WAREHOUSE TO WANDERLUST: OVOLO SOUTHSIDE BECOMES HONG KONG’S FIRST WARHOUSE-TO-HOTEL CONVERSION

Ovolo Hotels announces launch of new hotel and interactive design space, Ovolo Southside!

A centrepiece for the Southside region’s booming urban regeneration, Ovolo Hotels announces the summer 2014 opening of Ovolo Southside: Hong Kong’s first New York-style warehouse conversion Design HotelTM. Located within a former industrial building, Ovolo has enlisted a collection of local and international artists to transform the space into an interactive design stage that will showcase contemporary art against a backdrop of industrial-inspired interior design, channelling Hong Kong’s receding historic architecture in a bold modern way.

The Hotel
A climax of urban archaeology, Ovolo Southside is Hong Kong’s maiden warehouse-to-hotel conversion. Originally designed in 1976, the former multi-use industrial building now features 162 open-plan guestrooms, a fully-equipped 24-hour gym and a collection of unique social spaces that echo the warehouse's past in subtle details. Ovolo is now set to become the new destination for the design-savvy traveler, whose search for a more authentic Hong Kong experience and longing for a sense of place has propelled them to the Southside district, the city’s artists’ quarter.

Ovolo Southside will also feature Ovolo Hotels’ renowned menu of first-to-market all-inclusive services, a cornerstone of the Group’s core concept of effortless living. Styled for maximum guest convenience and comfort, the hotel offers free breakfast and Happy Hour social drinks daily, alongside free daily replenished in-room minibar, self-service laundry facilities and flexible check out. Ovolo Southside’s comparably small number of rooms compared with other Hong Kong hotels ensures a high level of service, catered to meet the needs of each individual guest. Smartly catering to modern tech demands, the hotel also provides free super-speed Wi-Fi for guests in the hotel plus access to over 11,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across Hong Kong, whilst a robust AV system includes Apple TV and 3D Smart TVs in every room.

Art & Design
Designed by award-winning local architectural firm K plus K Associates, the hotel's urban decor catapults the former warehouse from dilapidated relic to art and design destination. Maintaining the building’s original structure, each room is different in size and shape from another. Throughout the hotel, mid-century-inspired utilitarian steel furniture and heavy duty fixtures and fittings are accented by poured concrete floors and tactile walls of burnished wood and exposed brickwork. Overhead, a maze of chunky bare-steel water pipes and foil-clad air-conditioning pipes surge across exposed ceilings, creating minimalist aesthetics that no new build ever could. To harmonise the kaleidoscope of industrial hues, clean lines and reflective surfaces feature throughout, whilst floor to ceiling windows flood rooms with abundant natural daylight. Uniquely positioned at the far end of this industrial terrace, the building enjoys a trio of aspects, affording all who enter unrivalled views across Hong Kong’s verdant topography and the bustling cityscape beyond.

Ovolo has enlisted an anthology of artists to create a revolutionary arts hub within the hotel. Hong Kong-based collective Parent’s Parents were among the first artists to leave their mark. Viewing Ovolo and the greater Southside district as barometers of Hong Kong’s industrial revolution, their graffiti along the hotel’s corridors – juxtaposing Pop Art-inspired messages of positivity and graphic motifs – is a symbol of urban renewal, encapsulating the industrial transition of Hong Kong with stencilled messages that also smartly play on daily routines. Likewise, Los Angeles’ duo Cyrcle’s series of larger-than-life murals across the hotel’s rooftop and interiors are breath-taking depictions of the narratives of the tireless workers who drove Hong Kong’s industrial activity and later, its revolution. Each piece, from the rooftop mural to the intricate lift graphics, defines the space they are in. The works of other artists will also be displayed throughout the hotel, including installations designed to be projected across a specially-designed 18-metre video wall which solely illuminates the ground floor gallery.

For its impressive restoration, bold design and visionary interactive multimedia arts space, Ovolo Southside was hand selected to become a member of the elite collection of Design HotelsTM. Commenting on the inclusion of Ovolo, Claus Sendlinger, Founder of Design HotelsTM said, “As Hong Kong’s first full-scale warehouse conversion hotel, we see a property that is pushing boundaries – in design and also in location – heralding a new movement in hospitality. By choosing Wong Chuk Hang as the location of the property,Ovolo Southside has undoubtedly become intrinsic to the development and rebranding of this once industrial neighbourhood, into a destination for art, culture and fashion.”

Social Spaces
Ovolo’s social spaces are designed to facilitate a meeting of minds and satiate a passion for creativity and conversation. Inspired by the gatherings of Communist Party cadres, the B.I.G. room is an irreverent take on a Mao-style meeting room. This alternative space is unlike any other meeting room in Hong Kong; it is designed to be a powerhouse for inspiration. Creating an ideological sphere to ease private dialogue, the room foregoes the conventional boardroom framework in favour of a collection of reclining leather armchairs lining padded walls of exquisite Chinese floral fabric. A chameleon of a room, the armchairs can also be easily reconfigured to face a large projection wall, creating an intimate cinema for private screenings. For larger gatherings, G.I.G. is Ovolo’s multimedia events space designed to host private parties, gallery events, fashion shows and product launches for up to 375 guests. Located in the former garage of the warehouse, this expansive room has retained its original truck turntable, now a centerpiece for the room and the ultimate rotating stage. A full-height 18-meter projection wall and state-of-the-art sound system completes the room, setting the scene for high impact, awe-inspiring events.

Ovolo Southside’s restaurants and bars echo the hotel’s signature design concept alongside decadent menus and innovative cocktails. CIRQLE, the hotel’s fourth floor restaurant, tantalises diners with a menu of classic comfort foods and calorie-laden desserts in canteen-inspired surrounds, with an expansive open-air terrace overlooking the Southside. When night falls, the hotel’s Lo Lounge comes to life, enticing revellers with the pumping sounds of a guest DJ, a pool table and an array of cocktails amid sleek utilitarian surrounds. ABOVE, located on the hotel’s rooftop, is pure eye-candy; an open-air bar clad with painted murals of Hong Kong in revolution, overlooking the revitalized playing fields of Wong Chuk Hang and leafy Shouson Hill with the cable cars of Ocean Park beyond.

Location

The newest Ovolo is located in Wong Chuk Hang, a revitalised town on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Once one of the island’s few remaining manufacturing districts, Southside’s recent urban revitalisation has rebirthed the area as Hong Kong’s equivalent to the Meatpacking District of New York or the East End of London. A tantalizing juxtapositionof old and new, this former industrial neighbourhood of car workshops and warehouses hidden within huge, retro industrial buildings now teems with an artistic new crowd frequenting reclaimed heritage buildings, contemporary art galleries, revitalised restaurants and fashionable furnishing stores. Positioned in the heart of this gentrified ‘village’, the new Ovolo Hotel boasts close proximity to some of Hong Kong’s most exclusive residential areas and popular tourist attractions, including Aberdeen Harbour, Repulse Bay, Stanley Markets and Ocean Park.

For more information or to make a reservation at Ovolo, please telephone +852 2165 1000 or visit www.ovolohotels.com.