asialife HCMC 1 - AsiaLIFE Magazine

Behind the Design - Moevenpick HotelThe Moevenpick completes its makeover and proveshow functional art can be adapted in the hospitalitysector. By Brett Davis. Photos by Fred Wissink.Hotels are practical things, aplace to lay your head at theend of a journey. Occasionally,they can even be beautiful in adistant sort of way. It is not oftenthough that they take a bolddesign step that is moving morein the direction of functional art.The Swiss hotel groupMoevenpick closed their HCMCity property for severalmonths last year to perform amajor makeover. The result isa top-to-bottom redesign thathas reinvigorated the hotel andturned the heads of new andregular guests alike.Moevenpick General ManagerKnuth Kiefer explained thegoal was to create an overall designthat set the hotel apart fromthe competition in Vietnam.“In Hong Kong or Singaporeyou will see things like this butnot in Vietnam,” he said.The result was a collaborativeprocess, with an original designfrom a Thai firm supplementedwith ideas from numeroussources including the propertyowner and construction projectmanager.However, only a little wayinto the conversation withKiefer it is obvious the generalmanager’s personal flair was asignificant influence on the finaldesign. Purple sofas providean arresting counter-note in thegleaming white lobby, and thestriking shade is a recurringtheme through much of the newdesign. It also happens to beKiefer’s favourite colour.“I like colours that aredifferent—purple, turquoise,lime green. I like contrast and Ithink it worked quite well witha white lobby,” he said.Around 2,500sq metres offloor space was added to the hotelthrough the reconstruction.The front entrance was movedforward and more glass addedto bring in extra light. Even newuniforms were designed to givea more stylish, less formal feel.The changes have been wellreceived by the vast majorityof the hotel’s guests. Kiefersaid the hotel was looking tomove away from its more staid,colonial-looking past and attracta higher-end corporate guest.The transition from the past to abright new future could not bemore dramatic.54 asialife HCMC asialife HCMC 55