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Wilson Associates infused the city’s second Hilton with a residential feel.
By Matthew Hall
How do you create a hotel that feels like a country mansion in the heart of a city of more than 15 million? And how do you accomplish that in a building that originally was slated to house apartments? Those were the major design challenges facing Wilson Associates in crafting the interiors of the Hilton Beijing Wangfujing.
This is Hilton's second hotel in the Chinese capital. In researching the market, Wilson's designers came to view the city's first Hilton (which was designed by another firm) as an "uptown residence." To differentiate Hilton's sophomore property, Wilson's team, decided the Wangfujing hotel should emulate the feel of a "second home villa," says Dan Kwan, executive design director with the Singapore office of Dallas-based Wilson Associates.
This more relaxed approach to high-end living is on prominent display in the lobby, which resembles the great hall of a spacious country home, with a small library attached to the reception area graced by two large fireplaces flanking the seating area. The residential theme is also manifested on the hotel's fifth floor, where its food and beverage and meeting/banquet facilities are located.
"The fifth floor is a dining room, den and great hall all rolled into one," says Kwan, who is also design director for Blue Plate, the Wilson Associates specialty studio that created the hotel's dining establishments.
As for the hotel's 255 guest rooms, they are each endowed with an ample 540 square feet of space. Kwan attributes the rooms' large size and "longish bays" to fact that the building was repurposed from apartments.
Designers took advantage of that larger footprint to subdivide the rooms into three distinct zones: "rejuvenation," which includes a walk-in closet and a roomy bathroom; "rest," where a flat-screen TV, iPod dock and DVD player are integrated into the feature wall that's opposite the king-size bed; and "relaxation," which is home to a gourmet bar as well as a dining table that can double as a work desk.
"Each zone can be ‘flexed up' or ‘flexed down' via large sliding doors that either connect or separate all zones," Kwan notes. "This gives the hotel operator options in presenting the room to hotel guests when making themselves at home."
The Hilton Beijing Wangfujing is one of several new hotels that opened in Beijing just prior to last year's Summer Olympics. Despite that crush of competition, the property recently took home some gold of its own -- it was named "Best New Hotel" in Beijing in the prestigious TTG China Travel Awards 2009 competition.
Project Participants:
Owner:
Beijing Macau Development Co. Ltd., Beijing
Manager:
Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Design:
Wilson Associates, Singapore office
Dan Kwan and Joanne Yong, executive design directors
Public Areas & Guestrooms: Lim Mee Khim; design manager; Rany Robles, designer; Wendy Kho, FFE manager; Patricia Dumayas, designer FF&E; Jason Huang, CADD manager; Eileen Li and Apollo Ferrancol, CADD
Food & Beverage Areas: Dennis Tan, design manager; Sam Ang, senior designer; Patricia Dumayas, designer FF&E; Piyanuch Limcharoen, designer
Specialty Design Consultants:
Blue Plate, Singapore (F&B outlets)
Bath Fixtures:
Kohler, Kohler, Wis.
Grohe, Hemer, Germany
Carpet:
Sanhua, Beijing
Fabrics/Textiles/Window Treatments:
Artelier Furnishings, Singapore
Furniture:
Pearl River Decoration, Guangzhou, China
Lighting:
Kamtat, Guangzhou, China
Lobby Artwork:
Feng Zhongyun, Beijing
Wall Coverings:
Goodrich Global Ltd., Singapore