The suites are found inside the 194-room hotel of the Shenzhen Women & Children’s Centre, a 100-metre-tall tower that MVRDV also recently transformed from its outdated and underperforming original design to a colourful, welcoming facility for the welfare of women and children. The building itself was originally constructed in 1994, forming part of Shenzhen’s first period of explosive growth, however its rushed design and construction meant that only portions of it could ever put to use.

Included on each floor of the hotel are one-off rooms designed by a variety of architects who bring their characteristic styles and ideas to the hotel concept. MVRDV’s contribution to this set of special hotel rooms takes the purpose of the Women & Children’s Centre as its starting point, targeting families as the ideal occupants of two adjacent suites. Since no two families are exactly alike, flexibility is a core design principle. One of the key features is therefore the sliding, soundproof wall that divides the two spaces, which allows the design to switch easily between two smaller suites – each with a single bedroom and a space for relaxing, playing, and dining – or a two-bedroom suite connected by a large communal living space between. With the inclusion of folding murphy beds in each of the bedrooms, the design can readily accommodate a range of family types, from a couple to a family of six.