Renaissance Hotel
All Entries > Building Architecture
Project Narrative
Renaissance Hotel is a new, luxury hotel located in the heart of downtown Cincinnati. FRCH is responsible for the hotel’s architectural renovations, which is complete with LEED Silver Certification. The former bank headquarters has been converted into a full service hotel that features a restaurant, cocktail lounge, and a fully restored ballroom. Designed by famous Architect Daniel Burnham as the headquarters for the Union Trust Bank. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. FRCH was careful to pay homage to the historical nature of the former Bartlett Building while offering new and sophisticated experiences for its hotel guests. FRCH employed painstaking efforts to restore the building’s historic ballroom and lobbies while revamping and replacing all of the buildings environmental and life safety systems including the use of eco-friendly LED lights to properly illuminate the building’s turn-of-the-century details. Because the original building was designed as a bank and its main banking hall was on the 2nd floor it also required FRCH to insert several new stair towers to accommodate the increased population. Overall, the main goal was to save everything that was possible to reuse as long as it did not make the building less safe, hinder the functionality, or was not too costly to preserve and/or maintain. The end result is a LEED certified, luxury hotel that truly brings the past to life.