The Waterhouse at South Bund by Neri&Hu

Between the Huangpu River and the Pudong skyline, between old and new, public and private, exterior and interior, construction and finishing, concrete and Cor-Ten steel; The Waterhouse emerges, another amazing building by Neri & Hu.

The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu. Photography by Tuomas Uusheimo.

Memory of project by Neri&Hu

Located by the new Cool Docks development in the South Bund District of Shanghai, the Waterhouse is a four-story, 19-room boutique hotel built into an existing three-story Japanese Army headquarters building from the 1930s. The boutique hotel fronts the Huangpu River and looks across at the gleaming Pudong skyline. The architectural concept behind Neri&Hu’s renovation rests on a clear contrast of what is old and new. The original concrete building has been restored while new additions built over the existing structure were made using Cor-Ten steel, reflecting the industrial past of this working dock by the Huangpu River. Neri&Hu’s structural addition, on the fourth floor, resonates with the industrial nature of the ships which pass through the river, providing an analogous contextual link to both history and local culture.

Neri&Hu was also responsible for the design of the hotel’s interior, which is expressed through both a blurring and inversion of the interior and exterior, as well as between the public and private realms, creating a disorienting yet refreshing spatial experience for the hotel guest who longs for a unique five-star hospitality experience. The public spaces allow one to peek into private rooms while the private spaces invite one to look out at the public arenas, such as the large vertical room window above the reception desk and the corridor windows overlooking the dining room. These visual connections of unexpected spaces not only bring an element of surprise but also force the hotel guests to confront the local Shanghai urban condition where visual corridors and adjacencies in tight nong-tang define the unique spatial flavor of the city.

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The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu. Photography by Derryck Menere.

View of courtyard of The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu. Photography by Derryck Menere. io, The Waterhouse por Neri&Hu. Fotografía © Derryck Menere.

View of courtyard of The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu. Photography by Tuomas Uusheimo.

Interior view of The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu. Photography by Derryck Menere.

Interior view of The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu. Photography by Tuomas Uusheimo.

Construction of The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu.

Ground floor, The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu.

Second floor, The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu.

Fourth floor, The Waterhouse by Neri&Hu.

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More information

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Architects

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Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Partners-in-charge.- Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu.

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Project team

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Research Office (Interior Designer); Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu, Debby Haepers, Cai Chun yan, Markus Stoecklein, Jane Wang (Design Team).

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Collaborators

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China Jingye Engineering Technology Company (Structure Consultants). Far East Consulting engineers Limited (Mechanical Consultant). Polytek Engineering Company Ltd (Kitchen Consultant).

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Client

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Cameron Holdings Hotel Management Limited.

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Area

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2800sqm (Gross square footage).
800sqm (Site area).

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Dates

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May 2008 – Apr 2010 (Design Period).
May 2010 (Completion Date).

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Location

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Maojiayuan Road No. 1-3, Huangpu District, Shanghai 200011.

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Photography

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Derryck Menere, Tuomas Uusheimo, Pedro Pegenaute.

LYNDON NERI - ROSSANA HU. NERI AND HU

Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, founded in 2004 by partners Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, Neri&Hu Design and Research Office is an inter-disciplinary architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China. Neri&Hu works internationally providing architecture, interior, master planning, graphic, and product design services. Currently working on projects in many countries, Neri&Hu is composed of multi-cultural staff who speak over 30 different languages. The diversity of the team reinforces a core vision for the practice: to respond to a global worldview incorporating overlapping design disciplines for a new paradigm in architecture.

Lyndon Neri is a Founding Partner of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, an inter-disciplinary international architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China. In 2014, Wallpaper* announced Neri&Hu as 2014 Designer of The Year. In 2013, Mr. Neri was inducted into the U.S. Interior Design Hall of Fame with his partner Ms. Rossana Hu. The practice was the 2011 INSIDE Festival Overall Winner, won AR Awards for Emerging Architecture 2010 by Architectural Review and was selected as one of the Design Vanguards in 2009 by Architectural Record. Mr. Neri received a Master of Architecture at Harvard University and a Bachelor of Architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to starting his own practice with partner Rossana Hu, he was the Director for Projects in Asia and an Associate for Michael Graves & Associates in Princeton for over 10 years, and also worked in New York City for various architectural firms.

Rossana Hu is a Founding Partner of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, an inter-disciplinary international architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China. In 2014, Wallpaper* announced Neri&Hu as 2014 Designer of The Year. In 2013, Mr. Neri was inducted into the U.S. Interior Design Hall of Fame with his partner Ms. Rossana Hu. The practice was the 2011 INSIDE Festival Overall Winner, won AR Awards for Emerging Architecture 2010 by Architectural Review and was selected as one of the Design Vanguards in 2009 by Architectural Record. Ms. Hu received a Master of Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Music from the University of California at Berkeley. Before establishing Neri&Hu with her partner Lyndon Neri, Ms. Hu worked for Michael Graves & Associates, Ralph Lerner Architect in Princeton, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in New York City, and The Architects Collaborative (TAC) in San Francisco.

Published on: June 17, 2013

Cite: "The Waterhouse at South Bund by Neri&Hu" METALOCUS. Accessed

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