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Neri&Hu completes Hainan Island wellness retreat inspired by ancient Chinese cities

2023-10-25T11:51:00-04:00

Neri&Hu has completed a wellness hotel on China’s Hainan Island. Named the Sanya Wellness Retreat, the scheme draws inspiration from the ancient Chinese walled city, which was typically elevated on a heavy plinth and surrounded by water. The resulting hotel is defined by two parts: a wooden dwelling comprising guest rooms and a masonry base beneath containing all public spaces.

Image credit: Chen Hao

The L-shaped building forms a water courtyard at the intersection of the two wings, serving a central feature from which all the hotel’s public amenities spread outwards. Meanwhile, the lobby forms a “garden landscape with a floating lantern hovering above that allows a gentle light to filter in,” while ceilings are lowered to frame views towards the sea.

Image credit: Chen Hao

“At every given opportunity, the design tries to embody the genius loci of Hainan, to blend elements from the island’s collective memory, culture, and natural features,” ...

Ukrainian practice MAKHNO Studio imagines contemporary Hotel Karpaty in the Carpathian Mountains

2023-04-25T11:58:00-04:00

Ukrainian firm MAKHNO Studio has designed a contemporary hotel in the breathtaking natural setting of the Carpathian Mountains.

With the KARPATY Hotel, the architects aimed to seamlessly integrate the approximately 43,056-square-foot structure into the environment, while also forming a striking spectacle.

The firm likens the hotel to a liner in the sky. The connection with the surroundings is reflected through the building’s organic form and muted color palette.

In the heart of the hotel’s courtyard is an expansive suspended pool, surrounded by a border of luminous stones.

The interior is distinguished by a stone garden, which is framed by an opening through the roof that resembles a mountain.

Each room in the hotel offers unique views through carefully crafted panoramic windows.

A colossal hall dominates the space, adding an element of grandeur to the overall design. The interior is crowned by a sleek, sinuous staircase that was designed by studying the intricacies of mountain ...

RIOS has been selected for a $1 billion redesign of The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas

2022-11-10T17:32:00-05:00

"We are looking to elevate our experiences resort wide [...] Arrival experiences will be different. For both The Venetian and The Palazzo, we plan to renovate, remodel, and redesign all of our suites. We will be offering a number of new [food-and-beverage] concepts, we are taking a deep look at entertainment, nightlife, and bar offerings, and the casino floor will feel significantly different as well.”

In an Instagram post, RIOS said the redesign will “retain the resort's Italian roots reimagined in a refined and evolutionary way.⁠” The hotel and casino was first designed by KlingStubbins on the site of the former Sands property for developer Sheldon Adelson in the late 1990s. The landmark Venetian replicas within the resort will likely be kept intact, though a spokesperson for the company that manages the property said the $1 billion-plus project will refresh its overall design along more contemporary lines.

"We are a themed hotel and we will always be a themed hotel," Venetian CEO Patrik Nichols told T+L. "That sets us apart, but the Italy of the '90s that The Venetian was modeled after has evolved. If we are able to lean into that through the spirit of Italy and discovery, we are not going to look like just another hotel that has refreshed their rooms."

Büro Ole Scheeren's new Sanya Horizons resort offers itself as a tropical oasis on the coast

2022-03-25T17:38:00-04:00

One of South China’s most coveted vacation destinations is about to get a spur thanks to a new design from Büro Ole Scheeren.

Billed as an enhancement of the natural surroundings on Hainan Island, Sanya Horizons will stand 160 meters (525 feet) above the resort-dotted tropical coastline to offer itself as what the firm says is a “unique ecological leisure destination” on a massive 83,500-square-meter (898,786-square-foot) beachfront plot.

Image © Büro Ole Scheeren

The project will combine two hotels — the Regent Sanya Bay and Hotel Indigo Sanya Bay — into one development, with each arranged in a stack that frees up much of the space surrounding the structure for an even more enhancing program of natural gardens and swimming areas. The combination of the massing also creates a unique and memorable curvilinear form that is both more structurally and ecologically efficient. Scheeren described the cumulative effect as “the merging of architecture and nature into a space of synergetic ha...

Populous and OverActive Media unveil updated plans for performance venue in Toronto

2021-11-03T11:46:00-04:00

Entertainment company and developer OverActive Media (OAM) has unveiled updated plans for their Populous-designed entertainment venue and hotel complex. OAM has secured lease terms approval from the Exhibition Place Board of Governors in Toronto, allowing for a final review and approval by the Toronto City Council later this year.

The $500 million project was first unveiled at the end of February. It will be located on a 4.5-acre site in the heart of the historic Exhibition Place, a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto. Along with general entertainment, such as concerts, the venue will host conventions, corporate events, awards shows, and serve as an esports arena. It will be the home for Toronto’s two professional esports teams, the Toronto Ultra of the Call of Duty League and Toronto Defiant of the Overwatch League, both owned by OAM.

The 7,000-seat venue will sit along the waterfront, offering open public space, along with views and pedestrian access. Its dynamic form wi...

