Zaha Hadid Architects Designs a Hollywood-Inspired 'Studio City' Expansion in Macau

Construction for Studio City Phase 2, a Hollywood-inspired resort expansion in Macau, is well underway with a recently announced completion date of December 2022. Design firm Zaha Hadid Architects, founded by the legendary late architect Zaha Hadid, was enlisted to conceptualize the new sprawling entertainment center back in 2017.

Located on the bustling Cotai Strip in Macau, a city known as the Las Vegas of Asia, Studio City Phase 2 builds on Melco Resorts and Entertainment’s 1,600-room Studio City resort that currently boasts a variety of amenities including the world’s first figure-eight Ferris wheel. The new development will see new leisure and entertainment facilities including a 900-room hotel, a six-screen cinema complex, 226,000 square ft of retail space, and one of Asia’s largest indoor and outdoor water parks.

For its design, the two towers are covered in a medley of glazed vertical glass fins resembling natural columns of basalt rock. The uniquely shaped glass structures give the towers an ethereal look, while also reducing solar heat and energy demand. A great deal of consideration was placed on the development’s environmental footprint and its impact on the nearby 15-hectare protected wetland, with integrated features such as purposefully configured natural ventilation in and around the location, ethically sourced timber, and planting of a variety of plant species that thrive in this particular climate.

“Zaha Hadid Architects and Melco share the same vision and determination to push boundaries. Studio City Phase 2 continues our ten-year collaboration with Melco that includes the Morpheus Hotel at the City of Dreams in Macau. Extending the thriving Studio City resort, the highly adaptable spaces of phase 2 have been developed by a truly global team of professionals,” Viviana Muscettola, director at Zaha Hadid Architects comments.

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