Eaton Hotel Hong Kong has been named the 2019 winner for Hotel Renovation & Restoration at the prestigious Ahead Asia Awards.

The hotel was transformed into a new multidisciplinary lifestyle, coworking, community and hospitality concept over an 18-month renovation period in Jordan, Kowloon. 

Ahead, the awards for hospitality, experience and design, comprises four annual, regional awards schemes run over a two-year period, culminating in a global biennale. The awards are entered, judged and attended by leading hotel owners, developers, operators, architects and designers from around the world.

Eaton HK’s 18-month long renovation, executed by AvroKO, involved considerable challenges, including opening up the building’s core to form a triple-height subterranean atrium and restaurant, which serves as the beating heart of the purpose-driven property.

Eaton and AvroKO were named winners for the full-scale renovation of the original 1990 hotel space under the new global brand Eaton Workshop. The new concept included merging public and private spaces and involved incorporating a co-working space into the hotel. Other facilities include independent art gallery Tomorrow Maybe, a movie theatre and radio station. As well as one Michelin-starred Yat Tung Heen, Eaton HK is home to an 11-vendor food hall as well as the restaurant’s all-day dining concept, The Astor, and sprawling terrace bar Terrible Baby. A gym, yoga studio and rooftop pool occupy the property’s top floor.
 
“I am extremely proud of the entire Eaton HK Team for their intense involvement in managing this major renovation with minimal impact to customer experience whilst significantly influencing the design, materials and spaces to reflect the brand experience, create a unique customer journey and guarantee operational efficiency,” said Eaton HK’s managing director, Dirk Dalichau.
 
“Eaton HK’s location has deep personal meaning for me given its proximity to my former grade school. I tasked AvroKO with interpreting my vision for the Eaton Workshop brand, sharing inspiration such as the local diner cha chaan tengs of my childhood and the prolific 1990s films of Wong Kar Wai which were shot in Eaton’s beautifully raw and gritty neighbourhood of Jordan. The transformation from the old Eaton Hotel to our new Eaton HK is incredible. Post-renovation and restoration, we have a property that brings the aspirational global mission of Eaton to my hometown of Hong Kong, making it a true home for Hong Kong’s creatives working to make their city and world better,” said Eaton Workshop founder and president, Katherine Lo.

The coveted awards were announced at the 2019 Ahead Asia Awards ceremony in Singapore over the weekend. Eaton Workshop was also recently named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2018, while Lo was named one of Conde Nast Traveler’s Top 30 Women in Travel. - TradeArabia News Service