HOTEL REVIEW
Industrial chic meets boutique glam at Neri & Hu Design and Research Office’s The Waterhouse at South Bund.
The Waterhouse at South Bund Shanghai
Words: Rebecca Lo Photography: Courtesy LEAP Integrated Marketing Solutions S
ingaporean Loh Lik Peng is considered a boutique hotel pioneer in Asia. Bursting onto the scene with 1929, the first hip boutique hotel in
the trendy Chinatown district of Singapore, the lawyer-turned-hotelier is now casting his vision further afield. This year, three properties are slated to open in places are diverse as Singapore’s Little India, east end London, and an industrial area along Shanghai’s Huangpu riverfront. The latter, dubbed The Waterhouse at South Bund and featuring the talents of husband and wife team Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu of Shanghai- based Neri & Hu Design and Research Office, is quickly drawing buzz for Loh’s foresight and real estate savvy. With most of the attention focused on
restorations along Shanghai’s Bund and the lightning speed development in Pudong, a myriad of industrial warehouses further south along the Huangpu River was ripe for
the picking. The 1930s weathered timber and metal truss structures collectively exude a New York City meatpacking ambience – a look and feel that Neri and Hu capitalised upon, as both had previously worked in the Big Apple. “Our main concept was to design a hotel not so much for the tourist, but more for the traveller,” reveals Neri. “We wanted to design a space that will attract the people who want to understand the essence of Shanghai, as opposed to the typical tourist crowd whose interest is only seeing the Shanghai landmarks. We were also trying to blur the outside and inside by bringing the landscape into the space and having some of the interior spaces occupy the exterior.” Fans of Loh’s previous efforts can expect
his love for modern classic furniture to grace a lobby with exposed concrete, worn bricks and ductwork crisscrossing the space. And they won’t be disappointed. Chairs and tables by the likes of Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl,
WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM JULY / AUGUST 2010 059
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