained and inspired by a midwestern heirloom piece: the armoire. Subtly aligning the bathroom entry using this heritage design element, the doorway opens to expose the grooming area as one’s own cabinet of curiosity, outfitted with marble hexagon tile flooring which harkens back to the building’s original tile. Money green, hand glazed wall tile in the glass-enclosed showers are another storytelling touchpoint. Completing the space, new larger windows transform each room into a portal, harnessing the sun-filled bathrooms to pour light into the guestrooms and highlight their city views, of which some overlook the county courthouse, another piece of Des Moines history.

White room with bed with brown headboard, round black table and black cesca chair next to window with view of tall buildings.
White room with bed with brown headboard, round black table and black cesca chair next to window with view of tall buildings.
White bed with brown panel upholstered headboard in white room with wood side table over black and grey geometric striped
Bedroom with white bed with grey couch at the foot, brown wood built in cupboard and shelves framing pocket door to bathroom
Dark wood shelves and cabinets on either side of pocket door to bathroom with marble sink on black metal base
Bathroom with green tiled shower, toilet, and sink left. Right are 2 large windows in front of table and stool
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DLR Group brought a unique blend of technical ability and entrepreneurial design spirit that we were looking for. We aimed to find a balance that provided awe-inspiring design with very rooted narrative that grew stronger over time. DLR Group interpreted this beautifully – a handsome, timeless design with a refreshing lightheartedness very true to Des Moines."

Michael Kitchen Partner, Aparium
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In the Media

In the Details

Surety Hotel

July 10, 2023

"Once the tallest building in the state, the Surety Hotel was constructed during an economic boom for the city of Des Moines, but it would cycle through a rolodex of names before finding the most befitting title." Read the history behind what's now one the now “World’s Best New Hotels” from Accidentally Wes Anderson.

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We use a collaborative approach to understand a local community and then curate a project vision that aligns client goals and the brand personality of a hotel within that local environment. It’s storytelling through design to deliver a unique experience for every client and their guests.

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