Le Méridien Zhengzhou by Neri&Hu: A Hotel Conceived as an Archive
In Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, Neri&Hu conceived Le Méridien as an archive of cultural memory rather than an anonymous international hotel. The architects looked to the region's historical associations with literature, art, cuisine, theatre and pattern, creating a design whose different spaces can be discovered in sequence. This narrative connects the hotel's urban scale to the intimate experience of its interiors.
A tower composed from stacked objects
The exterior is assembled as a set of cantilevered boxes, visually fragmenting what might otherwise be a monolithic high-rise. Glass surfaces take on subtly different shades of green, while dark metal panels wrap the sides. Their perforations evoke the local wild rose. Two entrance canopies, carried on clusters of bronze poles, introduce a more delicate scale where the building meets the street.
The project includes a five-storey podium of public rooms and a tower of approximately 350 guestrooms. Its multiple levels allow Neri&Hu to introduce different moments of discovery. What could have been a uniform hotel lobby becomes a connected interior world of galleries, voids and differently scaled social spaces.
A sandstone atrium inspired by the Longmen Caves
The dramatic central atrium refers to the Longmen Caves, the limestone Buddhist sanctuaries near Luoyang. The idea of excavation is expressed architecturally through deep openings and stone-lined surfaces, rather than through an illustrative mural. Grey sandstone walls are traversed by shafts of daylight from skylights overhead, emphasising their layered texture.
The atrium connects public functions on several floors. Green-tinted glazing and custom lighting soften the perceived weight of stone, giving the space a balance between monumentality and atmosphere. Occupants can see activity across different levels, turning circulation into part of the hotel's social identity.
Timber boxes and the scale of the individual
Higher within the atrium, folding timber-box forms extend across walls and ceilings. Their rhythm changes the scale of the space and gives the heavy stone a more intricate counterpoint. In the pre-function area, an irregular waffle arrangement of timber panels creates a layered architectural canopy.
The Japanese restaurant develops this language more radically. Walnut boxes vary in size and drop to different heights, sometimes reaching low enough to create intimate dining zones. Below, oak platforms and a wandering white terrazzo path establish a landscape of distinct places to sit, mirroring the layered ceiling overhead.
Dining rooms as a vertical neighbourhood
In other restaurants, carefully positioned openings connect spaces vertically. Black mesh volumes for private Chinese dining extend over the all-day restaurant below, where they appear as glowing forms seen through the ceiling. This interplay gives neighbouring venues visual relationships while retaining their different atmospheres and functions.
Custom-designed ceramic floor and wall surfaces mix the familiar blue-and-white language of Delft ware with brushwork associated with Chinese painting and the visual vocabulary of regional martial arts. The combination connects otherwise international hospitality functions with the cultural setting of Henan.
The archive as a way to experience place
For Neri&Hu, the archive is not simply a cabinet holding historical artefacts. It is the organisation of the building itself: visitors move among references to regional identity, encountering a different story as they pass through the lobby, restaurants, galleries and circulation spaces. That sequence makes the interior a central part of the architectural concept.
Project information and photography
Project: The Archives | Le Méridien Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Architecture and interior design: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Approximate area: 43,000 m² as recorded in an architectural project publication. Project year: 2013. Photography: Pedro Pegenaute. All ten selected photos originate from the official Neri&Hu project archive.
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