Shang-Xi - Four Seasons Hotel, Pudong Shanghai
As China’s most cosmopolitan city, Shanghai is celebrated for its contemporary glamour, boldness and elegance. AB Concept has reflected and reinterpreted those qualities in its graceful design of Shàng-Xí, the buzzed-about Chinese restaurant within Four Seasons Hotel Pudong, Shanghai.
Reinforcing AB Concept’s ability to capture a sense of place and offer a fresh perspective, the design draws on Shanghai’s rich history by combining the architectural forms of Shanghai’s neoclassical buildings within the French concession with traditional Chinese motifs.
Acknowledging that this is a city known for grandiose expressions of wealth, AB Concept has tempered Shanghai-style flamboyance with a sense of refinement. Reinterpreting neoclassical style, Shàng-Xí’s soaring ceilings, bronze finishes and marble interiors suggest European opulence. To counter the sumptuousness with subtlety, sino-centric motifs, shapes and colours hint at oriental glamour while the deco-inspired furnishings reveal AB Concept’s appreciation for timeless elegance.
Discreet and exclusive, Shàng-Xí comprises five private dining rooms and an intimate public space for 22 guests. Inspired by traditional Chinese cultural icons, AB Concept has designed each room to evoke the colours and qualities of a rare semi-precious stone.
The reception features beige parchment panels complemented with bold bronze accents and jade inserts, leading to two full-length mirrored doors. Beyond the entrance, guests step into an expansive corridor finished in mosaic titles, its walls lined with hand-painted silks. AB Concept shaped the recessed ceiling with Chinese bat motifs and a Celestial cloud, a traditional Chinese symbols that represent prosperity, happiness and longevity and recur throughout the restaurant.
Artfully designed with privacy and luxury as the guiding concepts, Shàng-Xi’s six dining rooms are destined to be Shanghai’s premier venues for high-powered lunches, exclusive gatherings and intimate celebrations.
The individual dining rooms – named Tiger Eye, Pearl, Amber, Agate, Jade and Purple Jade – radiate from this central corridor. Inspired by the auspicious character and luxury of the semi-precious stones, each salon is distinguished by its own palette and design narrative. Within each private space, the doors, furniture and walls are inlaid with the room’s namesake stone.
Tiger Eye, the public dining area, is the largest of the individual salons. Accommodating up to 22 guests, AB Concept designed this room to take full advantage of the full-length windows and breathtaking views of Shanghai. Embodying the spirit of classic French design, the room’s double-height doors, cloud-shaped chandelier, marble pillars and textured carpets capture a sense of elegance.
The Pearl private dining room employs a masculine scheme of dark timbers, heavy velvet fabrics and confident splashes of purple. Anchored by the 10-seater dining table, a recamier sofa runs parallel to the full-length window while Deco-inspired lighting fixtures frame the room.
The Amber and Agate dining rooms can each welcome up to 10 guests. Since Shàng-Xi will be the venue of choice for discerning diners, political leaders and business executives, the restaurant’s interiors needed to reflect a dignified grace. Yet AB Concept has skillfully struck a delicate balance, imbuing the space with an elegant yet warm atmosphere. While the Amber and Agate dining rooms express stately elegance, their sun-kissed shades of gold offset by timber accents project a vitality and natural energy.
Embracing the traditional qualities of their namesake stones, the Jade and Purple Jade dining rooms convey serenity, prosperity, grace and glamour. While both salons seat twelve, Jade benefits from its corner position, allowing space for a private lounge area and highlighting the views of the surrounding greenery. Bronze finishes add warmth to the jade palette while the ceiling, inlaid with mother-of-pearl panels, introduces a new texture.
As purple is the rarest colour of jade, this spacious room is suitably opulent with its rich fabrics, eclectic artifacts and a striking custom-made light fixture that evokes Deco style.
To enhance Shàng-Xi’s home-like setting, AB Concept has also created intimate transitional spaces – verandahs and alcoves – between the private dining rooms.
39 Conduit Road, Hong Kong
The Masterpiece - Apartment, Hong Kong
Club Avenue Lounge, The Lee Gardens, Hong Kong
Home to international luxury brands, The Lee Gardens in Causeway Bay attracts discerning shoppers who appreciate premium elegance. Located on the lower floor, the Club Avenue Lounge is an exclusive members-only oasis. Inspired by the concept of a ‘Fashion Library’, the scheme comprises hushed tones and subtle textures, creating a mood of discreet elegance.
The Club Avenue Lounge’s exterior is distinguished by a series of bronze-glazed dividers that convey a sense of privacy. Beyond the sensor-operated sliding doors, a well-placed skylight invites natural light to stream into the reception area, providing a warm welcome.
Inside the private 1,000 sq ft retreat, symmetrical panels provide balance and enhance the sense of space, while purple and green flourishes brighten the neutral palette. Bookshelves made from naturally glowing acrylic frame the room bring added warmth to the space. Overhead, the profiled stucco-painted ceiling lends depth and texture.
Small details and customized pieces – from the hand-tufted carpet to the lampshades featuring intricate fluted, floral patterns– contribute to the sense of exclusivity and understated luxury.
Advancing the ‘Fashion Library’ narrative, design books line the shelves while the bronze touches, travertine inserts and natural oak evoke a stylish mood. A square centerpiece anchors the Lounge, drawing visitors in and providing a focal point. Intimate clusters of plush lounge chairs, couches and coffee tables surround each side of the centerpiece, establishing individual booth-like spaces and enhancing the feeling of privacy.
