Purple amethyst crystals formed inside rocks supplied the inspiration for this ambitious hotel style, proposed by Dutch studio NL Architects for an island off the south coast of China .
Described by NL Architects as a “slightly insane project”, the Amethyst Hotel is conceived as the very first in a chain of gem-inspired hotels exactly where guest rooms are housed behind the faceted glass that tends to make up its fantasy crystals.
Related story: Cave hotel underway in water-filled Chinese quarry
The violet-coloured quartz stone has been the subject of many myths by means of history – in Greece it was believed to avert drunkenness, although medieval soldiers utilised it for protection in the course of battle, and others thought it could strengthen the immune method or prevent nightmares.
Architects Kamiel Klaasse and Pieter Bannenberg believe a design modelled on the “seductive gemstone” will advantage from the associations with these alleged “healing powers”.
“The Amethyst Hotel has the potential to grow to be a performative symbol – a symbol with actual powers related with it,” they mentioned.
The proposal takes its cues from the portfolio of developer and architect John Portman, who is credited for the widespread popularity of hotels with grand atriums across Asia and the United States, for brands which includes Hyatt and Marriott.
“The project could be understood as a mutation of Portman’s revolutionary hotel typology of hotel rooms lining a sensational void,” said the architects.
“Amethyst Hotel is, in a way, a Marriott Marquis hotel sliced in the centre, exposing its magnificent interior,” they added.
Rooms in the hotel would be arranged around the atrium, with access corridors running around the outer perimeter. This would allow each area to face into the central void, which itself would be fronted by glazing.
The initial hotel is proposed for a manmade island identified as Ocean Flower, which is beneath improvement in the sea north of Hainan, southern China. The vision is to ultimately build more around the planet, every single with slightly various shapes.
Idea diagram overlaid with the Marriott Marquis hotel
“Developments are slow. By going public we hope to catalyse the project,” the architects told Dezeen.
Floor 13 program 
Floor 20 program 
Floor 27 plan 
Floor 28 strategy 
Section one 
Section two 
Front elevation 
Side elevation 
Rear elevation
Dezeen
