San Francisco-based BraytonHughes Design Studios found inspiration for the Fairmont Nanjing in the building itself. “The building is a faceted jewel; it is geometric with straight lines,” says principal Joel Villalon.

For the hotel lobby and atrium, the team imagined standing inside a 30-story Chinese lantern. The LED lights behind the faceted metal panels change color throughout the day.

“We made the conscious decision to create a darker, moodier sensibility with forms that spoke to the angularity of the building’s façade,” says Villalon.

“When does a designer get the opportunity to design a 30 story atrium?” says Villalon. “The experiences in the atrium change from the atrium floor vantage point, to the fast, vertical elevator ride, to the views from the smaller, framed openings at each of the guestroom floor corridors.”

A second design concept was the plum tree of Nanjing. “The softer, more fluid lines of the leaf and blossoms to help balance the faceted planes,” explains Villalon.

The hotel bar incorporates both the angular and plum tree concepts.

Sliding doors transform guestrooms from a series of smaller enclosed spaces to a much larger experience. “We wanted to create a room that felt much larger than it was,” Villalon explains.

The bathrooms are lighter in palette than the bedrooms, corridors, and public spaces. “We wanted the shift in tone to provide some visual relief,” Villalon adds.