It was a special task and needed a lot of creativity as well as a wealth of purple thoughts and ideas to develop a hotel project in a very short time. The task envisaged fundamental transformation: a project from a courthouse to a luxury and spa hotel in the emerging Yangon, centre and capital of the administrative district of Myanmar.

Naypyidaw (capital of Myanmar, translated as “Seat of Kings”), 21 April 2012: Presentation meeting with the Minister of Tourism to present a new concept of use for the former government courthouse – a colonial house with an extremely eventful and moving history. As the pulsating heart of the British colonial regime, it achieved an inglorious but significant role in the opium trade between Burma and India in colonial British India. Built between 1927-1931 with the foundation stone laid on 3.3.1927 by the Governor of Burma, the mighty building on the harbour front served as the official office for the colonial administration to tax and inventory the colony.

Further information here:: https://www.yangongui.de/yangon-divisional-court-and-department-of-pensions/

The supreme discipline of concept development
At the time of the first trip to Myanmar in 2012, there was hardly any tourism. The country radiated an almost mystical magic. Everything was real, pure life. Many people with smiling faces, despite the obvious lack of material wealth.

Conversion is transformation. The converted building should preserve and maintain the magic of old times and yet adapt to new circumstances. Building makes it possible to preserve historical and cultural values. At the same time, elements from the sad past can be bid farewell with dignity and given new radiance and energy. Therefore, a concept was developed that made the original heart of Burma tangible and not only touched the tourism minister’s heart. Due to the tense political situation, however, the implementation could not be realised until now.