Macau Roosevelt by Gulla Jónsdóttir Architecture + Design: 2017 Best of Year Winner for Resort

Silver-screen glamour pervades the Hollywood Roosevelt’s sister property, which also happens to be the first ground-up hotel by Gulla Jónsdóttir. A 12-story glass tower, the newcomer even boasts a suite called the Marilyn Penthouse, as in Monroe. Alongside the Hollywood moments, however, other references add nuance. Witness the nods to the island’s Portuguese colonial history, to traditional Chinese art, and—a common denominator for Jónsdóttir’s hospitality projects—to elements from nature.

“Ties to the Portuguese style can be seen in the eclectic flooring materials,” she says, pointing out the lobby’s teak and a restaurant’s concrete tile. Meanwhile, bronze appears throughout, from the reception desk’s undulating front to the 368 guest rooms and suites’ focal walls, debossed with patterns resembling abstracted enlargements of leaves that might be found on an ancient Chinese scroll. Moving from natural imagery to live plants, an upside-down garden descends through an organically meandering aperture in the teak strips of the 40-foot ceiling in the lobby. “I always try to incorporate curves to make people feel more embraced,” she continues. Outdoors, facing the South China Sea, the swimming pool derives its shape from the lotus blossom, and the teak platform crossing the water mimics a lotus petal.

Project Team: Emi Taslin; Art Uribe; Thu Ngo; Emilie Riouallon; Nazami Kamizono; Masha Shishkina.

> See more from the December 2017 issue of Interior Design

> See all 2017 Best of Year winners and honorees