Hawkeye Hotels sought INVISION’s expertise to renovate the historic Hotel Fort Des Moines into a full-service Curio Collection by Hilton boutique hotel. The original hotel, which opened to the public in 1919 as the largest hotel in the state, was designed as an 11-story, renaissance commercial style, reinforced concrete building by the former noteworthy Des Moines architectural firm of Proudfoot, Bird and Rawson. The building footprint utilizes an “H‑shape” with two-story front infill serving as an enclosed atrium. Design features include the classical base-column-capital tripartite divisions, a façade in the two-story lobby consisting of five semi-circular arches set into granite and limestone veneer, exterior stonework extending up to the third floor, matching parapet with stone finials topping the atrium, prominent terra-cotta entablature and cornice along the uppermost floor.
The building, which has been in continuous operation over the last 100 years, includes 290 renovated guest rooms on floors three through 11, totaling approximately 241,000 gross square feet. The renovation retained the original floor layout, but the number of total guest rooms was cut, allowing for larger rooms to accommodate modern travelers. A second level infill completed in 1962 was demolished to provide the hotel and its guests with a fully restored, two-story lobby including a grand stairway and three-elevator hallway. In addition, the first two stories boast public spaces including a study, reading room, the Walnut Boardroom, Proudfoot & Bird restaurant and Hobnob Coffee and Wine Bar, a café with storefront features and outdoor seating.
Both the Grand Ballroom and Wedgewood Ballroom were renovated, bringing back their original grandeur. The existing west courtyard was redesigned as a “pocket-park” with a new exterior ceremonial staircase that connects to the grand ballroom. The basement includes a high-end fitness area in what was once the hotel’s barber shop. A basement speakeasy, accessible through the Hobnob Coffe and Wine Bar on the first floor, will also serve as a public venue. The interior of the hotel was carefully curated with details such as the selected material palette, custom historic timeline carpeting, restoration of historical elements and handwritten gold-inlay hotel logos on each hotel room headboard to pay homage to the hotel’s history and to accurately recreate an era of the past through a seamless combination of both new and repurposed material.
Hotel Fort Des Moines has stood as a prominent architectural and cultural destination in downtown Des Moines for over a century, serving guests including Hellen Keller, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Katharine Hepburn, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Elizabeth Taylor and Barack Obama among others.
