KUNMING HOTEL: A STORY OF REVIVAL, HERITAGE, AND GLORY
Kunming Hotel has been a city icon as far back as anyone can remember. Playing host to distinguished guests, diplomats, and leaders, the hotel’s prestige is unparalleled, and it has long been a source of pride and glory for the city.
It’s in this context then that NDA shoulders a great responsibility in redesigning Kunming Hotel for the modern era, where we match its glorious past to an even more brilliant future.
NDA was tasked with creating a study to modernize this legendary hotel, carefully preserving the historical structure and building upon the heritage it embodies.
The study starts from the point of realization that Kunming Hotel’s heritage, and the region’s legendary warm welcome, are perfectly aligned with high end hospitality.
Heritage
Ask any Kunming local and they’ll tell you that Kunming Hotel plays an oversized role in the city. Founded in 1958, the hotel is as much physically in the political, economic, and cultural centre of Kunming as it is figuratively part of it.
Being the centre of Kunming’s social scene and the site of world class hospitality means it has repeatedly hosted both Chinese and foreign leaders including Zhou Enlai and Chen Yi as well as Margaret Thatcher and the Princess of Brunei.
Such is the prestige of Kunming Hotel that it sits across the Municipal Government, and housed the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Thailand, as well as offices of the Bank of Thailand, and the Bank of China.
Culture inside and out
As an important stop on the Silk Road, and thus a gateway into the far-off ethnically diverse Yunnan province and beyond, Kunming has long held an air of mystique and mystery.
We bring this air of wonder into the hotel by recreating elements of a traditional Yunnan lodge in a green oasis. By creating an exquisite interior, we pay tribute to the folk culture, diverse geography, and unique flora that make the region so special.
We make guests feel closer to earth by carefully placing abundance of plants to highlight the rich earthy browns and soft whites that adorn the interior.
Cloud inspired lighting that hang overhead hark to the clouds in the Chinese name for Yunnan, and mountain ranges grace the walls of function rooms, truly making guests feel they are nature in itself.
Past informs the Future
Significantly, there are five anchor elements that connect and create the whole: the south wing, the north wing, large meeting spaces, the garden with commercial space, and finally the Cloud Bridge that connects everything together.
The North Building’s updated façade is informed by its 1970’s origins of strong horizontal lines, with an advanced system of blinds to reduce energy consumption. Further, the client request for 260 keys allows for extension to the North Wing that houses modern open rooms including the presidential suite and the executive lounge.
The south building’s façade is painstakingly restored to its former 1956 appearance, using archive material as guidance. Small additions are made such as rooftop lounges and street-level garden decks, to activate this building and connect it to the street.
Meeting space is opened up by the demolishing of 8500sqm existing building space which is to be reconstructed into modern, luxurious, and practical meeting space, allowing for events and public programs required by brands.
The existing park is redesigned to allow for valuable underground commercial space with great natural lighting and a garden conservatory on top, thus further inviting the public to engage with the hotel.
Cloud Bridge
In Kunming Hotel we see connection everywhere; old with the new, past glories that inform a bright future, and people with place.
The Cloud Bridge started as a purely functional element to ensure connectivity between north and south wings, but evolved to become a centrepiece that connects the city with province, symbolizes past and future together, and inspires people and place.
The Cloud Bridge spans over different times, different cultures, and different people, and with its subtle, ethereal aura, it brings us ever closer to the mysteries and stories that lay in Yunnan, the place “south of the clouds”.
