When Ari Heckman, Jonathan Minkoff, and Will Cooper, of ASH NYC, turned a landmarked Providence, Rhode Island, strip club and brothel into a stylish hotel called The Dean, they not only got the design world’s attention, they established a model that could be—as Cooper puts it—“redesigned and repeated” across the country. Last spring they turned the historic Wurlitzer Building in downtown Detroit into The Siren. In October, a 19th-century church in New Orleans became Hôtel Peter & Paul. And yet another hotel is under way in Baltimore. The firm also unveiled a pared-down furniture line—inspired by pieces created for their projects—last April, and have a string of residential interiors in the works. “The building, the space, and the location are the foundation of our design work,” says Cooper. “Each project evolves from that point.” ► Brooklyn ; ashnycom
The ASH NYC trio (from left): Ari Heckman, Will Cooper, and Jonathan Minkoff.
