Minimalist style combines with classic elements at Middle House.
How to make an emphatic hotel design statement? Bring in a big gun. That's the course Swire Hotels took for its new, super-stylish Shanghai property, The Middle House. It's the latest in its award-winning "House Collective" chain, making it a sister to Beijing's visionary The Opposite House and Hong Kong's The Upper House as well as The Temple House in Chengdu.
The new property, in Shanghai's commercial district, is close to Nanjing Road and has 111 studios and 102 serviced apartments. The design giant given the task of realising it was legendary Milan-based Piero Lissoni, known for his tenures as art director for covetable brands including Alpi, Boffi, Lualdi, Flos, Fritz Hansen, Cassina and Kartell. Here, he instilled a signature modernist aesthetic extending from the facade to soft furnishings.
Big windows flood the rooms with light at Middle House.
Outside, a series of round aluminum louvres, which comprise a nod to traditional Shanghainese architecture, provide shade and privacy while creating texture and a statement: the unusual shape of the louvres makes the hotel's two towers stand out from surrounding developments.
For the interior spaces, Lissoni married his minimalist style with classic elements in custom-designed furnishings such as nightstands and lamps, inspired by Shanghai culture, art and craftsmanship, and in Chinese artworks. Big windows and transparent room dividers flood the rooms with light while sliding wood panels afford privacy and dimming when needed.
Restaurant Sui Tang Li offers a menu of sharing plates from Shanghainese, Sichuan and Cantonese cuisines.
Rooms from RMB2320 ($470). See themiddlehousehotel.com
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