Among the year’s best spaces, products and innovators in the worlds of travel and design, 21c Museum Hotel Oklahoma City has been named as a finalist in the inaugural Surface Travel Awards.

The Surface Travel Awards is a tribute to the best and most thoughtfully conceived spaces and products, as well as architects, designers and innovators who inspire, empower and connect travelers. Among seven esteemed hotels and ranging in location from London to New York, 21c Oklahoma City is a finalist in the large hotel category.

“The 2017 finalists represent a class of their own in the travel space, and illustrate the myriad ways that great design can improve our experiences,” said Nate Storey, Travel Editor of Surface Magazine.

Originally built in 1916 as a Ford Motor Company assembly plant, the design of 21c Oklahoma City was led by New York-based architects Deborah Berke Partners, who sought to create a contemporary interpretation of the building’s industrial heritage. Deborah Berke Partners has also been named as a finalist in the travel designer of the year category.

21c Oklahoma City was highlighted in Surface Magazine shortly after opening last year, declaring, “[21c] is fast becoming one of the most important ambassadors of contemporary art, in terms of scope and reach, in what many New Yorkers and Angelinos deride as ‘flyover country.’”

Producing authoritative and thought-provoking editorial content on architecture, art, design, fashion and culture, Surface offers a clean aesthetic and incisive writing with an emphasis on process and craftsmanship and a compass for today’s creative leaders and a barometer for what’s new and what’s next. The winners of the 2017 Surface Travel Awards will be selected by an esteemed jury of design and hospitality professionals and will be announced in the October issue of Surface.

This nomination comes on the heels of recent national recognition for 21c Museum Hotel Oklahoma City. The property was selected by Travel + Leisure readers in the 2017 World’s Best Awards, claiming the 75 spot in the Top 100 Hotels in the World category and the third spot in the Top 15 City Hotels in the Continental United States category. 21c Oklahoma City was also named to Travel + Leisure’s 2017 It List as one of the Best New Hotels in the World.