A historic art deco icon meets cutting-edge luxury at The Sinclair, a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel. Built during the early 20th Century oil boom of Texas, the Sinclair Building has stood as one of the most recognizable icons of downtown Fort Worth since 1930. Designed to reflect the Gilded Age art deco style of the Roaring 20s, the Sinclair Building served the surrounding business community and employed thousands of Texans over the decades before undergoing a dramatic transformation. Addressing the need for an innovative, intelligent luxury and lifestyle hotel in downtown Fort Worth's Sundance Square district, the Sinclair Building was restored to its original splendor beginning in 2015, completing its restaging in 2019 when the hotel opened its doors to guests.
Project Profile - The Sinclair
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The Sinclair
The Sinclair’s mission is to create an unforgettable and luxurious experience for its guests in a classic building environment. The hotel's owner and management team sought state-of-the-art technology to power, sustain and manage the entire property, while carefully maintaining the historic building's unique design and architectural details. Retaining the integrity of its original design and intricate artistic accents was paramount, with the desire to pay homage to the building’s storied past while keeping an eye to the future with some of the most cutting-edge technology concepts available.
In this drive to create a beautifully designed and technologically advanced space, the building’s owner and managers wanted to play within the confines of the existing structure as much as possible. With guest comfort of the utmost importance, the team looked for an HVAC system that could address the complex needs of the space itself. First, there was a need to replace the inefficient air conditioning system (an older model chiller system) that had taken up precious real estate on the property’s lower level – an area that could potentially be repurposed for other uses. Additionally, the property’s floor-to-ceiling heights were much lower than is now common, and the team sought to keep as much height as possible; this posed a particular challenge in the individual guest rooms themselves. Lastly, space was also at a premium in the exterior portions of the building, with very limited room outside to put condensing units, thereby emphasizing the sizing and placement criteria of the desired HVAC solutions such as Energy Storage Solutions.
"I work with some of the most innovative and forward-thinking partners around the globe when developing my properties and creating an unforgettable experience for my guests is of the utmost importance," said Farukh Aslam, chief executive officer, Sinclair Holdings.
To that end, it was paramount that the Sinclair renovation include the right mix of advanced technologies to deliver on this exceptional guest experience. Additionally, the hotel aimed to be low-voltage and the management team explored Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE) technology in order to help achieve many of the energy-efficiency and forward-thinking goals that the Sinclair desired in terms of technological ability. The adoption of PoE aims to increase the integration of technologies that can be seamlessly run by one source of power, lending itself toward the overall goal of creating a future-ready building for the present time.
Additionally, the hotel required individual control of its HVAC system throughout 164 guestrooms (featuring 50 different room types) and sufficient heating and cooling for the lobby bar, reception area and large basement restaurant. The hotel management wanted to work with a partner that was not only able to fulfill a myriad of HVAC needs, but also create a full building ecosystem with its range of innovative technologies across an expansive portfolio.
To achieve the gold standard of technological and energy efficiency desired, the hotel sought out a partner that would allow them to integrate more solutions that were compatible with this cutting-edge technology.
For the HVAC system, LG's award-winning Multi™ V IV Heat Recovery Unit was selected for its ability to provide individual room comfort for each space within the larger property. Offering a compact footprint without sacrificing power, the Multi V IV contributes to building energy efficiency, high performance and flexibility in design and installation options. Installation versatility was a key factor as the historic building was restricted in regard to lower ceilings, as well as space for outdoor equipment. Local HVAC and Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology experts, Texas Air Systems, advised on the installation of a variety of indoor solutions that could ensure a quiet conditioned space. Their recommendations ultimately included the design-forward LG Art Cool™ Mirror wall-mounted units and LG Ceiling Cassettes that did not require bulky ductwork to accommodate the tight ceiling area constraints, as well as the need for quiet operation to support the tranquil environment required of guest rooms. The technology works behind-the-scenes, translating to the overall comfort and experience of a guest's stay.
Additionally, LG's AC Smart controller allowed for seamless control of the HVAC system for the building management team. This innovative control solution compatible with a variety of applications offers a single LG platform that drives both VRF technology and energy efficiency. Property managers could now easily manage, set and monitor the building's heating and cooling performance.
Prior to installing LG's VRF technology, the building relied on an old chiller system to condition the entire building, which also required a great deal of space in the building's lower level. After switching to VRF, the hotel was able to gain a significant amount of usable floor space for the large lower-level restaurant. On the exterior of the Sinclair, LG outdoor units with slim, minimal features were installed to further increase saved space. LG has designed industry leading VRF technology to minimize efficiency losses, provide sustainable energy savings and offer some of the lowest life cycle costs of any system on the market today.
With an eye toward implementing cutting-edge technology, the developer also incorporated a stunning array of LG OLED TVs into every guest room – the first hotel to have OLED TVs in every guest room. LG OLED technology is a high-end category of displays that deliver a picture with incredible color, even from wide viewing angles. It uses self-lighting pixels that can be individually turned on and off for exact control of image brightness and quality, delivering infinite contrast ratios optimized for high-dynamic range content. In addition to the guest room displays, a number of other LG commercial displays are featured throughout the property's public spaces – including the lobby, restaurants and bars.
“Thanks to our strong relationship with Sinclair's owner and building managers, there are multiple products across an array of LG business units installed throughout the property,” said Donald Decker, Director of Vertical Market Sales, LG Air Conditioning Technologies. “Aligning with a partner like The Sinclair on our shared goals to power the building of the future, allowed an ecosystem that connects our industry-leading air conditioning technologies and other LG products to create a comfortable, elevated experience for guests across the entire property.”