Architect Alan Lapidus, son of Morris Lapidus, passes away at 85

2021-10-25T19:42:00-04:00

On October 15, architect Alan Lapidus passed away in his home in Naples, Maine after battling prostate cancer. His legacy is often connected with his architect father, Morris Lapidus, and being "Donald Trump's architect." However, after working with his father for many years, he used those lessons and experiences he gained to establish a long architecture career designing hotels and casinos.

In a New York Times obituary written by Sam Roberts, he notes that even when Lapidus etched a name for himself while working at his father's firm, "Mr. Lapidus did not try to outdo his father, whose motto was 'Too much is never enough.' But he followed his advice, designing palatial lodgings and capacious gambling halls to create 'participatory theater,' he wrote, in which guests could 'indulge and fulfill their fantasies.'"

Alan Lapidus in 2018 speaking on his career and time working with Fred and Donald Trump while building the now-demolished Trump Plaza and Casino in Atlantic City. Image stil...

Oppenheim Architecture unveils hotel carved into a mountainside

2021-09-29T10:08:00-04:00

Oppenheim Architecture has released details of their Desert Rock hotel complex, situated in the mountains along Saudi Arabia’s west coast. When completed in 2023, the complex will include 48 villas and 12 hotel suites, some of which are carved directly into the mountainside. The Desert Rock hotel forms part of a wider redevelopment known as the Red Sea Project, which is set to comprise 50 resorts across 22 islands and six inland sites upon its completion in 2030.

Image by Luxigon

Oppenheim’s scheme seeks to blend with its surroundings through the use of natural materials, some of which are recycled from the site. During the daytime, the hotel's material palettes and shadow effects blend with the mountainside to conceal the scheme, while at night, the glow of the architectural lighting activates the hillside. The approach to the hotel, along a hidden valley within the mountains, has been further considered to gently reveal the scheme as guests draw nearer, and minimize obstruction of ...

Gensler designs an Atari Hotel for Las Vegas

2020-10-20T15:18:00-04:00

With the hotel industry looking to regroup due to the effects of the recent pandemic, architecture firms are continuing with upcoming hospitality projects as team with innovation and hospitality groups.

This month, Gensler and GSD Group announced its collaboration with Atari® Hotels. GSD Group is an innovation and strategy hospitality group based in Scottsdale, Arizona. They have already secured their plans to construct future Atari Hotels in Austin, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle, according to Atari Hotels.

Atari Hotel. GIF courtesy of Gensler/GSD Group

Front Entrance: Image render courtesy of Gensler/GSD Group

Although their recent collaboration and planning details are still emerging, many have already expressed excitement towards the highly anticipated video game classic inspired hotel. According to a statement from Atari, the 400-room "family-friendly" hotel will be teeming with "retro-futurism, pop culture, and nostalgia." GSD Group's Managing Partner Shel...

OMA's first hotel in Bali, Potato Head Studios, is an influencer's dream

2020-03-07T12:00:00-05:00

To the delight of Instagram influencers everywhere, international architecture practice OMA has recently completed its first hotel in Bali, Indonesia, a 168-room facility known as Potato Head Studios. Pulling from the region's tropical landscape and with the help of marquee furniture designers like Max Lamb and Faye Toogood, OMA was commissioned by luxury hotel brand Potato Head to create a tropical "resort for open engagement rather than private consumption," according to the firm's project description.

Aiming to provide an "inclusive" hotel environment that enables guests to "reconnect with the local community," the firm's new Bali hotel is located along the unoccupied beaches of Seminyak, and offers up a collection of rooms outfitted in a medley of sustainably sourced furnishings and materials.

Image © Kevin Mak, courtesy of OMA.

An artfully designed resort offers public spaces wrapped in luxurious finishes, l...

Nazi bunker to become new hotel in Hamburg

2019-10-22T18:30:00-04:00

"A former Nazi bunker in Hamburg, built by forced laborers to shelter tens of thousands of Germans during Allied air raids in World War II, will soon house hotel guests," reports The New York Times (NYT). Fit with a five-story terraced roof garden, the hotel will house 136 rooms, and is due to open in mid-2021.

The bunker was one of thousands built by the Nazi's during the war. A spokeswoman for NH Hotel Group, the organization designing the new space, told NYT that the group is "aware of the history of the building" and that they "would like to send a positive signal to the city of Hamburg.

Thomas L. Doughton also spoke to NYT, expressing how "part of the concern with some people in Hamburg, as well as in other locations in Europe and elsewhere is that the real significance of some of these sites will become lost."

The hotel will include a 560 square foot exhibition space to commemorate the structure's past, seeking not to "hide the history," but instead "to make it more visible."

...

A strange new hotel might soon be built in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles by 2022

2019-07-12T19:02:00-04:00

A slim hotel tower slated to rise on a Historic Core parking lot is slated to begin construction in spring 2020 and wrap up in 2022. The Spring Street Hotel is developed by Lizard Capital and designed by Asap/Adam Sokol Architecture Practice. It would hold 170 rooms—20 of them suites—as well as a restaurant, bar, conference rooms, a screening room, and a gym.

