DALLAS – March 12, 2024 – Opening later this year, Hotel Polaris at the U.S. Air Force Academy is an upscale lifestyle hotel located at the North Gate of the Academy at the base of Pike’s Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The awe-inspiring, ever-modern hotel will bring a new level of service to the market for leisure travelers, as well as an ideal location for meetings and social events.
Atlanta-based architecture and interior design firm BLUR Workshop designed the sleek, modern hotel to blend timeless international style, surrounding nature, subtle aviation-inspired notes and mid-century modern architecture found on the Academy’s campus. Originally designed on a 7’x7’ grid, the campus order is mirrored architecturally and in the interior design. An example can be seen in an abstract custom chandelier located over the bar, which is based on the grid system paired with abstracted dandelion flowers found in the surrounding landscape. The hotel has a strong sense of place, becoming an extension of and complement to the Academy, along with offering something new in a resort-style hotel.
“There is truly nothing like Hotel Polaris in this area of Colorado. We were inspired by the surrounding architecture but also the majestic beauty of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. The hotel will offer exceptional, unobstructed views of the mountains and campus, allowing guests to get a glimpse into Academy life they normally wouldn’t see,” said BLUR Workshop Principal Foreman Rogers, IIDA. “Our design approach nods to the past but takes the hotel into the future, while celebrating the rich history and modernist architecture found in the Academy’s original designs.”
BLUR selected materials popular during the modernist era including terrazzo, custom breeze block and quartered walnut, which are used throughout. Furnishings include classic, timeless, luxurious modernist pieces from design greats – Mies van der Rohe, Albert Parvin, Richard Leopold and Eero Saarinen – mixed with new function from modern brands such as Knoll and Herman Miller. Red, blue and gold mosaic tiles, like those on campus, delineate buildings and entrances. Blue is the signature color at the front entry, gold at the conference center entry and red at the visitor center entry, as well as in the pool bar as an accent tile to the architecture.
Upon arrival, guests will be immediately wowed by 180-degree views through expansive windows overlooking the Academy, including a framed view of the historic campus chapel and spectacular vantage points to take in the surrounding nature. Scaled to feel elegant and spacious but also residential and intimate, the lobby is anchored by the front desk to one side and a double-sided fireplace on the other, crafted in book-matched marble inspired by the Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona Pavilion. The bar, seen upon entry at one end with the lounge opposite, shares the fireplace with a more formal sitting area. The lobby also features a coffee shop with access to outdoor seating on the back terrace.
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The 317,000-square-foot, conference center hotel features 375 rooms with two signature guestroom designs and 19 suites. Guest rooms pull inspiration from the Academy with shades of blue paired with rich walnut wood. Headboards are crafted from custom solid tambor wood with velvet upholstery and paired with blue tufted sectionals. Rooms located on the top level were upgraded to include flat-cut rosewood walls and beds, adorned by blown glass amber pendants on either side. Carpets were inspired by a Victor Vasserly painting and desks are fashioned from brass resembling an airplane wing, paired with integral sofas to create a sitting area that occupies the window and offers magnificent views.
The hotel has multiple dining options with the largest, primary restaurant on the main level. Its carefully planned layout ensures every seat in the house and on the exterior deck has a view of the mountain range and the Academy. The entrance’s prominent design harkens back to the 1960s and the dining room is subtly divided by custom art pieces in the manner of Warren Platner or Richard Leopold. The restaurant is wrapped with walnut walls, which provides a nice contrast to the concrete columns and the ceiling consists of a series of walnut-clad vaults completed with custom chandeliers.
A more casual, family-friendly restaurant, also located on the main level, is inspired by a soda shop paired with a heavy aviation theme. This space will house flight simulators on its second floor, notably the only in-hotel flight simulators in the country. This restaurant opens to the front of the hotel, offering additional seating and outdoor games.
