Rocking the boat

The display of memorabilia is still an important aspect of the brand.
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With the new Hard Rock Hotel in Macau, MAP Architects and Planners had to capture the essence of a far from conventional brand. CID looks inside

“Non-conformist, irreverent, cool; perhaps even a little mad,” is how David Clarke, director of MAP Architects and Planners, describes the new Hard Rock Hotel in Macau.

The property is one of three luxury hotels within Macau’s new premier lifestyle and entertainment destination, the City of Dreams. Dubbed ‘Asia’s Las Vegas’, the integrated project also includes extensive retail and dining facilities. Hong Kong-based MAP was initially only commissioned to provide architectural services for the project’s podium shell and core.

However, the company’s scope of work eventually expanded to include the design of retail spaces and selected areas of the Hard Rock Hotel. “MAP was commissioned to design the Level 27 ‘Rock Star’ and Level 28 suites,” Clarke detailed. “We produced the design for the main lobby and lobby bar areas, and developed Getty’s design for the ‘drumstick museum’ and main entry portal.”

In these key areas, MAP was tasked with capturing the Hard Rock ethos, while exploring new symbolic representations of the brand. “The operator, Hard Rock, had been developing its vision for the hotel brands and was looking at a more evocative symbolic aesthetic – less dependant on the big guitar, for example. But we felt that some ‘irreverence’ was still warranted,” Clarke explained.

“The drum museum, paparazzi portal and lobby bar torso are obvious examples of this – as are some of the features of the Rock Star suites,” he continued. “The display of memorabilia is still an important part of the brand and displays are incorporated. They wanted a rich looking palette of materials and this was introduced into the design where appropriate,” he added.

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MAP’s design scheme for the public areas of the hotel tower focused on the vertical volume of the space.

And from the outset, the design promotes the drama and theatre that are inherent in the Hard Rock brand.

“The experience at the entry is inspired by the ‘paparazzi’ cordon of bright and flashing lights. We wanted the ‘theatre’ of the Hard Rock experience to start right at the front. We designed a contracting tunnel within a mirror/etched glass portal cube to achieve this effect,” Clarke detailed.

“A red ‘carpet’ of marble guides guests to the three check-in drums. A ribbon of amber glass activates the grey travertine back wall – inspired by the long flowing ribbons of traditional and gymnastic dance,” he added.

The lobby bar is dominated by a two-storey high wall linking the upper- and lower-level public areas. The space is defined by a feature wall that is evocatively styled in metallic ribbons of silver and copper – abstractly profiled in the shape of a human torso.

As a final touch, “the bar is designed to appear as if honed or machined out of a heavy, lava-like base of split and splayed rock planes,” Clarke explained.

At the rear, a pair of escalators connect the space to both levels of ‘The Boulevard’ retail area. On their way up, guests pass through a wall of drumsticks set in a striking geometric patterns. “The original concept was for 10,000 drumsticks fashioned into a relief sculpture. We were able to put this into effect and conceived of making this space the ‘drum museum’,” said Clarke.

“Since the hotel group has an excellent collection of memorabilia, we felt we could exploit this by placing signature drums on each of the stainless steel terraces beside the escalators.”