Zaha Hadid Architects

Morpheus Hotel

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

MORPHEUS HOTEL

Zaha Hadid Architects

ARCHITECTS
Zaha Hadid Architects

LOCAL ARCHITECT
CAA City Planning & Engineering Consultants, Macau

DESIGN
Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher

CLIENT
Melco Resorts & Entertainment

ZHA CONCEPT TEAM
Viviana Muscettola, Tiago Correia, Clara Martins, Maria Loreto Flores, Victor Orive, Danilo Arsic,
Ines Fontoura, Fabiano Costinanza, Rafael Gonzalez, Muhammed Shameel

TRAFFIC ENGINEER
MVA Hong Kong

EXECUTIVE ARCHITECTS
Leigh & Orange, Hong Kong

M&E ENGINEERING
J. Roger Preston

STURCTURAL ENGINEERING
Buro Happold International, London/Hong Kong

FACADE ENGINEERING
Buro Happold International, Hong Kong

FIRE ENGINEERING
Arup, Hong Kong

LIGHTING DESIGN
Isometrix, London/Hong Kong

THIRD PARTY REVIEWER
Rolf Jensen & Associates

QUANTITY SURVEYOR
WT Partnership, Hong Kong

ACOUSTIC CONSULTANT
Shen Milson & Wilke, Hong Kong

AREA
147860.0 m2

YEAR
2018

LOCATION
Cotai, Macao

CATEGROY
Hotel

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

Text description provided by architect.

Asia’s most popular entertainment destination, Macau welcomed more than 32 million tourists in 2017, with visitor numbers increasing every year.

Located in Cotai, Macau, City of Dreams is a leading integrated resort including casino, two theatres, shopping district, 20 restaurants and four hotels.

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

Informed by the fluid forms within China’s rich traditions of jade carving, the Morpheus’ design combines dramatic public spaces and generous guest rooms with innovative engineering and formal cohesion.

Conceived as a vertical extrusion of its rectangular footprint, a series of voids is carved through its centre to create an urban window connecting the hotel’s interior communal spaces with the city and generating the sculptural forms that define the hotel’s public spaces.

Linked at ground level with the surrounding three-storey podium of the City of Dreams resort, the Morpheus houses 770 guest rooms, suites and sky villas, and includes civic spaces, meeting and event facilities, gaming rooms, lobby atrium, restaurants, spa and rooftop pool, as well as extensive back-of-house areas and ancillary facilities.

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

The design resolves the hotel’s many complex programmes within a single cohesive envelope. Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) was commissioned to build the hotel in 2012. At that time, foundations were already in place of a condominium tower that did not progress.

ZHA designed the Morpheus as a simple extrusion of the existing abandoned foundations; using this rectangular footprint to define a 40-storey building of two internal vertical circulation cores connected at podium and roof levels where the many guest amenities were required.

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

This extrusion generated a monolithic block making best use its development envelope that is restricted to a 160m height by local planning codes.

This block was then ‘carved’ with voids. The underlying diagram of the hotel’s design is a pair of towers connected at ground and roof levels.

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

The central atrium in-between these towers runs the height of the hotel and is traversed by external voids that connect the north and south facades.

These voids create the urban window that links the hotel’s interior communal spaces with the city.

Three horizontal vortices generate the voids through the building and define the hotel’s dramatic internal public spaces; creating unique corner suites with spectacular views of both the atrium and the city.

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

This arrangement maximises the number of hotel rooms with external views and guarantees an equal room distribution on either side of the building.

In-between the free-form voids that traverse the atrium, a series of bridges create unique spaces for the hotel’s restaurants, bars and guest lounges by renowned chefs including Alain Ducasse and Pierre Hermé.

The atrium's twelve glass elevators provide guests with remarkable views of the hotel’s interior and exterior as they travel between the voids of the building.

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

As one of the world's leading hotels, the Morpheus' interior spaces necessitated a high degree of adaptability to accommodate the many varying requirements of its guest amenities.

The building’s exoskeleton optimizes the interiors by creating spaces that are uninterrupted by supporting walls or columns.

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

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.

Morpheus draws on a ZHA’s 40 years of research into the integration of interior and exterior, civic and private, solid and void, Cartesian and Einsteinian.

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel

Space is woven within structure to tie disparate programmes together and constantly make connections.

Viviana Muscettola, ZHA's project director explains, "Morpheus combines its optimal arrangement with structural integrity and sculptural form.

The design is intriguing as it makes no reference to traditional architectural typologies. "Macau’s buildings have previously referenced architecture styles from around the world.

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand

Morpheus has evolved from its unique environment and site conditions as a new architecture expressly of this city. "The expertise of all members of the Morpheus team has created new possibilities for architecture," continued Muscettola.

"The comprehensive parametric model combined all of the hotel's aesthetic, structural and fabrication requirements and will radically change how our built environment is planned and constructed.”

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.”

Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand


Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand
Morpheus Hotel
© Virgile Simon Bertrand


Morpheus Hotel
Floor Plan
Morpheus Hotel
Floor Plan
Morpheus Hotel
Floor Plan
Morpheus Hotel
Floor Plan
Morpheus Hotel
Floor Plan
Morpheus Hotel
Floor Plan


Morpheus Hotel
Section
Morpheus Hotel
Section
Morpheus Hotel
Atrium Section
Morpheus Hotel
Upper Atrium Section
Morpheus Hotel
Section
Morpheus Hotel
Porte Cochere Section


Morpheus Hotel
Lift Lobby Feature Wall
Morpheus Hotel
Private Dining Room Feature Wall
Morpheus Hotel
Shelves Wall


Morpheus Hotel
Restroom Leaves
Morpheus Hotel
Dining Pods


Morpheus Hotel
North Elevation
Morpheus Hotel
West Elevation
Morpheus Hotel
Porte Cochere Elevation
Morpheus Hotel
Totem Elevation
Morpheus Hotel
Vip Drop Off Elevation


Morpheus Hotel
Lower Atrium Detail
Morpheus Hotel
Atrium Ceiling Detail
Morpheus Hotel
Lower Atrium Detail
Morpheus Hotel
Private Club Detail


Morpheus Hotel
Pavilion Entrance


Morpheus Hotel
Atrium Ceiling
Morpheus Hotel
Ceiling
Morpheus Hotel
Lower Atrium 02 Geometry
Morpheus Hotel
Lower Atrium 03 Geometry

Zaha Hadid Architects
T +44 20 72535147 F +44 20 72518322
Zaha Hadid Architects
101 Goswell Rd., London EC1V 7EZ, United Kingdom