Best of Year: Hotel Renovation

Annie Block -- Interior Design, 12/1/2010 5:23:00 PM

Project: Water House at South Bund
Firm: Neri & Hu Design & Research Office
Location: Shanghai

Past and present coalesce thoughtfully at a 1930’s Japanese army headquarters transformed into a boutique property by the husband-wife team of Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu. The archi­tects restored the original building—notably­ its brick and concrete walls and interior balconies—then added a fourth story wrapped in Cor-Ten steel. Also used for the front entry, this industrial material is a nod to the history of the city’s Haungpu River docks. More polished are the furnishings inside the hotel, most of them familiar to customers of Neri and Hu’s nearby gallery, Design Republic. A gleaming white-lacquered chandelier by Studio Job hangs in the triple-height reception­ area, and the 19 oak-floored guest rooms feature seating by Jean Prouvé, Charles and Ray Eames, and Bertjan Pot and Marcel Wanders. In some of the rooms, bathtubs take center stage, enclosed only by a transparent box of tinted glass.

Merit Winners:


Project: Hotel Boca Chica
Firm: Frida Escobedo and José Rojas
Location: Acapulco, Mexico
Standout: With its retro furnishings, painted steel signage, and mosaic murals, this 1950’s hotel looks as if it hasn’t changed a bit since its jet-set heyday.


Project: The Surrey
Firm: Rottet Studio
Location: New York
Standout: This rejuvenated beaux arts landmark from 1925 now oozes sophistication, like a posh pied-à-terre with progressive­ artwork.


Project: Fairmont
Firm: Champalimaud
Location: San Francisco
Standout: Atop a 1907 building, a deco-era penthouse addition
features­ a library rotunda, a dining room that can accommodate 60, and a lithograph by David Hockney.