Hengshan Road Hotel - Shanghai- | Mario Botta

Swiss architect Mario Botta has designed a new luxury hotel in the Hengshan district of Shanghai.Twelve at Hengshan, the only five-star luxury hotel is located on Shanghai’s historic Hengshan Road.

Botta, who has previously designed the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, said his design draws inspiration from nearby art deco buildings and China’s cultural heritage.

The Luxury Collection hotel comprises a five-storey rectangular building with an elliptical internal garden and is clad in more than 20,000 natural terracotta tiles made in Italy by Palagio Engineering.

Large windows look onto a Chinese-style ‘Secret Garden’ adorned with cherry blossoms, bamboo groves and an underground stone-clad swimming pool.

The hotel’s contemporary architecture provides a contrast with the atmospheric neighborhood lanes, preserved art deco buildings and restaurants, boutiques and galleries in the surrounding area. Incorporated within the low-rise heritage district, the hotel comprises a five-story rectangular building surrounding an elliptical internal garden. A large entrance portico facing Hengshan Road with a sheltered semi-circular driveway provides a dramatic entrance stage. The front portico also houses the hotel dining venues and meeting facilities.

The façade is dressed in more than 20,000 natural terracotta tiles baked and crafted by Palagio Engineering. Terracotta is a popular trimming on many of the historic buildings in the area, most notably the former American International School on Hengshan Road.

It is also a natural and eco-friendly material.

Terracotta Tiles for the building were specifically designed and crafted for the project. The TerraTube technology is the terracotta cladding system used for the façade of Hengshan road Hotel.