A signature rooftop bar and lounge offer guests sweeping views of the dramatic peaks of the Front Range and features designs inspired by the constellations, which pilots used for navigation prior to radar technology. The bar/lounge space is decorated with dark blue tones with a large island bar in the middle. An expansive terrace wraps around the corner of the top floor offering the best views from the hotel, making it the perfect place to take in the sunset or relax under the stars.
With incredible views and expansive, inspiring spaces designed to accommodate meetings and large groups, the hotel features 26,000 square feet of meeting and flexible banquet space with exterior terraces; a 12,000-square-foot grand ballroom; a 6,000-square-foot junior ballroom; 8,000 square feet of meeting rooms; and two large pre-function spaces. Custom carpets throughout the meeting areas are inspired by the design lines of the Academy chapel. The conference level also has a flexible outdoor space for pre-functions, as well as lunches or dinners at various times of the year.
Additional features include nature-inspired fitness and spa facilities, an outdoor pool, an event and entertainment lawn just steps from the Santa Fe Trail and numerous outdoor spaces throughout. The event terrace, situated just off the lobby and coffee bar, is dropped slightly to offer unobstructed views from the main level. This outdoor space serves as an extension of the lobby for those months that are Colorado perfect, where guests can enjoy a 20-foot fireplace, bocce ball, oversized chess and space to entertain and play.
BLUR partnered with Kevin Barry Fine Art Consultants to devise an art package throughout the hotel that speaks to the Academy – past, present, and future. Installations include a custom, wood wall behind the lobby desk reminiscent of the campus chapel, and the check-in counter features a dramatic piece resembling an airplane wing. Designers also developed a mosaic art wall along the stairs leading down to the conference area using AI with key words specific to aviation. Additional highlights include a 40-foot Calder-inspired mobile crafted by contemporary local artist Robert Delaney that will hang from the main floor to the conference level.
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The design team also worked with one of the Academy’s own photographers, Christopher Vasquez, to curate art that captures timeless moments, giving guests a glimpse into life at the Academy they wouldn’t normally see, while allowing graduates something to reminisce about. A key installation features a collection of 200 photos representing a “day in the life” of a cadet using photos from the Academy Archives mixed with Vasquez’s recent photos. Designers also abstracted one of his pieces to create an accent wallcovering down the corridors.
“This hotel was designed with a multitude of guests in mind but especially for the cadets and their families, creating a special place we hope they will come back to time and again. This hotel will offer something for everyone – cadets, veterans, graduates, families, and leisure and business travelers,” Rogers adds. “We hope that through our designs, guests will have a strong sense of place that will evoke feelings of nostalgia, appreciation of the natural landscape, and pride in this amazing country.”
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About Hotel Polaris
Hotel Polaris is a 375-room resort-style hotel located in the new TrueNorth Commons mixed-used development at the North Entrance of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The hotel’s location, adjacent to the Academy and in the shadow of the 14,115-foot Pikes Peak, provides the perfect location for leisure vacations as well as meetings and social events. The hotel offers six food and beverage outlets including the 9th floor rooftop bar, an outdoor pool and sun deck, a full-service spa and fitness center, as well as the only in-hotel flight simulators in the United States. The hotel also offers more than 26,000 square feet of expansive indoor meeting space. Hotel Polaris is owned by Provident Resources Group, managed by CoralTree Hospitality Group and developed by Matthews Southwest Hospitality in conjunction with BLUR Workshop as the architect and interior designer and GE Johnson as the general contractor.
The hotel was made possible through a public-private partnership between the Association of Graduates and Air Force Academy Foundation, the City of Colorado Springs, Blue & Silver Development Partners and Provident Resources Group. The project includes the last of the four catalytic City for Champions projects designed to add dimension, energy and economic vitality and boost tourism in the Pikes Peak region.
Media Contact: Brynn Bagot, Brynn Bagot Public Relations, Inc. 214.770.4280 | brynn@brynnbagot.com