MAP Architecture & Planning have achieved further shortlist success in the International Hotel & Property Awards 2014. Their project, Lakeside Cafe, will compete for the Restaurant within a Hotel Award.
The all-day dining Lakeside Cafe is one of the most memorable dining places in the 520 room DoubleTree Resort by Hilton, Wuxi, China. The scope included the redesign of existing plans and the interior design of four restaurants, lounge, bar, and conference centre, as well as designing the bedrooms and hallways.
The client wanted to create an international five star hotel to appeal to domestic tourists, and on a wider scale, to the MICE market. The preference was for south-east Asian architecture and design but MAP felt this theme for the hotel didn’t fit well with the environs and strong local heritage. Key to successfully delivering this project was being able to lead the client to a design which amalgamated south-east Asian elements and local Chinese vernacular.
The Cafe is decorated in natural materials employing a minimal palette of soft colours based on the brown tones of the freshwater lake. A carpet was specially woven for the hotel, designed to give the effect of sunlight dancing on the lake’s surface. The freshwater tones perfectly complement the dark wood trim for the doors and surrounds. Traditional dark-wooden oars from the lake junks are used as decorative elements. Robust furniture was used with colour tones complimentary to the ‘sunlight-on-water’ carpet. MAP works on a ‘big idea’, in this case, it was placing one of the wooden 20 metre freshwater lake Chinese junks (which can only be found in this area) inside the restaurant, complete with five masts and sails. Dining takes place in and around the junk, making the space perfect for food and creating a conversation piece.