40-storey ZHA-designed hotel opens in Macau

A hotel designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has opened in the City of Dreams resort in Macau.

The 40-storey "Morpheus", which contains 770 guest rooms, is inspired by traditional Chinese jade carving.

A central atrium, placed between the towers, will match the height of the hotel, and is traversed by what ZHA describes as "external voids" cut into the core and connecting the separate structures.

The project has what the architect describes as the "world’s first free-form high-rise exoskeleton".

Viviana Muscettola, ZHA’s project director, said: "The design is intriguing as it makes no reference to traditional architectural typologies. Macau’s buildings have previously referenced architecture styles from around the world. Morpheus has evolved from its unique environment and site conditions as a new architecture expressly of this city.    

"The comprehensive parametric model combined all of the hotel’s aesthetic, structural and fabrication requirements and will radically change how our built environment is planned and constructed."

Images courtesy of ZHA/Virgile Simon Bertrand