Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Morpheus Hotel includes world’s first free-form high-rise exoskeleton

The design of the new Morpheus Hotel in Macau, China is embellished with a series of voids carved through the center that give the structure a fluid, almost liquid look reminiscent of the T-1000 terminator’s mimetic polyalloy reforming.

Comprising 770 guest rooms, suites, and sky villas, the Morpheus Hotel provides 147,860 sm of space across 42 stories. Amenities include civic spaces, meeting and events facilities, gaming rooms, a lobby atrium, restaurants, and a spa and rooftop pool.

Photo: Virgile Simon Betrand.

ZHA designed the hotel as a simple extrusion of the existing abandoned foundations. The underlying diagram of the hotel’s design is a pair of towers connected at the ground and roof levels. The central atrium that runs between these towers runs the height of the hotel and is traversed by external voids that connect the north and south facades. Between the voids are a series of bridges that give the building its fluid sense of motion. The bridges provide a unique space for the hotel’s restaurants, bars, and guest lounges.

Photo: Virgile Simon Betrand.

The Morpheus also includes what ZHA describes as the world’s first free-form high-rise exoskeleton. This exoskeleton maximizes the building’s interiors by creating spaces that are uninterrupted by supporting walls or columns. The exoskeleton pattern becomes less dense as it climbs the building’s facade.

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The Building Team included J. Roger Preston (M&E engineering), Buro Happold International (SE), Arup (fire engineering), and Dragages Macau (main contractor).

Photo: Virgile Simon Betrand.

Photo: Ivan Dupont.

Photo: Virgile Simon Betrand.