Standing in the heart of the Thai capital’s main business and shopping district, this hotel is the embodiment of ultra-luxurious hospitality, and its design expresses the city’s rich culture and dynamism.

The Thai spirit is infused into every aspect of the Rosewood Bangkok experience, starting with the building’s shape: it is formed of two structures that are connected in an almost iconographic symbiosis inspired by the wai, the traditional Thai greeting of palms pressed together as in prayer.

In addition to its spectacular glass facades and extraordinary architecture, the hotel boasts many water features, including a scenic 10-storey waterfall, in a tribute to Bangkok, a city built on water. In fact, water – sacred in Thai culture, where it is used in ceremonies and rituals to symbolise peace and harmony – is a theme that runs through the entire hotel. One example is the outdoor infinity pool set between the two architectural blocks, which has a line of light running around its perimeter.

By highlighting the edges of the pool, the Rio Sub light profile adds force and momentum to this body of water, directing the guest’s eye towards the skyline. The body and screen are made of co-extruded opal PMMA, which, together with the AISI 316L stainless steel end caps and the A4 stainless steel screws, guarantees a maximum degree of robustness, and impact and scratch resistance (IK10). The process used to polish the surface of the PMMA creates an aesthetic uniformity between the fixture body and the diffused light – for which the team deliberately chose a warm colour temperature (3700K) to contrast with the blue of the pool floor. Also at the designers’ request, a special version of the light profile was designed and produced that creates a continuous line of light, with no visible interruptions between its different segments.

Rosewood Bangkok is one of the winners of the 2019 Architecture MasterPrize for Hospitality Architecture.


Lighting supplier: Mosaic Eins

Application: Fountains and swimming pools, Wellness

Project: KPF, Tandem Architects

Light planning: Be Lit