The coolly beating heart of New York’s Marmara Park Avenue boutique hotel is its lobby, handcrafted by Joe Ginsberg’s atelier.

There’s the terrazzo floor created with resins poured into bronze inserts, the walls of seamless Carrara marble dust troweled on for the polish, and the ceilings of reclaimed, hand-dyed, oak beams.

They all conspire to create an otherworldly sense of calm. “We want guests to feel a tranquil sensibility – a repose from the street,” Ginsberg says. “They enter into a sanctum of another world.”

Guests check in at desks made of cast limestone, sit in club chairs carved from solid walnut or benches of walnut and bronze, and pluck books from oak bookshelves. Then there’s the banquette inspired by Balmond – upholstery on synthetic leather to mimic embroidered designs on Spanish bullfighters’ jackets.

“It’s a haven for the world traveler,” he says.

He wanted to make the experience timeless, with pure lines and reflected light – and explore how materials relate to one another.

“They’re different in character but symbiotic in the nature of their dialog,” he says. “We invite guests in for a surprise at every turn. There’s a jovial kind of sophistication – a dialog of accents and materials and design, supported by the details.”

Central to that experience is the entry vestibule – a place where nature and the street come together in a tonality that offers depth in detailing.

“The tone is a light beige or gray and feels airy,” he says. “We achieved it with enough foundation of a design that speaks in a very classic way.”

It all adds up to a tranquil, elegant and metropolitan experience.

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