In 2017, we’ve seen more cross-pollination than ever among markets – contract, residential, hospitality, retail, healthcare – all of the above and more are blending in ways that both excite and complicate work in interior design and architecture.
Just as the residential trend in workplace design has provided a specific type of experience in the workplace, hospitality brings its own bundle of desired experiences – ones that people of every demographic, at any job, and in any location want. In 2018, officeinsight plans to bring to our readers more of this crossover between hospitality and workplace design.
In the meantime, a boutique hotel project in Beijing, China, caught our eye for its cocktail of one part local, one part whimsy, one part contemporary; but more than that, it is all parts full-on “experience.” The hyper local, boutique hospitality trend has already infiltrated western markets, but its just now finding its place in China.
Sitting on the edge of Houhai Lake, the VUE Hotel “draws richly from the culture and heritage of its neighborhood, while always transcending it with a contemporary and whimsical twist…the brand embodies the desires of the urbane traveller.”
VUE hotels chose the name for its French meaning of “view” or “a way to see”; it’s represents their intent to “present a fresh way of “seeing” hospitality design and experiences,” according to the project’s description.
The international design studio Ministry of Design (MOD) provided services for a holistic strategy, including branding and all aspects of design and art creation, architecture and landscaping.
At the heart of this project is the holistic branding strategy MOD devised; a presence that every guest feels upon entering the property. Guests enter an experience – one that is specific, and a departure from the everyday.
“Each VUE property is designed around a central narrative inspired by its locale or culture. For VUE Houhai Beijing, the narrative drew inspiration from the lake and its animal inhabitants. In our imaginings, the presence of VUE in the Houhai neighbourhood has a magical and whimsical transformative effect on the animal inhabitants. These friendly animals (foxes, rabbits, deer) are transformed anthropomorphically from mere animals to become more human-like, in the same way animals in cartoons often adopt human personas. In becoming more human-like, the animals also begin to cultivate a sense of curiosity of the world around them and like “tourists”, begin to explore the attractions around the lake and eventually to iconic historic sites around Beijing – the Great Wall, the Forbidden City.”
Guests experience this narrative through art installations and other branding elements dotting the property, in everything from guest rooms, lobbies, restaurants, corridors and exterior gardens.
VUE was designed with four core things in mind:
>Encourages socializing
>Transcendence of culture
>Delightful and whimsical
>Relaxed and inviting
In addition to the lake, the hotel sits near a verdant public park, historic Hutong homes, and a vibrant bar and café scene along the Houhai’s banks.
Nestled on the property are a series of “artistically transformed quasi-historic buildings” from the 1950s, undertaken as a large adaptive reuse project. Inside hotel grounds, visitors are welcome to discover “landscaped gardens, a bakery café fronting the bustle of the Hutong streets, a signature restaurant in a warehouse, a rooftop bar overlooking the lake, a gym, and over 80 rooms and suites, several with private gardens or with views overlooking the park or lake.”
The buildings were originally designed in a traditional Chinese vernacular, but span a range of ornamentation, “from highly decorative roof eaves, characterful gargoyles, sculptured balconies and latticed window frames, to pared-back jack roofs and plain brick work wall finishes.”
MOD’s design approach was to unify those diverse exterior characteristics through color and landscaping. They draped a dark charcoal gray paint over all the buildings, then highlighted any key architectural details in a gold patina.
“As guests explore the compound, this ‘catalogue’ of details gradually brings into focus the distinction between the historical versus the contemporary: a subtle juxtaposition, which highlights the rich tension arising from any adaptive reuse design.
“Conceptually, the design harnesses all the “left-over” spaces in-between each building, to tie the compound into a single holistic experience. These in-between spaces are treated graphically with an “ice-ray” lattice pattern inspired by traditional Chinese screens. Treated three-dimensionally, hardscaped floors and passageways rise to become private balconies or garden enclosures.”
As guests make their way to the hotel reception, they walk through the FAB café and bakery, a casual spot with a bunch of nooks and fun seating both indoors and on a terrace alfresco – a perfect spot for breakfast, coffee or tea, or a quick snack.
The hotel reception is much more intimate, drawing a line between comfortable and moody. It’s also the first space hotel guests gain a true sense of the property’s signature color scheme and drama-heavy spatial design themes.
Those dramatic spatial themes follow guests into their rooms.
“High on the agenda was also a desire to balance an unapologetically contemporary design approach with locally inspired culture and imagery. The resulting rooms are whimsically surprising but yet familiar. Spaces are unexpectedly divided with the use of colors, tones and materials, whilst installation art in every room continue the hotel’s overarching narrative. Dramatic bath spaces complement restful sleeping spaces. Beyond the standard rooms, the suites and garden rooms extend the guest experience with generous living and dining spaces, oversized bathrooms and alfresco lounge areas.”
It’s obvious that the guest rooms are wild – perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea. But, isn’t that the beauty of the boutique hotel? Its ability to carry guests to a new, ultra-wild or hyper-relaxed or whatever whim-of-fancy space they care to be in for their stay, and then returning to the “regular” that home is?
In addition to FAB café, the hotel’s signature restaurant and rooftop bar can be found in a former warehouse at the lakeside-edge of the property. Atop the roof, guests encounter a whimsical installation of two giant wireframe rabbits – a cue to the restaurant, The Pink Rabbit, and its playful vibe.
Rabbits aside, the interior mixes casual and sophisticated elements, with an open kitchen, exposed trusses, lounge seating, bar and DJ counter. The space also makes available a series of private dining rooms and a quiet garden dining zone. The rooftop Moon Bar, featuring a Jacuzzi pool and fine views of Houhai lake and adjacent park, offers a “treetop alfresco experience.”
The VUE hotel project is a straightforward example of design that aims to immerse guests in an authentic and bespoke experience. Creating design that offers something inspiring, exclusive, and out of the ordinary, yet familiar and intimate, is no small task.