LEFT: The lobby at Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai ABOVE: Bilkey Llinas’ most recent project, the Yan Club in Beijing’s five-star Kunlun Hotel PREVIOUS PAGE: A standard guestroom at Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake
China today is incredible... It has happened in such a short time and given us the opportunity to develop new concepts and new ideas.
Today, the Hong Kong and US offices
are equal in size, with subsidiary offices in Guangzhou and India for a total head count of 150 staff. Each office works on its own projects independent of the others, although Bilkey readily admits to “borrowing people from the States for Hong Kong and China jobs.” “China has grown from nothing to an
important industrial and economic power,” says Bilkey. “Twenty years ago it needed to have a lot of hotels and brought in expertise from abroad. China has a tremendous work force that has brought about an amazing push to build new hotels throughout the country. It started in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, and, as time went on, spread to the secondary and tertiary cities. Only recently have there been more resorts, in
34 Sleeper China 2012
places like Hainan and Qingdao.” Most recently, Bilkey Llinas completed
Yan Club in Beijing’s five-star Kunlun Hotel. “The theme was a garden on steroids!” jokes Bilkey, alluding to the over-the-top decorative floral elements of the nightclub surrounded by courtyards and gardens. “Kunlun is part of the Jin Jiang Group and it is a unique property that fits the market. That’s what makes working in China so exciting – the international operators have already established their brands.” By contrast, local companies are in a state of flux, with Bilkey on hand to help. Last year, the firm unveiled the 89-room
Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake, a resort inspired by its natural surroundings as well as China’s Song Dynasty. “Song was one of the most romantic periods in Chinese
history,” says Bilkey. “Its architecture was like poetry, and we used the exterior architecture in the interiors. It was traditional Chinese style at a contemporary level.” These are just a few of the projects that
have contributed to Bilkey Llinas’ success in the region. A recent spate of awards has seen the firm recognised as ‘Best Hospitality Design Institution – Asia’ by China’s leading hospitality developers. The Asia Hotel Forum also singled out Bilkey as ‘Best Hotel Designer of the Year’ for his contribution to the elevation of hospitality interior design. As for the future, the firm is continuing
to create world-class destinations in China and beyond. Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, the debut InterContinental in Osaka, Kempinski Taiyuan, and Marriott Beijing Yucai are all set to open within the next 12 months. “China today is incredible,” concludes Bilkey. “It has happened in such a short time and has given us the opportunity to develop new concepts and new ideas.”
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