Mixing privacy and prestige, The Club Avenue Lounge is an inviting, elegant retreat.
Mandarin Oriental - Spa, Singapore
Creating a space of quiet beauty, AB Concept has designed the spa at the Mandarin Oriental, Singapore. Befitting the tranquil setting, AB Concept used a recurring cloud motif to create a dream-like scene. A cloud silhouette, its multiple layers lit from below, welcomes guests at the reception.
Inspired by Singapore’s heritage, the modern design pays homage to traditional Chinese design.
Lacquered panels and concealed lighting, crafted to resemble louvered shutters, line the walls, reinterpreting 19th-century architecture and suffusing the interiors in a dreamy glow. Natural wood finishes, red velvet flourishes and mosaic tiles stand out against glass screens and mother-of-pearl accents, creating a delicate landscape of contrasting textures. For added depth and texture, AB Concept has emboldened the natural palette with punches of purple and subtle gold accents.
Intimate and inviting, the spa comprises six treatment rooms, including two couples’ suites. A separate manicure-pedicure section, a tea lounge and one-to-one consultation pods enhance the spa’s personal ambience, tempting guests to indulge and submit themselves to the sensory journey.
Paterson, Headland Road, Hong Kong
Inspired by the retro glamour of Hollywood’s film noir genre, AB Concept matched the interiors of this 750sq m showhouse with the prestige of its South Bay address. A dark, glossy palette and select luxury accents define its lower floor, among them panels in sting ray leather, woven leather curtain and glass inlaid with horsetail hair. The stage here is set for entertaining and the roof deck is dressed accordingly with an open kitchen, lounge area and Jacuzzi. However the mood on the second floor has been softened to an amber-coated intimacy. Delicate floral touches in the master bedroom meet the latest in entertainment technology, complete with plasma screen and a colour changing mood programme, with a touch of academia in the rich leather and lacquered panelling. The studio chose to eschew paintings or sculpture in favour of iconic furniture pieces, each of which projects a unique personality into the project.
Argenta, Hong Kong
The French Window, Hong Kong
This high end French restaurant is a welcoming blend of nostalgia and modernity, where high quality home dining allows guests to eat in style, but still let down their guard.
With Victoria Harbour laid out through double-height floor to ceiling windows, the main lounge has been designed to blend rather than compete. The refined olive palette creates a sense of tranquility and the scheme is decorative in a subtle, architectural way: rich carpeting, textured stone tiling and ornate wrought iron detailing contrast with pared down Gallic-inspired furniture.
Stealing the show and layering the space is the restaurant's oversized motif, where hand-beaten wrought iron and textured glass meet in a series of modern screens inspired by antique French windows.
Paterson, Headland Road, Hong Kong
Inspired by the retro glamour of Hollywood’s film noir genre, AB Concept matched the interiors of this 750sq m showhouse with the prestige of its South Bay address. A dark, glossy palette and select luxury accents define its lower floor, among them panels in sting ray leather, woven leather curtain and glass inlaid with horsetail hair. The stage here is set for entertaining and the roof deck is dressed accordingly with an open kitchen, lounge area and Jacuzzi. However the mood on the second floor has been softened to an amber-coated intimacy. Delicate floral touches in the master bedroom meet the latest in entertainment technology, complete with plasma screen and a colour changing mood programme, with a touch of academia in the rich leather and lacquered panelling. The studio chose to eschew paintings or sculpture in favour of iconic furniture pieces, each of which projects a unique personality into the project.
Shangri-la Hotel, Tainan
As a grand arrival in a low key town it was important for this award winning five star hotel in Tainan to strike a balance between high sophistication and warm welcome. Though the proportions and the materials stay true to the glamour of the Shangri-la brand, certain techniques were used to bring the interiors down to a welcoming scale.
Warmth from various local woods neutralizes the magnitude of the building, and connects it to the verdant nature of the town. Rough, interesting textures nurture an atmosphere of comfort as well as treat. However a sense of thrill is also encountered here, from the grand atrium and the imposing columns and water features of the lobby, to the sweeping ode made to the city by the hotel’s 38th floor restaurant, reassuring guests that their regard for the Shangri-la brand is well placed.
W Retreat & Spa Bali, Indonesia
This luxury retreat may be dressed to impress the trend-setting hipsters of the Seminyak strip, but the design roots it deeply, and rather distinctively, in its host culture. Working for one of the most innovative hotel brands of the moment, AB Concept was able to craft a radically new Balinese narrative, combining a neon colour palette with distinctive architectural shapes, and a very relaxed attitude to the boundaries between indoors and out.
The scheme pulls in the coastal landscape at every turn. Day beds are strewn through the open-sided W Lounge, where the wind whistles musically through capiz shells in hand blown glass jars. Bathers in guestrooms can greet the weather through open skylights, while those in some of the villas soak it up from private inner courtyards. A sense of place is also found in the furniture, among great slabs of tropical wood or synthetic rattan homages to leaf fronds and pagoda roofs, while the quirky contours of the lobby bar reinterpret the traditional architecture in resin. Playful furniture and top of the line entertainment systems bring a social sprit to the retreat’s expansive WOW and Extreme WOW suites, firming their reputation for high-style fun.
