Designed by Italian architect Mario Botta, Twelve at Hengshan is a contemporary hotel that stands in contrast to the atmospheric lanes, cafes, boutiques, galleries and restored art deco buildings in the surrounding area.

Look a little closer, however, and you will discover that the facade is covered in terracotta tiles, the same material popularly found on many of the historic buildings in the neighbourhood.

Guests arrive at Twelve at Hengshan’s large portico entrance via a semi-circular driveway.

Inside, the 171-room, five-storey hotel houses an elliptical internal courtyard with a Chinese-style ‘Secret Garden’.

Large windows in the lobby and guestrooms look out onto the courtyard, allowing guests to take in the cherry blossoms, bamboo groves and streams. Over half of the garden-facing bedrooms also have private balconies.

The interiors were designed by New York-based hospitality design duo George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg (of Yabu Pushelberg studio) in a modern Chinoiserie style.

In contrast to the architecture, the hotel’s interior is punctuated throughout with garden motifs – from the carpets to the wallpaper and headboard screens imprinted with plane tree leaves similar to the ones found along Hengshan Road.

The hotel’s restaurant, Twelve Hengshan, continues the garden theme with a hand painted mural depicting a traditional garden scene across the length of the main dining room.

There are more than 13,993sqft of meeting and event spaces, including two ‘in-the-round’ boardrooms ringed in the same terracotta stone used to dress the facade.

And for a view the Hengshan neighbourhood and the Shanghai city skyline in the distance, guests can head up to the wraparound rooftop terrace, which has private gazebos for dining and lounging.

Mario Botta
botta.ch

Yabu Pushelberg
yabupushelberg.com