Caption by Hyatt Beale Street

245 S Front St., Memphis, TN 38103 United States

Building Area (sf): 80,000

Completion: June 2022

The upscale, select-service lifestyle brand introduces a dynamic hospitality experience with an unmistakable neighborhood feel. Set within the historic footprint of the Wm. C. Ellis & Sons Machine Shop, the design team's intention was to unite Memphis' past with the present.

The new 136-room Caption by Hyatt Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee marries the 144-year old facade of the Wm. C. Ellis & Sons Machine Shop with a contemporary hotel design. The structure attempts to elevate the awareness of the Machine Shop facade to the status of artifact, in which the highly detailed ornamentation and lost construction technique, original to the year 1878, can be observed and appreciated by both the project's guests and the urban visitor.

The Machine Shop facade along Front Street also acts as a passive functional design element, aiding the lower public levels of the project as a shading device, minimizing the impact of the harsh morning sun. Situated behind the facade is an outdoor courtyard space in which guests can understand design relationships between the old and new elements, as the lower level fenestration and elevation heights of the new design are strategically articulated to mimic the historicity of the existing condition.

The public amenities include a coffee and liquor bar, grab and go market, gallery, outdoor urban courtyard, fitness center and meeting spaces. The first level of hotel rooms is elevated to the parapet of the existing Ellis facade, respecting both the historic elevations and allowing guests to peer into and over the facade deeper into the city.

Reflective of the brand’s eclectic contemporary-meets-urban industrial aesthetic, the interior features open light-filled spaces with a strong industrial flare. The property combines a layering of historic structural elements like exposed brick and original wooden beams, vibrant colors, textures, and hand-painted murals that nod to the storied city it calls home.

The heart of Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis is Talk Shop, the brand’s re-imagined arrival experience where guests enjoy a multi-functional welcome area, all-day lounge and workspace, coffee shop, eatery, grab-and-go artisanal market and cocktail bar. Energy reverberates throughout the colorful space, which was designed to encourage social interaction– a place to eat, drink, and connect – inside, and outside at the adjoining beer garden courtyard. Open to the street’s pedestrian walkway, the expansive patio is uniquely housed within the building’s historic façade in a way that allows guests to fully engage with the active downtown neighborhood.

Eclectic personality and industrial-inspired design continue to the guestrooms, which feature re-purposed non-traditional materials, bold colors, contemporary fabric patterns, and quirky Memphis-inspired graphic wallcoverings. Modular closets and work-play lounges with accessible power outlets allow guests to work, eat and relax separately from the sleeping area.

1. The hotel is integrated into the historic William C Ellis & Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop, preserving the existing riverside brick and cast-iron façade that dates back to 1879.
2. The patio is uniquely integrated within the building’s historic façade in a way that allows guests to fully engage with the active downtown neighborhood. Photo by Dero Sanford / ThinkDero Architectural Photography
3. Site Plan and Project Design Thinking
4. Lobby Floorplan
5. A new 136-room hotel tower rises above, offering guests endless views of the Memphis skyline and the Mississippi River. Photo by Dero Sanford / ThinkDero Architectural Photography
6. The heart of Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis is ‘Talk Shop’, the brand’s reimagined arrival experience. Photo by Dero Sanford / ThinkDero Architectural Photography
7. The hotel features open light-filled spaces with a strong industrial flare. Photo by Dero Sanford / ThinkDero Architectural Photography
8. The colorful multi-functional lobby is designed to encourage social interaction. Photo by Dero Sanford / ThinkDero Architectural Photography
9. Situated behind the facade is an outdoor courtyard. Photo by Christopher Villano
10. The hotel is housed distinctively within the two-story historic façade of the William C. Ellis & Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop building in downtown Memphis. Photo by Dero Sanford / ThinkDero Architectural Photography