Park Hyatt

Over the past ten years, Beijing’s China World Trade Centre has become one of those addresses that signifies its occupiers have ‘made it’, in much the same way as Wall Street in New York City or Bond Street in London suggest power and prestige. From 2008 onwards, however, the Beijing Yintai Centre will challenge China World Trade Centre’s dominance as the capital’s prestige address. Boasting striking yet intelligent buildings courtesy of US-based architect Portman, Yintai Centre contains two 186-metre office towers flanking a 250-metre mixed-use main building. This 66-storey tower houses three categories of Hyatt accommodations: Park Hyatt Hotel, Park Hyatt Penthouses and Park Hyatt Residences, marking a triple debut in China for the Park Hyatt brand.

For the interiors, Hyatt looked to Peter Remedios, Managing Principal of California-based Remedios Siembieda to deliver a product that surpasses the romance and glamour of the group’s flagship Park Hyatt Tokyo – no small order.

“The buildings are classic John Portman: perfect squares,” notes Remedios. “There is a birdcage-like lantern structure at the top, sort of a glass pyramid that will be a beacon for the city. And the sky lobby is a Park Hyatt ‘thing’.” A fan of the sky lobby, he designed Crown Macau’s high speed lifts to whisk guests up to level 38 for an unexpectedly stunning sea view across Taipa to the Macau Tower and Hotel Lisboa. For Park Hyatt Beijing, Remedios worked with leading Beijing developer Yintai to create a sky lobby that would be even more memorable.
As the building is essentially zoned like a three tier wedding cake, there needs to be both an arrival lobby for guests on the ground floor, plus the sky lobby where they check in and lounge.

“The concept is similar to Park Hyatt Tokyo,” Remedios explains. “It is a mixed-use building. The entry was originally designed to be off the main street. Hyatt changed it because it prefers guests to arrive from behind the hotel – it is a quieter experience. It is important to have that arrival experience. There is a sense of entering through a courtyard, in the Chinese tradition. I used the same stone and wood as throughout the rest of the hotel, so that it instantly feels like guests are going into a residential space.”

Remedios was inspired both by the water gardens of Suzhou and the strict formality of The Forbidden City to reinterpret a series of contemporary aqua pavilions in the sky lobby. As guests progress through from public to semi-private to the sanctuary of their own guestrooms, the materials get more refined. Split face stone on the ground floor is gradually overshadowed by other materials, culminating in fine limestone in the guest bathrooms.

Another Remedios trademark is the island as useable sculpture. In Hong Kong’s Landmark Mandarin Oriental, it was the freestanding circular bathtub. At Park Hyatt Beijing, it is a cubic box that is a vanity table on one side and a mini bar on the other. “I like designs that guests can circulate around,” he states.

In the guestroom, which ranges from 45 to 240m2, there is a sliding screen that can close the bathroom off completely. A pair of cung benches separated by a table in the suite’s lounge area echo straight-laced traditional Chinese furnishings, while its rectilinear shapes reinforce the formality. Colours range from blonde to dark chocolate to warm greys, for a neutral palette that soothes.

Remedios was responsible for the bulk of Park Hyatt, including its spa, meeting rooms, lobby, guestrooms, and conference centre, but Tokyo-based Super Potato – an increasingly frequent collaborator on Hyatt International projects worldwide, have also been involved in the hotel’s development.

Park Life is a six level medley of high-end boutiques by the Tokyo-based interior design firm, while the top level with its striking glass pyramid roof and 360-degree panorama is the hotel’s signature Continental restaurant. Australia’s Bar Studio is the design firm behind an Italian restaurant on level three. Rounding out the facilities will be a spa and 25-metre indoor pool on levels 59 and 60, as well as a 2,300m2 events and meeting destination within Park Life that includes a 1,220m2 pillar-free ballroom. “It is unusual to pair Park Hyatt with a conference centre,” muses Remedios. However, with China World right across the street, it makes perfect sense.