Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates-designed mega casino-hotel-resort, comprised of stacked jewel-like boxes, has won the 2018 Emporis Skyscraper Award, an annual award recognizes the year's best skyscraper in both aesthetic and functional design.

The award went to the MGM Cotai in Macau designed by KPF and in collaboration with Wong Tung & Partners Limited, the impressive $3.4 billion casino-hotel-resort is located on the Cotai Strip, the heart of Macau’s gambling industry.

When selecting the MGM Cotai, the jury was especially fascinated by its innovative design, said Emporis Skyscraper Award. 

"The unique structure is based on the idea of nine Chinese jeweler's boxes stacked upon each other, forming two interconnected towers."

"The asymmetrical design and golden coloring create a dynamic and glamorous appearance, which fits the atmosphere of Macau," the organization added.

The project, conceived as a composition of jewel-like boxes, MGM Grand in Cotai, designed to echo the MGM Grand in Macau, highlights Chinese decorative motifs and a combination of materials and palettes to distinguish its uses and form and bring an original and exciting complex to the region.

Reaching to 151-metre height, the whole building comprises of nine "boxes" rising up, accommodating VIP suites, gaming rooms and a spa accessed from the main entrance, and a two-story podium housing pavilions, villas, gardens and services areas. 

"Views through the building and between the ‘boxes’, break down the generous volumes but also serve to endow a sense of grandeur to the site and enhance visitor experience," said KPF.

The building is located on an elongated site, which shapes the structure of the building, generating an overlapping of forms to create a gentle curvature. This sinuous form of the building, flowing from the north-and south-east creates a natural confluence towards the main entrance/drop off, drawing people from the north, east and south.

"A generous arc defines the drop off area, with two portico-like structures, for the main and VIP entrance, denoting the lobbies which serve two lift cores that unite the boxes as two towers," as detailed KPF.

Alongside the lobbies, a generous atrium creates the spatial heart of the building while to the south elaborate spaces welcome the VIP and separate entrances to the north and south provide additional podium access.

The project was commissioned by MGM Resorts International. Encompassing a total of 280,000-square-metre area, the whole complex includes 1,400 rooms. 

In the competition, the second place went to La Marseillaise in Marseille, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and the third place went to 52 Lime Street, located in the heart of London by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. 

KPF is an American architecture firm founded by A. Eugene Kohn, William Pedersen, and Sheldon Fox in 1976. Within two years of its founding, William Louie, current principal, joined KPF. The firm produces projects in architecture, interior, programming and master planning.

The firm consists of over 650 staff led by 30 principals, with offices in New York, London, San Francisco, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Abu Dhabi, Berlin, and Singapore.

All images © H.G. Esch, courtesy of KPF

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