THE NEW HOSPITALITY
Hotels have provided a group of super famous architects a blank canvas for innovative design. By CATHY ADAMS
How superstar architects reinvented hotels
酒店成為多位舉世知名的建築師盡情發揮創意的場地。撰文：
ARCHITECTS ARE HOUSEHOLD
names. Hotels are big business. One sure way to make any new hotel or renovation project memorable (and more valuable) is to attach an architect of superstar proportions to add their signature style.
As Sir Norman Foster’s The Murray hotel opens in Hong Kong, we look at hotels that have used starchitects to elevate their profile, or to make a serious design statement.
THE MURRAY, HONG KONG (THIS PAGE)
When The Murray hotel opened in early 2018, it marked British architect Norman Foster’s third project in the city.
The Murray, the flagship property of Niccolo Hotels, involved renovating a dowdy 1960s government building on the southern fringes of Hong Kong’s Central district and turning it into a 336-room, 25-storey luxury hotel to rival its neighbours the Four Seasons and the Mandarin Oriental. The renovation has been so successful that The Murray was voted Refurbishment of the Year in the 2018 Rics Awards.
For this conservation project, Wharf Hotels, owner of The Murray, enlisted Foster + Partners.
The architecture firm enlarged the recessed windows, which are carefully orientated to maximise the light but minimise Hong Kong’s tropical heat, to make them all almost perfect squares. It added luxe corner suites with impressive views of the downtown skyline, and totally redesigned the ground level of the building. Now, there’s a generous outdoor wraparound terrace and a mezzanine garden level where an employee carpark used to be. A large cassia tree juts through a paving slab by the entrance: conserving it was part of the heritage deal struck with the Hong Kong government.
The tree is emblematic of the property’s location. Set back from Queens Road Central, The Murray has – uniquely for a Hong Kong luxury hotel – views of Hong Kong Park and the Peak. From almost every room, there’s greenery outside. Even from the elegant Tai Pan dining room on the garden level, a tall green wall hides the traffic on Cotton Tree Drive.
The interiors – for which Foster + Partners had free reign – are worthy of one of Hong Kong’s finest hotels. Shiny white floors contrast with deep black marble tables and gold accents everywhere; while the hotel’s impressive roster of art (note South Korean artist Bahk Seon-ghi’s chandelier-like hanging charcoal work in the vaulted entrance hall) gives it a playful edge.
Another fun addition will follow in late summer – the Popinjays rooftop bar, with a large outdoor terrace. You’ll get a slice of Victoria Harbour, but the views over Hong Kong Island’s hills are what you’ll sip cocktails to.
The Murray was a more luxurious project than either of Foster’s previous two designs in a city he has a longstanding relationship with: the 1998 opening of Hong Kong International Airport and Central’s Meccano-like HSBC headquarters. The latter, which involved feng shui geomancer, shared one key design feature with The Murray: an upper-floor bar with views over the city (which has since closed). marcopolohotels.com
酒店是一門大生意，若要確保任何全新或翻新的酒店令人留下深刻印象（以及更具價，值） 最十拿九穩的方法，找就是 個知名度超具 級巨星級數的建築師來合作酒，讓店帶著他們的招牌設計。風格
適值諾曼福斯特爵士設計的The Murray酒店在香港開幕，我們也來看看其他同樣與明星建築師合作認，以 真的設計來提升形象的酒店。
香港， THE MURRAY酒店（本頁）
於2018年初開幕的The Murray酒是店，英國建築師諾曼福斯特在香港的第三幢作品。
