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Project name: Hyatt Regency Addis Ababa

Location: Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Date completed: 2018

Architect: Al Bawady Engineering

Interior Designer: WA International

Hotel Group/ Developer: Hyatt

Construction Company: Al Bawady Engineering

A 5-star business hotel located off Meskel Square in the city of Addis Ababa. The Hyatt Regency is a luxury property with a design deeply rooted in the history, nature and people of Ethiopia. The hotel offers 188 rooms, including the Regency Suites & Royal Suites. It also features an all-day dining restaurant, wellness centre and state of the art fitness centre along with outdoor heated swimming pools and exquisite landscaped areas. Addis Ababa as translated means new flower and with the new Hyatt Regency a new flower is in bloom.

WA Internationals brief was to create a luxury resort style hotel with modern amenities and contemporary design, whilst referencing the location & Ethiopian pride. The hotel is to cater primarily to the delegates of the African Union & other diplomatic summits, it also attracts international business, NGO’s and tourism. Design features include artworks designed and created by local artists with inspiration being reflective of Ethiopia, while upholstery fabrics take their inspiration from typical Tibeb fabrics & embroidery of traditional Ethiopian attire. Bursts of colour from baskets filled with Ethiopian spices tap not only into ones visual sensory but olfactory sense too.

Walls are adorned with elegantly placed hand woven “safeds”. Glass and metal chandeliers in the lobby lounge reference bird nests while the blue chandeliers in the reception are each made of 100 individual blue glass birds representing the Turaco, the national bird of Ethiopia. A multi-faceted concept with inspiration taken from nature, in particular the hundreds of bird species found in Ethiopia. Bird colours & characteristic feather markings transcend conceptually into the interiors in a subtle & sophisticated approach.

With the project being an urban hotel, there was a need to ensure nature is always part of the design. The client loves his gardens and with the original space being closed WA International were forced to open the facade, thus creating a flow from interior to exterior. The challenge was that the original site comprised of two separate buildings adjacent to each other with the intent to be operated as two separate hotels. However once WA International was appointed the new owner decided to link the buildings and operate as one hotel.