Piero Lissoni Weaves His Magic on Swire Hotels’s Latest The House Collective

Posted in News, Projects on 26 September, 2017

Italian visionary blended a local twist to his modernist aesthetic at The Middle House, the fourth property from Swire Hotels’ highly acclaimed The House Collective, scheduled to open at the end of 2017.

Lissoni, renowned architect and founder of Lissoni Architettura in Milan, is also known for his stints as art director for iconic design brands including Alpi, Boffi, Lualdi, Flos, Fritz Hansen, Cassina, Kartell and many more.

Known for his use of sleek, bold lines and clean silhouettes to redefine modern spaces, Lissoni’s design efforts extend to The Middle House’s exterior façade as well as the interiors of all its public spaces, guest rooms and serviced apartments.

The hotel’s exterior façade will feature a series of round aluminum louvers, which provide shade and privacy for the guest rooms while creating a textured aesthetic that visually distinguishes the hotel’s two towers from surrounding developments. While louvers with their functional, uniform slats are a familiar sight in Shanghainese architecture, using round frames gives them a refreshing new spin.

For the interior spaces, Lissoni took inspiration from Shanghai’s rich heritage of craftsmanship and culture, marrying his minimalist style with classical Shanghainese elements. While his signature is apparent in the subtle yet impactful combinations of bold lines, materials and colours, the overall theme is enhanced by décor and custom furnishing inspired by Shanghai’s culture of art and craftsmanship, providing an intriguing marriage of the old and new.

Drawing from his decades of experience reshaping contemporary Italian furniture, Lissoni has created modern reinterpretations of traditional Chinese furniture for the guest rooms, including oriental-style nightstands, contemporary table lamps and wall-to-wall benches in the living area. Complemented by generous windows affording ample views of the city, transparent room dividers serve to brighten up each guest room and create a natural sense of space. Backlit walls and glazed screens are also used to lighten the otherwise secluded bathroom areas. For the perfect finishing touch, each room also features exquisite Chinese artwork.

For the spacious serviced apartments, Lissoni created sliding wood panels to facilitate a flexible living space. Finely carved with traditional Chinese design elements, the sliding panels provide a gentle barrier between the bedroom and living area, allowing guests to open the panels and unite the two spaces, or close them for privacy as needed. Here, a warm and inviting colour scheme of white and cream is accented by bright pops of colour in the furnishings and décor,

while the bathroom floor is paved in rich brown ceramic parquet tiles with brushed bamboo textures.