The City Crossing development in Shenzhen, one of China’s richest cities and bordering Hong Kong, gets a cutting edge ‘urban-resort’ from international architectural firm RTKL. The firm has a long standing relationship with the client, conglomerate China Resources Company which began in 2001 with the master plan for and architectural design for both phases of the City Crossing development culminating with the Grand Hyatt Shenzhen as the capstone of the mixed use development.

The 193-metre tall, 36-story hotel tower features a series of terraced levels that stem from a base podium. Divided into wedges, the building creates a geometrically curved expression embracing the site and surrounding open spaces.

The hotel is noted for its unique inverted ‘upside down’ layout which positions the front desk, main lobby and signature restaurants at the rooftop level with the guestrooms below. This feature is expressed by a 50-metre glass atrium on top of the tower, inspired by the mountainous region and the four points of the China Resources’ company logo.

As is often the case with mixed-use developments in China, the concept phase for the hotel started prior to the operator being in place. Once the operator, Hyatt, was on board, RTKL’s design team worked to incorporate many of the Hyatt teams’ visions in conjunction with interior design firm Wilson Associates. This included rethinking the organization of the hotel programme and resulted in the unique sky lobby at the top of the building, which was incorporated midway through the design process.

The tower’s façade treatment employs a series of stainless steel vertical fins that highlight the tower’s vertical line while horizontal polished stone spandrels contour the shape into a harmonious, continuous curve.

“The hotel forms part of an urban neighbourhood surrounded by landscaped courtyards and plazas, water features, and a pedestrian-friendly streetscape,” says Todd Lundgren, Vice President and Global Hospitality Leader for RTKL. “The hotel tower expresses its height from the ground fronting Bao An Road and is flanked by a podium towards the north and a pavilion-like component in the south. The tower races to the sky at the south-west, and terraces down to the northeast sympathetically to tie in with the podium architecture.”

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