Interior Design Award of Excellence: Rosewood Bangkok Hotel, Bangkok
Rutger Huiberts
Director
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, New York City
Thomas Harlander
Managing Director
Rosewood Bangkok, Bangkok
A Vertical Water Feature Centerpiece Enhances a Tropical Hotel
The two connecting high-rise structures of Rosewood Bangkok are masterfully combined to create a dynamic form, revealing a tall, interior central void. In keeping with the tropical environment, this atrium features lush, vertical terraced gardens, evoking Thailand’s famous caves and creating a dramatic backdrop for guests and passersby alike.
The vertical grotto, lined with green terraces and natural stone, climbs upwards through the center of the building. Rather than being a simple internal atrium, the courtyard acts as outdoor garden space. Natural features are brought into each guestroom through hanging terraces, which offer cantilevered plunge pools and private garden space. Providing access to the gym, the indoor-outdoor pool deck also leads to the herb garden, and is surrounded by lush trees and vegetation. The visitor and guest experience are never completely isolated from each other, carefully combining public access with the need for privacy. At several key moments, the architecture of the building provides visual connections between the public and private program, such as via the ascendant greenery. This ensures that visitors and guests can experience the intimacy of the hotel environment, while still feeling that they are only a few steps away from Bangkok’s busy city life.
The vertical, terraced courtyard also brings fresh air and daylight deep into each floor. The hotel’s 10-story indoor waterfall feature can be viewed through a moon gate at the hotel restaurant, drawing the eye downward to the outdoor saltwater lap pool at the end of the waterfall. The water feature enhances the interior environment in myriad ways beyond the visual, creating a backdrop of soothing sounds, and helping to reduce cooling loads in the tropical heat.
