Suzu Hotel, under construction and stopped temporarily due to COVID, is located just near the Japanese district of Ho Chi Minh City. We treated the otherwise disparate surfaces (floors, ceilings, and walls) in the balcony and entrance areas as an opportunity to think in architectural scale. Inspired by bamboos, we custom-designed concrete tiles that played with the plant’s form in terms of its linearity, convex and concave arrangements, and modularity defined by their culms. In the balconies, we treated the side walls as a single element that pierces through the floor plates over the full 9-floor stretch. Meanwhile, in the entrance area, the tile layout is more liberal and intimate to engage the visitors into the darker lobby area as if they are entering a bamboo grove.

Design team: Mieko Watanabe, Nam Ho, Five Elements Development