Half hotel, half creative retreat, Chapter & Verse stands as a shrine to tranquility that defines historic Wuzhen, a town in China’s Zhejiang province as notable for its 3,000-year history as it is for its still-flowing waterways. Designed by New York- and Shanghai-based New Practice Studio, the six-story new-build shares its 1.6-acre plot on a peninsula with a pair of small houses that showcase the vernacular the hotel echoes. “The local architectural context was an important source of inspiration for the project,” says New Practice Studio founding partner Nianlai Zhong. “The design of Chapter & Verse aims to capture that spirit while reinterpreting it with a sense of modern and abstract aesthetics.”
In the lobby, guests are greeted by the sound of running water and a small pool situated beneath a dramatic sculptural staircase. Indeed, water inspires much of the design for this project in Wuzhen, which is often referred to as the Venice of China. “We conceptualized its materialization in different ways,” Zhong says of the element.
The atrium, for instance, is oriented around abstract floating bridges—reminiscent of the ancient structures that reach across the bodies of water veining the location—that connect guestrooms with corridors. “They create a unique experience for the guests and an iconic space for the hotel,” Zhong adds.
To the north of the atrium, staggered guestroom terraces along the exterior mirror the lines of the waterways they overlook, while the southern façade is equipped with operable wooden screens that filter natural light into the interior and establish an ambiguous dynamic between inside and out. Eight different configurations span the hotel’s 31 rooms, from sundrenched, compact singles to a loft attached to a private garden. Interiors are further distinguished by warm wood, cool stone and metal, and a subtle layer of handbrushed plaster that lines the walls beside custom terrazzo applied to floors and vanity counters.
Panoramic views of the surroundings are also framed in Verse restaurant on the ground floor in another demonstration of the hotel’s indoor-outdoor convergence. “The project,” Zhong says, “is an example of how the spaces of a hotel can respond to the rich history of its location in a creative way.”
This article originally appeared in HD’s August 2022 issue.