In the heart of Shanghai, where the historic Bund meets modern luxury, the renovation of the Seagull Hotel required an interior narrative that respected the city's Art Deco heritage while embracing contemporary minimalism. The result is a space defined by two contrasting elements: the fluid, helical grace of the stonework and the rhythmic precision of the flooring.

The Sculptural Helix: Engineering the Spiral Staircase The centerpiece of the lobby is undoubtedly the monumental spiral staircase (Images 6, 7, 8). Unlike clad structures, this staircase reads as a monolithic sculpture. Executed in a Honed Cream Limestone, the design features a seamless, solid stone balustrade that curves effortlessly upward.

The fabrication challenges were immense. As seen in the factory detail shots (Images 9 & 10), the handrails and coping were not flat slabs but 3D-profiled solid blocks. Each segment had to be CNC-milled on 5 distinct axes to achieve the complex "twisted" geometry required to maintain a constant handrail height along the rising spiral. The unique "J-profile" groove seen in the raw stone components (Image 10) adds a layer of shadow and depth, a detail that could only be achieved through precision machining followed by hand-finishing.

The Art of Inlay: Tessellation and Marquetry Complementing the organic curves of the stair is the rigorous geometry of the flooring. The project utilizes advanced Waterjet Intarsia techniques to create two distinct visual zones.

The corridors feature a custom tessellated weave pattern (Image 3 & 5). This is not a simple tile job; it is a puzzle of interlocking stone laths, requiring zero-tolerance cutting to ensure the grout lines remain razor-thin and consistent over vast areas.

In the feature areas, we see a dramatic shift to Floral Stone Marquetry (Image 1). Reminiscent of Shanghai’s native Magnolia, this large-scale inlay combines varying shades of grey, white, and deep red marble. The factory dry-lay (Image 1) demonstrates the crucial quality control phase, where every petal and curve is pre-assembled to verify color harmony and vein flow before the stone ever touches the construction site.

The Shanghai Seagull project is a dialogue between the machine and the hand—where heavy limestone blocks are made to look weightless, and rigid stone tiles are woven like fabric.