Downtown Los Angeles has seen a significant revitalization in the last twenty years, with much of the change happening in its central Historic Core, the dense area of early 20th century buildings now largely occupied by wealthy residents. A striking new addition to the Historic Core might soon be on its way, in a form that decidedly goes against the grain of the neighboring edifices.

Rooftop of the proposed Spring Street Hotel, by Asap/Adam Sokol Architecture Practice.

Asap/Adam Sokol Architecture Practice is behind the distinct design, which has already received trenchant criticism. Curbed LA's Bianca Barragan writes that "it somehow appears both very ancient and modern, and it kind of looks like a potato." If it's future visitors are turned off by its design, however, they may be delighted by its wealth of amenities, including a multi-tiered rooftops featuring a pool and bar.

Interestingly, the rooftop is designed to face away from the financial district of Downtown Los Angeles, a...

Draped in a fritted glass “curtain”, the Sage Hotel in Melbourne by ACME

2018-04-24T18:56:00-04:00

Located in the affluent Melbourne suburb of Ringwood along Maroondah Highway, the Sage Hotel is the next phase of ACME's ongoing redevelopment of the Eastland mixed-use town center. The center first opened in 2015.

The Sage Hotel is a simple volume whose structure is constrained by existing columns and beams. It consists of 120 hotel rooms over six floors, which are enveloped in a white fritted glass facade.

Photo: Michael Gazzola.

Designed with a curtain-like appearance, the facade's fritted pattern helps limit its solar gain. Additionally, it offers views — and provides external privacy — for the hotel rooms.

The facade's draped effect was created by using two different fabric pattern templates, ACME describes. “The vertical folds and the perforations suggest lightness, and an abstract sense of movement.” At night, the building is illuminated with filtered waves of light coming from the hotel rooms.

Photo: Michael Gazzola.

Photo: Micha...

Snøhetta unveils “Svart”, the Arctic Circle's first energy-positive hotel

2018-02-12T20:33:00-05:00

From an underwater restaurant to a black crystalline U.F.O to the AT&T Building update, Snøhetta is coming out with plenty of debatable designs as of late. Most recently, they revealed their concept for “Svart”, described as the Arctic Circle's first Powerhouse-standard, energy-positive hotel. Designed for the tourism company, the Arctic Adventure of Norway, the hotel's name refers to its proposed location at the foot of the Svartisen glacier in Meløy of northern Norway. Svart is also a tribute to the glacier's deep blue ice.

Located in the arctic environment where natural preservation is key, the circular hotel reduces its yearly energy consumption by approximately 85 percent and produces its own energy. Inspired by local vernacular architecture, Svart's design is based on the “fiskehjell” (an A-shaped wooden structure for drying fish) and the “rorbue” (a traditional seasonal house used by fisherman).

In reference to t...

This proposed luxury hotel by Fender Katsalidis Architects incorporates a suspension bridge

2017-07-06T20:44:00-04:00

It will be built from the top down on a suspension bridge, modelled after and painted the colour of the Golden Gate bridge. At its base will be a new 1,075-seat theatre, and below that an excavation site that’s 4.5 times as large as the museum’s excavation. It is expected to cost over $300m.

In a noteworthy meeting of infrastructure and luxury real estate development, Tasmanian organizer of Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) David Walsh believes the people who enjoy the museum will definitely dig an onsite luxury hotel that uses a suspension bridge to support its seven upper storeys. The design has been proposed by Australia's Fender Katsalidis Architects.

A proposed three-story library. Image: Mona

In this article he notes that "you can’t usually build a theatre inside a building because when it shakes, the whole building shakes. But because this is a bridge, the top seven floors are suspended from above, and the bottom three floors are built from below. They’re not connected to each other – there’s no [noise] transmission. It’s the best idea anyone ever had. And it wasn’t mine!”

A proposed installation. Image: Mona

2017 Finalists for Radical Innovation have been announced

2017-06-16T18:38:00-04:00

Chosen from over 65 entries, this year's finalists represent the latest in hotel design and offer a glimpse at the future of travel.The jury looks for projects that are innovative but within the realm of possibility.

The finalists of the hospitality design competition's 11th round are Arno Matis Architecture, EoA Group, and the already existing Play Design Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan.

Honorable mentions include student winner, Brandan Siebrecht, from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and student honorable mention, Caspar Schols from Eindhoven, Netherlands.

1. Play Design Hotel

Located in Taipei the hotel aims at connecting travelers with the country's culture through interior furnishings, fixtures, and accessories which are made solely by local designers.

2. Vertical Micro-Climate by Arno Matis Architecture

The Canadian firm Arno Matis Architecture proposed a mountain-top resort on Vancouver Island that using natural thermal and solar technology simulates sunny summer weather during winter months.

3. Living the Till by EoA Group

Living the Till features temporary nomadic structure hovering 30 feet above the forest floor that would allow seasonal inhabitation in remote areas. Designed to have mini...