A poetic dialogue between East and West, past and present—revealing the timeless tale of Hangzhou through a contemporary lens.
Situated along the tranquil banks of the Jing-Hang Grand Canal, Kempinski Hotel Hangzhou offers more than a place to stay, it offers a lyrical experience of place, memory, and flow. Designed by Avalon Collective, the hotel captures the essence of Hangzhou’s natural beauty, its fabled West Lake, the elegance of its rivers, and the deep cultural layers that define this historical water town.
Avalon Collective takes a poetic approach, abstracting and distilling classical motifs into modern gestures. The interiors unfold like a contemporary scroll painting, where each space tells part of a story, at once grounded in heritage and buoyed by a sense of motion. The result is a refined dialogue between East and West, past and present, stillness and movement.
The lobby sets the tone with a grand theatricality. Here, guests are greeted by sculptural chandeliers that cascade from above, evocative of snow-laden willow branches that fringe the West Lake in winter. They shimmer with a quiet opulence, reflecting light like frozen dew, and form a graceful contrast against the grounded material palette of stone and bronze.
Within the guestrooms, the design takes on a more intimate and contemplative tone. Inspired by the sinuous bends of the Grand Canal, the spatial flow unfolds in soft, fluid gestures, offering a quiet counterpoint to the grandeur of the public areas. A palette drawn from Hangzhou celadon—cool greens, mist-washed greys, and lustrous glazed surfaces—infuses the rooms with a sense of quietude and depth. The result is an atmosphere that feels at once refined and restorative, where the gentle rhythm of the canal is reinterpreted as a modern-day sanctuary.
Timber floorboards in a cool ash tone run parallel to the canal’s imagined banks, while sheer curtains and sliding panels create layers of softness and shadow. Look closer and you’ll discover hand-painted textiles—each delicately embroidered with Tang Dynasty court ladies weaving silk. It is a quiet, reverent nod to Hangzhou’s legacy as a silk capital, rendered not as a historic replica but as an atmospheric imprint—subtle, elegant, and entirely of the moment.
What sets the design apart is its restraint. There is no overt nostalgia, no heavy ornamentation. Instead, Avalon Collective captures the feeling of Hangzhou: its lyricism, its sense of drifting between the real and the remembered.
Kempinski Hotel Hangzhou reminds us that luxury is not about loud statements, but about creating harmony with one’s surroundings. Here, design is as fluid as the canal it borders—quietly immersive, profoundly rooted, and endlessly graceful.
Project: Kempinski Hotel Hangzhou
Location: China
Design Studio: Avalon Collective
Photo Credits: Kempinski
Website: avaloncollective.com
