Waterhouse in South Bund

The Waterhouse at South Bund, located on the banks of Shanghai’s Huangpu River, inexorably raises the city’s boutique hotel stakes. Its 19 guestrooms, destination restaurant, rooftop bar, and enormous all-purpose event space produce an exhilarating atmosphere and breathe new life into the Shanghai market. Neri & Hu Design and Research Office, one of China’s leading architectural voices, entirely transformed the 1930s building but maintained the original facade. Lyndon Neri explains the design ethos for The Waterhouse: ‘This is a hotel that puts the emphasis on the traveler in search of some meaning, and not just the luxury component of living.’ A conceptual blending of the antique and the contemporary, the hotel offers magnificent views of the Pudong skyline, where the city’s quaint low-rise architectural heritage is still largely intact. The Waterhouse at South Bund prides itself on integrating into the traditional local environment while challenging its boundaries.