The specialisation of the architectural profession has brought us to a point where interior design and architecture are cut off from one another, and this is a huge mistake, Neri & Hu co-founder Rossana Hu has argued.

In an interview with CLADmag, Hu said: “As architects, we’re often asked why we’d want to work on interior projects, and we sometimes find ourselves apologetic about doing so.

"But interior projects carried out by architects have a depth that's generally lacking today; the kind of intellectual discourse that's very much needed.

“When an architect takes on an interior project, their training means they can conceptualise the space in a way that adds much more richness to the experience. They can take out a wall or puncture a ceiling to create that exceptional quality within the interior that an interior designer wouldn’t be equipped to do.”

Neri & Hu, which was founded in Shanghai in 2004, has an interior practice and architectural department, allowing the firm to take on both aspects of a project. This is something they fight hard for, said Hu.

“We’ve had many people asking us to do an interior for them, and we’ve refused unless they’ll also allow us to do the architecture. At Le Meridien in Zhengzhou, for example, they asked us to design the interiors for the hotel. It was a very ugly building. We said we didn’t want to do the interior of a building that looked like that, and would only get involved if we could also do the façade.”

Neri & Hu’s design for Le Meridien in Zhengzhou saw them create a series of frames around the façades of the tower, creating a distinctive exterior. They were also responsible for the hotel’s interiors, which include a dramatic, five storey atrium inspired by nearby caves.

The practice recently completed a 20 bedroom boutique hotel in Yangzhou, China. The architects were responsible for both the architecture and the interiors for the Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat.

The site was a challenging one, according to the architects, as it was dotted with small lakes and a handful of existing structures. The design brief called for the reuse of several of the old buildings, while adding new buildings to accommodate the hotel facilities.

The architects’ strategy to unify these scattered elements was to overlay a grid of walls and paths onto the site to tie the entire project together.

“We were able to bring the history back to this plot of land by creating these walls that used to be the sightlines of the original village,” said Hu.

“We did the interior as well as the architecture, and we customised a lot of the lighting and furniture for this project, which makes it so much richer. It’s a beautiful hotel, and the architecture is very interesting”

Upcoming projects for Neri and Hu include the Edition Shanghai, with Ian Schrager, and Sukothai hotel, also in Shanghai.

The full interview with Rossana Hu features in the latest issue of CLAD’s quarterly title CLADmag, which can be read online and on digital turning pages.

The magazine also includes interviews with architects Steven Holl and Odile Decq, landscape specialist Adriaan Geuze and designers Ed Ng and Alice Lund.