The construction of Wink Hotel Saigon Centre, a medium-rise urban hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, comprising 237 hotel rooms has been completed. The hotel is part of the new Wink brand, which is rolling out a series of hotels across the country. Located in District 1’s Dakao Ward, a hip and upcoming neighbourhood, the twelve-floor, 10,500 m2 hotel has been designed as an extension of Vietnamese street life, bringing local flavour from the outside in. Architecture Workshop (AW2), led by partner architects Reda Amalou and Stéphanie Ledoux, designed every element of this affordable lifestyle hotel, from the architectural concept through to interior design and furniture, as well as collaborating with the client to create the brand identity across its hotels. The brand focuses on establishing a balance between design forwardness, financial return and construction feasibility while being a fashionable urban destination. AW²’s previous work in Vietnam (FV International Hospital, Four Seasons The Nam Hai and Six Senses Con Dao) with Indochina Capital, who created the development team, placed them in a strong position to respond to the client’s brief requirements. For the Wink brand, AW2 created a specific locally-inspired colour palette deployed throughout the hotel, from the bespoke sunshades on the façade down to the cushion fabrics. The bold and vibrant exterior design attracts attention from the outside, acting as a beacon for the wider neighbourhood. The Wink Hotel incorporates blended spaces where accommodation, work and leisure co-exist. The interior design is centred around creating a fun and dynamic environment, using furniture styles based on the street food culture such as food carts for the self-service food and beverage facilities and bicycles repurposed as table legs for the breakfast bars. Collaborative spaces are made to encourage visitors and the public to use the public areas at their leisure. The shared spaces are composed into different flexible zones consisting of an entrance ‘Wink Space’ lobby, a lounge with integrated library and games area and food & beverage facilities. The food & beverage facilities cater to all needs including the Wink Bar, ‘grab and go’ self-service, breakfast bar and dining areas. For the hotel guests, the bedrooms have been efficiently designed to be compact, with bespoke furniture that maximises space usage and with a strong brand identity throughout. With three different colour spectrum schemes (each made up of three key Wink-branded colours), the external sunshades act as an extension to the hotel interiors and reflect the colour themes found in each hotel bedroom. Wink Hotels has also announced a pipeline of 20 hotels within the next five to seven years, including the AW²-designed Wink Hotel Danang Centre and Wink Hotel Hanoi West Lake which is expected to open in Q3, 2023.