THE BUZZ Housed in a sleek, 29-story skyscraper, the Grand Hyatt Shenyang is the first Hyatt-branded hotel in Northeast China. In creating the interiors for the 353-key luxury hotel, designers from Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) say they sought to make it a “second-home” destination for business and leisure travelers, as well as for affluent locals. “We studied local architecture and historic sites very closely,” says Connie Puar, a partner at HBA’s Singapore office. “We interacted with the people and paid close attention to their way of life in order to fully capture the essence of this vibrant city. The resulting design pays homage to the culture of Shenyang in a thoughtprovoking, design-forward way.” That approach is highly evident in the 25th-floor reception lobby (shown), whose elements include an ornately carved wood wall behind the reception desk, a bold violet carpet meant to evoke the Qing Dynasty and a bronze latticework of interlocking rectangles that represent the city’s industrial and manufacturing might. JIMMY COHRSSEN HBA CREATES “SECOND HOME” AT GRAND HYATT IN CHINAhttp://www.DEXIndustries.com http://www.DEXIndustries.com