The 1 Hotel Toronto rebrand project engaged The HIDI Group’s mechanical, electrical, communications, and audiovisual consulting services for renovation of the existing The Thompson Hotel Toronto located at 550 Wellington Street West. The improvements to the property were in preparation for the new operator 1 Hotels.

Formerly Thompson Hotel Toronto, the project involved the interior renovation of the ground floor lobby, inclusion of a new ground floor casual dining restaurant Toca Madera, and replacing the existing gym located on the 3rd floor with 5 new hotel rooms while adding a new fitness area cut from existing hotel rooms. Additional work included a new kitchen on the 16th floor to support rooftop cooking and upgrades to the speakeasy bar, ballroom, basement and model and guest rooms.

The mechanical, electrical and plumbing scope was to use as much as of the original systems as possible as to keep construction budgets, while adding to the existing system on a need bases. The communications and audiovisual team was instructed the same, reusing 90% of the existing audiovisual equipment in the new design saving the client hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The audiovisual team used Distributed Digital Audio Network using Dante Digital Audio allowed for digital audio to be run over the Ethernet throughout the hotel. Zone audio was used to control the noise in the restaurants and night club to hinder sound from reaching the adjacent condos.

Challenges

Renovations to existing buildings can prove to be challenging, the major challenge our team faced was working with a team which was forced to work virtually due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The interior design located in New York City, the Project Manager in Utah and HIDI in Toronto. In addition to this a tight timeline for design and completion of the project.

Solutions

The solution to working virtually came with the increase in conference calls with all the stakeholders understanding the requirements of the 1 Hotels brand, the requirements and accommodations for architectural and interior design and where we can reuse equipment and existing systems as well as safe storage while under construction. During the project there was a lot of cross disciplinary coordination between the audiovisual team and the interior designer/ architects due to the impact the audiovisual equipment had on the overall architectural and interior design of the space. Working with our electrical team was key in making sure we were able to get the power to where it needed to be.