Hong Kong's Wan Chai is a lively mix of old and a bit of trendy new, its streets are narrow and crowded with open markets, tenements, balconies, fast food eateries, old colonial public buildings, tram tracks, barely visible in the press of people. And it's the unexpected locus for Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island, one of the city's latest boutique hotels.
Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island is the design of Max Connop and his team. It is on a 12.1 metre wide corner site, far narrower than any conventional commercial hotelier would bother thinking about. It has one of the most dramatic hotel swimming pools in China. And it's one of Hong Kong's top twenty hotels.
Connop says, 'The client wanted to put a little hotel in among the markets, the smell of meat, tiny restaurants and a very tight site – it was outrageously thin. He wanted rooms with massive sheets of glass to allow guests unobstructed views through the surrounding apartment and office towers.'
From the single basement level up it has three levels of public spaces including the reception area. Dining room and the library, three levels of mechanical services, 19 floors of bedrooms surmounted by the rooftop jacuzzi, changing rooms and sky bar plus swimming pool which with its glass bottom is cantilevered out three or so metres from the edge of the roof. Below at ground level overlooking a basement level semicircular garden and tables is a three level interpretation of a Chinese teahouse.
The main bulk of the building is made up by the guest rooms. There are 138 guest rooms, typically 30 sq m, on 19 floors.
The windows, actually curtain walls of full heights panels are double glazed Low-E glass to minimise solar gain and to contribute to minimising air cooling which is supplemented by openable windows to some lobbies and rooms.
This is a very Chinese building. It is literally wrapped in a spiral of carefully positioned burnished bronze solar shades which follow a path suggested by scientific solar studies of the building's shape and setting. This dragon, for that is what the path of the bronze shades represents, spirals up the building in search of the legendary pearl which, with a small stretch of the imagination, turns out to be the gleaming and apparently perilous swimming pool. Dragon is the ultimate Chinese symbol of cosmic energy, Chi, and also of good fortune and also new beginnings.
Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island may be 25 stories high but its public realm is self effacing.
What need is there for the grand hotel entrances of 19th century European palaces when what is wanted is not much more than adequate shelter for guests and luggage emerging from or loading into taxis. And that is about all Connop's team has provided – and all guests really need.
Hong Kong's Wan Chai is a lively mix of old and a bit of trendy new, its streets are narrow and crowded with open markets, tenements, balconies, fast food eateries, old colonial public buildings, tram tracks, barely visible in the press of people. And it's the unexpected locus for Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island, one of the city's latest boutique hotels.
Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island is the design of Max Connop and his team. It is on a 12.1 metre wide corner site, far narrower than any conventional commercial hotelier would bother thinking about. It has one of the most dramatic hotel swimming pools in China. And it's one of Hong Kong's top twenty hotels.
Connop says, 'The client wanted to put a little hotel in among the markets, the smell of meat, tiny restaurants and a very tight site – it was outrageously thin. He wanted rooms with massive sheets of glass to allow guests unobstructed views through the surrounding apartment and office towers.'
From the single basement level up it has three levels of public spaces including the reception area. Dining room and the library, three levels of mechanical services, 19 floors of bedrooms surmounted by the rooftop jacuzzi, changing rooms and sky bar plus swimming pool which with its glass bottom is cantilevered out three or so metres from the edge of the roof. Below at ground level overlooking a basement level semicircular garden and tables is a three level interpretation of a Chinese teahouse.
The main bulk of the building is made up by the guest rooms. There are 138 guest rooms, typically 30 sq m, on 19 floors.
The windows, actually curtain walls of full heights panels are double glazed Low-E glass to minimise solar gain and to contribute to minimising air cooling which is supplemented by openable windows to some lobbies and rooms.
This is a very Chinese building. It is literally wrapped in a spiral of carefully positioned burnished bronze solar shades which follow a path suggested by scientific solar studies of the building's shape and setting. This dragon, for that is what the path of the bronze shades represents, spirals up the building in search of the legendary pearl which, with a small stretch of the imagination, turns out to be the gleaming and apparently perilous swimming pool. Dragon is the ultimate Chinese symbol of cosmic energy, Chi, and also of good fortune and also new beginnings.
Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island may be 25 stories high but its public realm is self effacing.
What need is there for the grand hotel entrances of 19th century European palaces when what is wanted is not much more than adequate shelter for guests and luggage emerging from or loading into taxis. And that is about all Connop's team has provided – and all guests really need.
Hong Kong's Wan Chai is a lively mix of old and a bit of trendy new, its streets are narrow and crowded with open markets, tenements, balconies, fast food eateries, old colonial public buildings, tram tracks, barely visible in the press of people. And it's the unexpected locus for Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island, one of the city's latest boutique hotels.
Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island is the design of Max Connop and his team. It is on a 12.1 metre wide corner site, far narrower than any conventional commercial hotelier would bother thinking about. It has one of the most dramatic hotel swimming pools in China. And it's one of Hong Kong's top twenty hotels.
Connop says, 'The client wanted to put a little hotel in among the markets, the smell of meat, tiny restaurants and a very tight site – it was outrageously thin. He wanted rooms with massive sheets of glass to allow guests unobstructed views through the surrounding apartment and office towers.'
From the single basement level up it has three levels of public spaces including the reception area. Dining room and the library, three levels of mechanical services, 19 floors of bedrooms surmounted by the rooftop jacuzzi, changing rooms and sky bar plus swimming pool which with its glass bottom is cantilevered out three or so metres from the edge of the roof. Below at ground level overlooking a basement level semicircular garden and tables is a three level interpretation of a Chinese teahouse.
The main bulk of the building is made up by the guest rooms. There are 138 guest rooms, typically 30 sq m, on 19 floors.
The windows, actually curtain walls of full heights panels are double glazed Low-E glass to minimise solar gain and to contribute to minimising air cooling which is supplemented by openable windows to some lobbies and rooms.
This is a very Chinese building. It is literally wrapped in a spiral of carefully positioned burnished bronze solar shades which follow a path suggested by scientific solar studies of the building's shape and setting. This dragon, for that is what the path of the bronze shades represents, spirals up the building in search of the legendary pearl which, with a small stretch of the imagination, turns out to be the gleaming and apparently perilous swimming pool. Dragon is the ultimate Chinese symbol of cosmic energy, Chi, and also of good fortune and also new beginnings.
Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island may be 25 stories high but its public realm is self effacing.
What need is there for the grand hotel entrances of 19th century European palaces when what is wanted is not much more than adequate shelter for guests and luggage emerging from or loading into taxis. And that is about all Connop's team has provided – and all guests really need.