HOTEL REVIEW


Rocco Design Architects, CL3 and Conran & Partners have collaborated to transform staff living quarters into a fully operational teaching and research hotel for The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.


Hotel Icon Hong Kong


Words: Catherine Martin Photography: Courtesy of Hotel Icon (unless otherwise stated)


typical hotel. But beneath the surface, Hotel Icon is an important facility in training the next generation of hoteliers. Owned by The Hong Kong Polytechnic


F


University, the building has retained its original staff residential function and now incorporates a 262-room hotel and state-of the-art teaching complex for the School of Hotel and Tourism Management.


Although Hotel Icon initially met with


controversy from neighbouring hotels – owners were granted a nominal land use transfer fee by the government instead of the rumoured market value of HK$300 million – it is hoped that the 2,000 students that are educated here annually, will go on to benefit Hong Kong’s hotel industry as a whole. Playing a major role in the schooling programme as well as


or the majority of guests passing through the doors of Hotel Icon, there is little evidence to suggest that this is anything other than a


helping establish the style of the hotel, General Manager Richard Hatter – who previously spent two decades at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts – is tasked with the dual challenge of managing an educational facility and a commercial enterprise. The credibility of the school, he says, will be measured by the reality of making the hotel commercially viable, with profits made being fed back into education. The hotel itself has been designed by Asian


and British firms to incorporate Eastern and Western design influences. Hong Kong-based Rocco Design Architects was responsible for the 28-storey hotel tower, opening it up with the introduction of glass atria at various levels allowing visual permeability to connect either side of the site. The lobby too is a glass atrium and suggests a park-like environment with its abundance of natural daylight, textured wood flooring, carved oak benches, and a neighbourhood café. An 18m vertical garden created and installed by French botanist


066 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2012 WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM


Patrick Blanc featuring over 8,000 thriving plants in 75 species adds to the landscape and highlights accents of green in the upholstery. Another local firm of international acclaim,


CL3, was responsible for the design of the 262 guestrooms, Silverbox Ballroom, and lobby. Managing Director William Lim believes that because of the hotel’s educational mission, it had to break new ground in order to inspire. “We needed to rethink everything we knew about conventional hotels and how to move this to the next level,” he explains. “We worked on the project for four years, studying every aspect of the design, working closely with the architect to re-plan and rethink the flow of the hotel.” Lim also considered the flexibility of spaces and their use at various times of the day, creating for example a function room that also operates as a school auditorium, a lobby café becomes that becomes a tapas bar by night, and a poolside juice bar that transforms into a chic cocktail venue. The stunning Silverbox


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148