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News

Morpheus named finalist in the 2019 Surface Travel Awards

The Morpheus hotel at City of Dreams in Macau has been named finalist in the 2019 Surface Travel Awards that recognise the most thoughtfully conceived new projects at the intersection of travel and design, raising awareness of the crucial benefit of design as a means to improve our lives as we explore the world around us. ZHA’s Napoli Afragola High Speed Train Station was named a winner of the 2018 Surface Travel Awards.

Morpheus was designed as a vertical extrusion of the site’s existing abandoned foundations for a condominium tower that did not progress; using this rectangular footprint to define a 40-storey building of two internal vertical circulation cores at podium and roof levels where the hotel’s many guest amenities were required.

Three horizontal vortices generate the voids through the central atrium and define the hotel’s spectacular interior public spaces. In-between these voids, a series of bridges create unique spaces for the restaurants, bars and guest lounges by renowned chefs including Alain Ducasse & Pierre Herme.

Working with BuroHappold Engineering, Zaha Hadid Architects designed the building’s structure to optimise the hotel’s interiors. The world’s first free-form high-rise exoskeleton, its rich pattern of structural members at lower levels progresses upwards to a less dense grid of lighter members at its summit.

Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts said, “From the very beginning, we shared ZHA’s vision and determination to push boundaries. Morpheus offers a journey of the imagination. From the curved exterior to the dramatic interior spaces, it pleases the eye and excites the senses: a contemporary masterpiece to be enjoyed by many generations to come.”

In 2018, TIME Magazine listed Morpheus Hotel as one of the World’s Greatest Places based on key factors including quality, originality, innovation, sustainability and influence. Morpheus was also voted ArchDaily’s Building of the Year’ (BOTY) in the hospitality category while Popular Science Magazine Magazine included the hotel in their list ‘Best of What New’

This year, Morpheus was named winner of a National Geographic’s The Big Sleep Awards 2019 and was also awarded the Prix Versailles 2019 for Central and Northeast Asia. Additionally, Morpheus was named winner at the 2019 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Award, the 2019 Asia Pacific Property Awards, and is also shortlisted for this year’s World Architecture Festival Award.

Photography by Ivan Dupont