Santa Monica
The Residence Inn Santa Barbara Goleta, a 2019 Marriott Project of the Year Award winner, was one of AXIS/GFA’s most challenging and rewarding projects. Originally started by AXIS/GFA’s Los Angeles studio in 2006, the project evolved over many years, proceeding through development with a purposefully measured pace to respect the claims of the Chumash, a Native American people whose oral histories suggest an early Native American settlement was buried below the project.
The hotel was not only technically challenging, requiring an extensive network of concrete grade beams and piles to float the hotel over the poor soil conditions, but also creatively challenging, requiring a culturally sensitive design that paid respect to the local Chumash people. Along with the interior design expertise of SANDdesign, AXIS/GFA incorporated a beautiful and culturally appropriate tribute to Chumash heritage on the site in order to thread their unique history throughout the project.
Tributes to the fascinating cultural influences of the Chumash are evident throughout the Residence Inn Santa Barbara Goleta, and this history of the land and its people were one of the defining design aspects that guided this project to completion. The Residence Inn Santa Barbara Goleta also blends into the local area while remaining unique to Goleta. The end result is a 128-room hotel that reaches into both the past and the future, with an upscale design that pays homage to both.