The Murray酒是店 尼依格羅酒店品牌的旗艦物業，項這個 目將一座位於港島中區南沿、風格過時的1960年代府政 建築改頭換面，變成間高一樓 25層擁、 有336間客房的酒店，豪華的程度堪與附近的四季酒店及文華東方酒店媲美。其翻新設計非常成功，獲2018年皇家特許測量師學會Rics Awards大獎選為年度最佳復修項。目
The Murray的業主九龍倉酒別店特 請來福斯特建築事務所負責這個保育項目，對這座建築物作出多處改。動
建築物原有的凹入式窗戶有引入光線，並阻隔燠熱氣溫的作用；建築事所務將這些窗戶全部擴大，令窗戶變成近乎正方又形將，角落的位置改建為豪華套房，讓住客置身房內即可看到令人讚歎的市區景色，地面一層亦徹底地經過重新設計。現在室有外 圍繞大廈的寬敞陽台，以前的職員停車場現在則為改 「花園閣。廈」 樓 大入口處的路磚縫隙之間長出了一棵巨大的桂樹，育保 這棵樹是與香港政府達成的文化保育協議其中一部分。
這棵桂樹可說成了酒店的標誌。The Murray位皇於 后大道中後方遠，處 擁有香港公園與山頂的美，景 這在香港眾多豪華酒店中並不多見。酒店內幾乎每個房間坐都 擁蒼翠景色，就連位於花園那一層的典雅餐廳The Tai Pan外都有一堵綠色的高牆，將紅棉路的車水馬龍擋在視線之外。
至酒於 店的內部設計，福斯特建築事 務所盡情發揮創意，效果足以與香港任何一間頂級豪華酒店媲美。酒店內白得發亮的地板與色深黑 的大理石桌子相映成趣，到處可見金色的裝飾點綴其中，而酒店內陳列多件定期更、換 令人歎為觀止的藝術品，則為整體設計帶來一點玩味。酒店的拱頂大堂內，懸掛了南韓藝術家樸善基以碳為素材、形如水晶吊燈的作品，便一是個好例子。
此外，天台酒吧Popinjays將於夏季末開幕。酒吧附設寬敞的戶外陽台，你但不 可以在享受美味雞尾酒時眺望維港景色，還能欣賞到港島區麗的秀 山景。
福斯特與香港有頗深的源淵 ，1998年落成的香港國機際，場 以及位於中環、形似組合玩具的滙豐總行大廈均出自其手筆而， The Murray這個項目則更見豪華氣派滙。 豐總行大廈計的設 有風水先生參與提供意見，這幢大廈與The Murray有個共同的設計特色，就是大廈高均有層 設 可俯瞰城色市景 的酒吧，不過前者的酒吧經已結業。marcopolohotels.com
PUBLIC, NEW YORK (THIS PAGE)
Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Herzog & de Meuron has a number of high-profile projects to its name (London’s Tate Modern and Hong Kong’s upcoming Tai Kwun cultural project in Central among them). It joined another big name: Ian Schrager, founder of the Morgans Hotel Group and the boutique Edition brand. Schrager commissioned Herzog & de Meuron to design his new ‘tough luxe’ Public hotel in midtown New York City, which opened last summer. Herzog & de Meuron is also working on Schrager’s 160 Leroy and 40 Bond projects in New York. publichotels.com
紐約， PUBLIC酒店（本頁）
曾獲普利茲克建築獎的赫佐格和德默隆建築事務所曾負責多個著名設計項目， 括倫敦的Tate Modern現代美術館及香港中區快將開幕的大館古蹟及藝術館等。這家建築事務所獲Morgans酒店集團及精品酒店品牌Edition的創辦人Ian Schrager委託，為Schrager位於紐約中城區的全新Public酒店擔任計。設 師 這間於去年夏季開幕的酒店，氣派豪華之餘失。又不 粗獷 赫佐格和德默隆建築事務所目正前則 為Schrager旗下位於紐約市的160 Leroy及40 Bond兩幢住宅大廈設計。publichotels.com
ME BY MELIÁ, DUBAI (RIGHT)
Set to debut in the UAE’s glitz city later this year, Zaha Hadid’s Me by Meliá has all the hallmarks of the revolutionary British architect. The luxury hotel, within the new Opus building in downtown Dubai, is the only property with her designs both inside and outside – playing to her signature vision of ‘interconnectedness’. It was designed by Hadid herself before her death in 2016, and the teardrop-shaped hole punched in the centre of the building showcases another Hadid signature: curves. meliahotelsinternational.com
杜拜， ME BY MELIç酒店（右圖）
預計今年稍後開幕的Me by Meliá酒店位於阿聯酋的大都會城市杜拜，這個由英國建築師Zaha Hadid操刀的酒店物，業 具備了她的革命性設計的理念 各項特徵。這家豪華酒店位於杜市拜 中心的Opus大樓內，是唯一一家從裡到外都由她設計的酒店，到處都可見到其作品中經常出現的「彼此聯繫」主題。酒店是Hadid於2016年逝世前設計的，大樓中央挖出一個淚滴形的，洞表的另現她 作品 一個常見的：。主題 曲線meliahotelsinternational.com
AYRE, OVIEDO (LEFT)
Santiago Calatrava is perhaps best known for his functional bridges and stations (remember New York City’s vaulted World Trade Center Transportation Hub?) and the egg-shaped City of Arts and Sciences museum and performance venue in his home city, Valencia. But it’s the lively student town of Oviedo, in northern Spain, where you’ll find his only hotel project. Ayre Hotel Oviedo is embedded in Calatrava’s futuristic convention centre, and the interiors of the hotel are no less spaceage, with clean, minimalist design. ayrehoteles.com
奧維耶多， AYRE酒店（左圖）
Santiago Calatrava以設計功能實用的橋樑和車站而著稱，紐約市內採用拱頂設計的世界貿易中心交通轉運站，以及位於Calatrava家鄉華倫西亞的蛋形City of Arts and Sciences博物館及表演場地，均出自這位建築大師的手筆。由他設計的酒店只有一間，那就是位於西班牙北部熱鬧的學奧耶的大城維多 Ayre Hotel Oviedo酒店。酒店坐落於一座同樣由他設計、未來感的十足 會議中心內，有著利落簡約的室內設計，有如太空時代的產物，與會議中心的風格配合得天衣無縫。ayrehoteles.com