An upscale Hong Kong hotel features the city’s brightest creative sparks, writes Aaron De Silva.

indesignlive.sg
September 14th, 2011
Hotel ICON, a new 262-key development located across from the Hong Kong Coliseum and Hung Hom railway station in Tsim Sha Tsui, is set to redefine the city’s design scene with its unique showcase of local and global creative talents.
![]()
The acclaimed Rocco Yim of Rocco Design Architects oversaw the hotel’s architectural design while the illustrious William Lim of CL3 Architects designed the contemporary interiors, including the guestrooms, the ballroom and the lobby’s grand sweeping staircase.
![]()
Lim’s goal was to create spaces of ultimate comfort. “Comfort is always a priority when designing guestrooms,” he explains. “I wanted to create a sense of richness and elegance, then let the spectacular views complete the story.”
![]()
Fashion doyenne Vivienne Tam also contributed to the project, designing the hotel’s exclusive VT Suite in a chic, simple palette, a reflection of her signature aesthetic. Meanwhile, her award-winning Hong Kong compatriot Barney Cheng created the hotel’s stylish, clean-cut staff uniforms.
![]()
The confluence of art and design is reflected in the hotel’s eclectic art collection, curated by renowned designer Freeman Lau. “I wanted to give a comprehensive picture of the creative industry here in Hong Kong,” says Lau. “The aim is to show a diverse group of artworks so that guests can get a taste of the different elements in the creative sector.”
Tommy Li, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent graphic designers, created the hotel’s striking logo. Fluid and evolving, the logo signifies the hotel’s central location as well as its outreach and commitment to the city’s creative clique.
![]()
The outreach extends far beyond Hong Kong’s borders. Influential British firm Conran & Partners designed the hotel’s restaurants, including Above & Beyond, the sleek, members-only facility on Level 28, and The Market, a buzzy, open plan restaurant inspired by the city’s iconic wet markets. Celebrated French botanist/installation artist Patrick Blanc created the lavish 18m vertical garden in the lobby. Measuring 230m2, the verdant wall is the largest of its kind in Asia.
Hotel Icon
hotel-icon.com
Rocco Design Architects Ltd
rocco.hk
Conran & Partners
conranandpartners.com
CL3 Architects Ltd
cl3.com
Conran & Partners
conranandpartners.com
Patrick Blanc
verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com
INDESIGN is on instagram
Follow @indesignlive
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
The newest brand to emerge from Cosentino’s creative crucible is Ēclos, a next-generation mineral surface that embodies the organic beauty and tactility of marble in a precision-mineral surface or material.
Natural stone shapes the interiors of Billyard Avenue, a luxury apartment development in Sydney’s Elizabeth Bay designed by architecture and design practice SJB. Here, a curated selection of stone from Anterior XL sets the backdrop for the project’s material language.
In the second instalment of our performance seating three-parter, we turn to DKO’s Michael Drescher and Jacob Olsen to peek behind Sayl’s confident architectural form and explore the ideas of inclusivity, adaptability and freedom to move as hallmarks of what sitting your best actually means.
Stepping into Intuit’s Sydney workplace certainly doesn’t feel like walking into an office. Why? In this film, we discover that, when joy takes precedence as a design driver, even a high-performing commercial CBD headquarters can feel like an intuitive wonderland that invites employees to choose their own adventure.
Indesign Group’s Ali Festa hits the ground running on the first day of the Cersaie Fair 2009.
Laminex debuts a new epoch of surface design that preserves the essence of the Australian landscape through proprietary technology.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Hosted at Savage Design in Sydney, the first Indesign Social Club brought emerging architects and designers together for a smaller, more open conversation on participation, making and the future of practice.
As Saturday Indesign prepares to return to Sydney this September, architects, designers and exhibitors reflect on what has kept the event relevant for more than two decades.