Pain points
Follow complex hotel accommodation and amenities program

Constraints
Required building coverage and open space ratio

My Role
Senior Designer/Project Manager

Located next to Taipei 101, this boutique hotel proposal was collaborated with hotel executive, marketing, administration, interior and landscape design teams. 

The main challenge/pain point for the architects was planning and designing the hotel based on the hotel's area program of accommodation and amenities. Every hotel has their preferred amenities and how much area they want for each space. Some hotels love a huge ballroom, some prefer to have a nice spa and gym, and some might want oversized rooms. As an architect, I collaborated with the hotel teams to refine the program and revised architectural plans to meet in the middle.

Why didn’t I just give the hotel teams all the area they initially desired? Here come the constraints. Each city has their own laws to follow when it comes to architecture. In our case, we needed to provide 60% of the site area for public use so we could gain the bonus area. This may sound complicated, but it is critical for the hotel owner to accommodate more rooms from a business point of view.

Collaborating with everyone efficiently is crucial for this project. Building owner, hotel executive, marketing, administration, interior designer, landscape designer, traffic consultant… all expected to get what they wanted. Besides designing and creating digital renderings, one of my tasks was to hear everyone’s opinions, navigate them through the options, and find a way to make everyone happy without making them feel compromised.

In the middle of collaboration, everyone’s vision started getting clear and we came up with a U-shaped footprint for this hotel proposal. This shape can achieve the open space ratio and provide the private and intimate drop-off experience fitting with the hotel’s core spirit. The result came after much effort, but the key to this success was developing a trusted relationship with the client and teams, and being flexible in the design process.