The brief for this project asked for a hotel to be built within the 11-story structure of the Beekman Hotel at 123 Nassau Street in lower Manhattan. Neither the existing central atrium nor any interior walls could remain, but window locations had to be preserved. There was no established budget, and four weeks were given to draft the interior architecture and select furniture, fixtures, and finishes. Hotel Vielle is based architecturally on the grand New York mansions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The finishes are guided by the concept of nature gradually overtaking the structure. This idea is exemplified by a sandstone pool in the cellar, the lobby and guest room floors, and an atrium staircase woven with vines that finally bloom on the tenth floor in a classical glass conservatory surrounded by a planted rooftop terrace.