This was published 8 years ago
House Collective, Chengdu, China: Mind-blowing design hotels that are a game-changer
By Andrea Black
tra29-chinahotels Temple House exterior
On a leisurely swim in the basement-level pool at The Temple House hotel in the city of Chengdu, the early morning light is filtering through the beehive-like embedded light-well. A walk upstairs reveals that, at garden level, this stepped effect is grassed, designed to looks like a Sichuan terraced paddy field. It's just one example of how the integration of unique architecture, landscape and interior design is key to this new design hotel.
"Designing a hotel is not about applying a formula but about really trying to get a sense of place," director of British architectural firm MAKE and lead architect on The Temple House, Katy Ghahremani, tells me.
"Chengdu has a very friendly, laid-back culture and such a lush, green landscape, we wanted to make sure we would capture these elements within the design so that guests would be offered an experience unique to Chengdu."
tra29-chinahotels Temple House poolCredit: michael weber
It's no small feat. The architects were tasked with meshing a courtyard dating back to the Qing Dynasty era with a modern build. The new L-shaped structure behind the entrance has an outer facade featuring a perforated brickwork pattern reflecting the region's history of weaving and brocade.
Incorporated is a teahouse and spa in a former monastery, and antique pieces in the three restaurants on site are based on the three kings of the pre-unified China.
Chengdu, of course, is the capital of the Sichuan province in southwest China. On weekends, locals relax in lakeside teahouses or feast on hot peppercorn-infused food.
tra29-chinahotels Temple House courtyardCredit: michael weber
Temple House is part of Swire Hotels' House Collective which includes Hong Kong's Andre Fu-designed Upper House and Beijing's Opposite House, designed by Kengo Kuma.
In Chengdu, the nearby 1000-year-old Daci Temple proved an inspiration in form and in name for The Temple House. Next to the temple, the Swire Group designed an open-air shopping mall blending traditional architectural style with contemporary. It's full of high-end brands, restaurants and a giant bookstore. There are also 21 site-specific original sculptures in steel, bronze and glass in the Daci Temple district.
Indeed, all three Swire hotels in the House Collective display incredible art pieces. In Beijing and Chengdu there is an on-site art gallery featuring a rotating collection of local art, their philosophy being: where better than a hotel – where a person can temporarily live, as opposed to a museum – to do this?
tra29-chinahotels Opposite House Penthouse bedroom
At the Opposite House in Beijing – the first of the Collective to open, in 2008 – the first piece you notice is the sweeping steel mesh curtain hung across the six-storey atrium. It's said that the cleaner wears a Spiderman suit to dust it, a form of performance art for gallery and hotel guests. There's also a 5000-drawer apothecary cabinet in the lobby. Rooms in this hotel feature natural wooden floors, solid oak tubs and floor-to-ceiling windows.
At the Upper House in Hong Kong, the tunnel-like escalator from the ground floor is designed to take you on a journey to a secret garden and calming pond at lobby level. The Ginger Verbena signature scent aroma only adds to the sense you are away from busy Hong Kong streets. Designer Andre Fu planned to take the visitor on "An Upward Journey" to a peaceful haven full of warm wood, abundant light, giant bath tubs with views to green hillsides. On Level 49, Cafe Gray Deluxe could well offer the city's best view for Victoria Harbour's nightly light show.
Across the corridor in the Sky Lounge, I congregate with Hong Kong's art and design scene to see renowned British designer Thomas Heatherwick give a talk.
tra29-chinahotels Upper House exterior
"Fifteen years ago, the thinking about making and designing big things was very sterile, it's much better now," Heatherwick begins, he's sitting in one of his own creations, the Spun Chair.
Heatherwick knows a lot about large-scale design, he redesigned the 650,000-square-metre Pacific Place shopping centre below The Upper House as well as the exterior of the hotel, a grey stone curtain.
These talks are another feature of the House Collective, one month it could be Victoria Beckham, another a design icon. They also partner with brands such as Diptyque and Christian Louboutin to offer bespoke packages, another special touch which sets these design hotels apart.
Cafe Gray Deluxe in Swire Hotels' Upper House has sweeping views of Hong Kong's harbour.
Heatherwick is on to something, these large-scale designs are changing hotels into structural art pieces, destinations in themselves. Right now the next Swire Hotel is being built in Shanghai on Nanking Road and is set to open in 2017. It will be a mix of hotel and retail and like its unique sister properties, it will be a game-changer.
TRIP NOTES
GETTING THERE
Cathay Pacific Australia operates more than 70 non-stop flights a week from Australia to Hong Kong, including four daily flights from Sydney and three flights a day from Melbourne. The flight from Hong Kong to Chengdu is just over two hours. Dragonair, a member of the Cathay Pacific group, flies from Hong Kong to Chengdu return. See cathaypacific.com.au.
STAYING THERE
The House Collective includes The Temple House in Chengdu, rooms from RMB1950, see thetemplehousehotel.com; The Opposite House in Beijing, rooms from RMB 2875, see theoppositehouse.com; and The Upper House in Hong Kong, rooms from $HK5980, see upperhouse.com
The writer was a guest of Swire Hotels and Cathay Pacific.
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