Tall & Urban News

Global architecture firm Goettsch Partners (GP) announced the completion of the Conrad Hotel Shenzhen, Hilton Worldwide’s first luxury offering within the prominent China gateway city. Located within the blossoming Qianhai central business district, the 300-room hotel was developed by Horoy Group, with interiors designed by Yabu Pushelberg. Sited along the edge of the development, the hotel creates an important buffer between Qianhai’s growing urban center and the low wetlands of the Qianhai Bay shoreline. This unique location rewards the Conrad Shenzhen with an urban setting and tranquil sunset views over the horizon.
 
Embracing the Conrad brand’s dual focus as a luxury business hotel with leisure amenities, the Conrad Shenzhen’s massing is designed to embody these two core values. The guestroom tower is positioned along the eastern edge of the site and borders the adjacent business district. Efficiently designed as a slab tower with a double-loaded corridor, the tower creates a street wall that simultaneously embraces the district’s urban core while creating a boundary that defines its edge. The repeating modularity of 5.4-meter-wide rooms creates a luxurious yet rational regularity to the tower organization. 
 
The podium, containing all the hotel amenities, is organized as a series of cascading outdoor spaces reminiscent of the nearby terraced hillsides. At the ground level, the podium volume is lifted to create a 2,000-square-meter porte cochère, which allows the landscape to extend across the site and opens views to the adjacent wetlands. From here, guests ascend five floors to the arrival lobby, where the terraced gardens open before them. These outdoor spaces provide an oasis from the demands of business and create a contemplative atmosphere rich in elegantly refined materials and design. Art and nature permeate the terraces, reinforcing the more leisurely character of the podium amenities, which include outdoor dining at the bar, poolside cabanas, and a lounge terrace for afternoon tea. 
  
The design of the typical guestroom façade reinforces the interplay between business and leisure through its combination of luxurious materials and thoughtful detailing. Textured stone is framed in bronze metal to create a crisp geometry that softens under the warm illumination of the sun. Perforated bronze screens conceal operable windows while filtering sunlight into the guestrooms. Oversized floor-to-ceiling glass, measuring 3.1 meters wide by 2.85 meters tall, occupies the center bay of each room and extends uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape.
 
The rich façade palette of warm stone, bronze metal, and insulated glass creates an image of understated sophistication for the project. Across the tower facade, materials intertwine, creating a texture that emphasizes the changing quality of light throughout the day. 

Read more about this project at Goettsch Partners.