A red sun shines over Liverpool and gives one of the Liver Birds a halo. 16th October 2017. [Photo/IC]

Sun Xinxi, the editorial director of the magazine, considers the trace of time and the beauty of nature as two of the most luxurious things as they cannot be produced artificially. These two "sublimate the space", he says.

Maurice Li, Chao Hotel's brand director, says that idea is reflected in the design of his establishment.

The hotel is transformed from the previous City Hotel, which used to be a popular guesthouse for foreigners. It retained the original facade of a large oblique triangle, but its interior was refurbished at the end of last year. Instead of the integrated tile floor preferred by many fancy hotels, this hotel opted for wooden ones made with old door panels collected from traditional Beijing hutong alleyways.

For Singapore's Leonard Lee, who is the regional managing director of interior architectural design company Wilson Associates, a grand lobby is empty and boring unless it is "activated" by "exciting" details. A great space is designed to serve the people in it, creating almost a fourth dimension for the guest, says Lee.

Design should be made as accessible for the public as much as possible and the conference is "very meaningful in that regard", adds Lee.

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