In one of this year’s most eagerly anticipated openings, Jin Jiang Hotels International and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts unveil the Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai - the culmination of a comprehensive restoration programme since the iconic hotel property’s closure in 2007.
The hotel, which officially opened on 1 August 1929, was widely known as the luxurious “Number One mansion in the Far East “, due to its prime location along the Bund, and for its grandeur, including the distinctive copper-sheathed roof 77 metres above ground, white Italian marble floors, and priceless Lalique glass artwork.
Design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) worked closely with a team of leading designers, architects and historians to recreate the grandeur and majesty of the landmark property and embody the spirit of its glamorous art-deco heritage.
“The Peace Hotel has been a Shanghai landmark for more than a century. It is the most famous hotel in China, and arguably in Asia,” says Ian Carr, Principal of HBA. “It was our intention to recreate the grandeur and majesty of this major Asian landmark and restore it to its rightful place as one of the world’s finest hotels.”
HBA had a team of 14 designers in Shanghai and Singapore who worked on the Peace Hotel project, headed by HBA Principals Ian Carr and Connie Puar. Since its doors closed to the public in April 2007, the historic property has also undergone a detailed structural study to define the hotel’s original floor plan and design schematics. “Architecturally we tried to retain as much as we possibly could,” says Carr.
The newly revitalised property offers 270 deluxe guestrooms and suites with a selection of six restaurants and lounges. Included among these is the much-loved Jazz Bar, a Shanghai institution since the 1930s, Signature Chinese restaurant Dragon Phoenix and The Cathay Room, offering stunning views of the Bund from its terrace on the ninth floor. The eighth floor will also host the famed Peace Hall, where the property’s iconic sprung-wooden dance floor still evokes memories of old Shanghai cabarets and gala parties.
The design for the Fairmont Peace Hotel recalls Shanghai’s renowned art-deco heritage, combined with streamlined furnishings and state-of-the-art in-room facilities. “It will be signature HBA – a look that is luxurious, contemporary and endearing – but muted and tailored for this particular property,” stated HBA Principal Connie Puar.
The ground floor, which was originally designed as a luxury shopping arcade, has been returned to its classic crucifix floor-plan, with revolving entrance doors on all four sides of the hotel.
The splendid octagonal glass skylight and an entire mezzanine level – which had been covered up for decades with gypsum board – are revealed once more. Custom-patterned stone mosaic floors echo the hotel’s original deco-style tiling.
A soft “buff and blue-grey” colour scheme enhances the hotel’s original intricate cornices and coffers. Refurbished copper balustrades and light fixtures are complemented by antique bronze and polished nickel. Authentic period styling includes grey-vein marble accented with rich Noir St Laurent dark marble borders and walnut burl grain wood panelling that were popular during Shanghai’s 1930s art deco heyday.
Guestrooms feature 1930s period flourishes along with contemporary comforts and cutting-edge technology. Starting at a spacious 45 square metres, the guestrooms feature a soft colour palette and tailored art deco motifs and furnishings. State-of-the-art in-room technology includes a 37-inch plasma stereo TV, a bath-side LCD screen, blue-ray DVD player and wireless and broadband Internet with ‘plug-and-play’ connectivity. Additional room amenities include Illy espresso machines, 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton bed linens and exclusive Miller Harris Cologne Series 1888 bath products.
A new extension to the building will house a sky-lit swimming pool and a Willow Stream Spa. The famous ‘Nine Nations Suites’ will remain a feature while a new presidential suite will occupy the tenth floor penthouse where the hotel’s flamboyant creator and former owner, Sir Victor Sassoon, once lived.
Behind the scenes, many hidden innovations add contemporary comforts to the guest experience. The mechanical and electrical systems, including air ventilation, plumbing and heating, have been completely overhauled and concealed as befits a contemporary five-star hotel.
An Anglo-Jewish business tycoon, Sassoon was a driving force in Shanghai’s development, pioneering construction on the marshy Bund by installing 1,600 redwood and concrete pilings as the foundation of the 11-storey hotel, the first high-rise in the city.
The original hotel boasted a number of firsts in its day – a private plumbing system with water channelled in from a spring outside the city and Shanghai’s first electric elevator, an art deco cage. Guests and visitors will be able to learn about the unique historical and cultural heritage of Shanghai’s most famous building through the Peace Gallery.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
0 comments
Digg
Print