Dining area
Boston – Ashling, Inc. was retained by The Beat Hotel to convert an aged subterranean retail shoe store into a 360 seat American brasserie & jazz club. The immediate logistical challenge was to create a restaurant layout that would incorporate a mechanical system that was hindered by a 9’ clearance from existing concrete floor to concrete ceiling. The first building block was positioning a 32’ long, rear discharge kitchen hood adjacent to a new mechanical shaft up though the Harvard Coop, the GAP and two floors of office tenants.
This was achieved by locating the kitchen in a rear storage & maintenance area that a portion of is actually over the MBTA Red Line tunnel. The kitchen layout resulted in some “hard labor” required to hand excavate 400lf plumbing trenches through concrete slabs weighting 30tons, as well as, removal of two concrete bearing walls.
The Beat Hotel owners are Jack Bardy, Bertil Jean-Chronberg, William Keravouri and Jennifer Epstein. The inspiration for the concept was the hippie and beat movements of the mid-20th century which meant that local artisans, carpenters and painters would become part of an on-site crew that would work seamlessly with a construction crew that focused on providing a building & ADA code compliant canvas.
Carpenters created a grid work of reclaimed wood beams to conceal ductwork and divide large areas of sprayed-on acoustical ceiling treatment; blacksmiths built custom metal railing to support discarded stone pieces repurposed as drink-rail tops; tile installers created mosaic wall areas throughout bathrooms that also had granite toilet partitions and painters claimed steel beams, walls and elevators to leave one-of-a-kind murals throughout the hotel. Artist & Designer Dave O personally added a real 24” diameter oak tree meticulously cut and reassembled around a vertical steel beam.
That touch of whimsy and placement of various outsider art, found objects and sculptures ensure that The Beat Hotel is a Harvard Square original.
