The historic Walper Hotel in Canada’s Silicon Valley North is the new hot spot for Kitchener Waterloo’s growing tech community. With newly opened offices of Yahoo, Google and other major tech players, as well as Waterloo’s RIM and the Perimeter Institute, this area located an hour from Toronto is proving to be one of the fastest growing communities in the country.

Downtown Kitchener’s most recognizable landmark, the historic Walper Hotel played a pivotal role in the city’s social and cultural scene since opening in 1893. Designated as a historic landmark under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1983, the list of luminaries who stayed at the hotel include the Queen Mother; many prime ministers, including Pierre Trudeau; Eleanor Roosevelt; many jazz greats including Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington; James Brown; Liberace; Rudolph Nureyev; Bob Hope; and Tony Bennett. Decades later, the heritage site’s dated accommodations were unable to meet the contemporary demands of modern business travellers and locavore millennials looking for a landing spot. The region’s burgeoning tech industry attracts a discerning clientele, and the hotel’s renewal targets these visitors, bringing the best of the old into the future. As a collaboration between three design firms, the Walper was transformed into a modern boutique hotel while celebrating its historic details and pairing them with bold contemporary design.

The lobby and public spaces contrast traditional details such as decorative crown mouldings, wainscoting and trimwork with sleek, contemporary finishes and furniture. The finishes derive from a clean, white palette that highlights the colourful artwork, playful light fixtures and bold furniture in warm woods. The mosaic tile flooring in the lobby is a custom pattern inspired by the map of Kitchener’s own urban grid. The second floor features a rejuvenated bar and lounge area - traditional aspects are once again referenced here, but the solid wood flooring is installed in an angular pattern, defining smaller zones within the expansive lounge. Here, guests can mingle over light snacks during social hours or relax privately, given the variety of cozy seating options.

The full refurbishment of the guest floors included the creation of additional rooms in the existing floor plates, for a total of 92 rooms. Each room is unique and contains custom millwork, furnishings, and light fixtures. The vision was to breathe new life back into a tired brick building using natural finishes, energy efficient lighting, airy furniture and bright accents. Traditional trimwork was maintained to contrast with the new material palette of sleek walnut and warm ash wood in the flooring and millwork. Bright pops of colour in the furniture and high gloss doors bring a fresh new look to the rooms – blue is used for smaller rooms and red for larger ones - combined with bold monochromatic graphics on feature walls. The eccentric combinations of custom-designed and sourced furniture and lighting further emphasize the hotel’s boutique nature. With a revitalization that spans from minute details to an overall urban impression, the Walper is once again poised to become the lodging destination for the region.

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Data Sheet

Location: Kitchener, Ontario

Size: 73,400 s.f | Room count: 92

Client: Perimeter Development Corporation

Lobby and second floor public spaces design: Dialogue 38

Suites and guest floors design: Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, Jill Greaves Design

Base building architect: Bogdan Newman Caranci Inc.

Photography: Gillian Jackson of Barré Studio, Langen Studios, Kerun Ip, Michael Muraz

About Dubbeldam Architecture + Design

Dubbeldam Architecture + Design is a multi-disciplinary design studio committed to creating thoughtful projects that embody sustainable approaches. With a diverse portfolio incorporating a wide variety of project types, their work ranges from homes, multi-unit residential projects, workspaces, hospitality, and mixed-use buildings, to landscape design and architectural installations.

Along with over 100 design awards and wide recognition in national and international publications, Dubbeldam is the recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts Professional Prix de Rome and the 2024 Architectural Practice Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, two of the highest honours for architectural practices in Canada. With a commitment to design excellence and a focus on sustainability and wellness in architecture, Dubbeldam is recognized for creating innovative, unique, and environmentally responsible design solutions for live, work, and play.

Jill Greaves Design

Jill Greaves Design Inc. is a boutique interior design firm with commercial, residential and hospitality projects in Canada and the US. Jill creates timeless design tailored to meet the needs of her clients. Jill's work is distinguished by her ability to bring together the setting and purpose of our living spaces with vision and style and has been featured in a number of design publications.

Dialogue 38

Dialogue 38 is an award-winning multidisciplinary interior design firm based in Toronto. Founded by Bennett C. Lo, the firm has been responsible for a wide range of successful residential, hospitality and retail environments. In a practice that encompasses architectural and interior design, along with graphic design and communications, dialogue 38 helps companies define and shape their entire brand space.