Lloyd’s Inn Kuala Lumpur
By using interior design to determine the scale and logic of architecture, Lloyd’s KL commits to the belief that hospitality can be tailored to the individual without compromising the overall experience.
How do you recreate the feeling of ground in the sky? This was the challenge faced in translating Lloyd’s Inn Singapore, a 2-storey boutique hotel surrounded by dense greenery into Lloyd’s KL, its high-rise iteration near Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur.
To retain the serenity brought about by the immediacy of nature —a defining characteristic of Lloyd’s Inn— the design returns to the ethos of the hotel: bringing greenery into the hospitality experience, while catering for a varied guest list with the understanding that every visitor’s needs are different.
Mirroring Lloyd’s Inn’s eclectic mix of room typologies, Lloyd’s KL houses lofts, suites and rooms with their own private terrace, amongst others. Every room is lined with planter boxes, private verandas or small balconies, each a little hint of green. These natural spaces also aid in segmenting rooms and shading, creating maximum privacy with minimal visual obstruction. Businessmen, vacationing families and solo travellers all get to sit back at the end of the day and enjoy a quiet moment communing with nature, even on double-digit floors.
To retain the serenity brought about by the immediacy of nature —a defining characteristic of Lloyd’s Inn— the design returns to the ethos of the hotel: bringing greenery into the hospitality experience, while catering for a varied guest list with the understanding that every visitor’s needs are different.
Mirroring Lloyd’s Inn’s eclectic mix of room typologies, Lloyd’s KL houses lofts, suites and rooms with their own private terrace, amongst others. Every room is lined with planter boxes, private verandas or small balconies, each a little hint of green. These natural spaces also aid in segmenting rooms and shading, creating maximum privacy with minimal visual obstruction. Businessmen, vacationing families and solo travellers all get to sit back at the end of the day and enjoy a quiet moment communing with nature, even on double-digit floors.
This focus on the individual guest is what informs the overall design of Lloyd’s KL; by establishing the spatial identity of the core hospitality experience, the room, circulation, service and common spaces can then come together to further strengthen this narrative. Corridors are kept naturally ventilated, and fins are introduced as sunshading devices. Coupled with the ever-present vegetation, which comes together to form a green façade for the hotel, a feeling of rawness, light and the natural is created.
Lloyd’s KL is an exercise in the bottom-up approach to designing large structures. It understands that ultimately, the strongest impression in hospitality comes from the guest room. Instead of generic spaces determined by structure, each room seeks to provide its inhabitant with a little patch of earth, suspended in the sky. By using interior design to determine the scale and logic of architecture, Lloyd’s KL commits to the belief that hospitality can be tailored to the individual without compromising the overall experience.
Lloyd’s KL is an exercise in the bottom-up approach to designing large structures. It understands that ultimately, the strongest impression in hospitality comes from the guest room. Instead of generic spaces determined by structure, each room seeks to provide its inhabitant with a little patch of earth, suspended in the sky. By using interior design to determine the scale and logic of architecture, Lloyd’s KL commits to the belief that hospitality can be tailored to the individual without compromising the overall experience.
LOCATION
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
YEAR
COMPLETION 2024
DISCIPLINE
ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR & GRAPHICS
TYPOLOGY
HOTEL/CO-LIVE
TEAM
Peter Sim, Tiah Nan Chyuan, Nina Arily, Panna Chee, Susanne Teng, Teo Guan Sin, Axel Chin, Cheung Yuting, Dylan Quek, Emillia Lee, Michelle Lim, Trina Ang
COLLABORATORS
Photographer: Rebecca Toh
