Marcel Wanders brought his signature maximalism to an unlikely address — a glass-and-aluminium corporate block in Glattbrugg, the airport-adjacent business district that sits just beyond Zurich's city limits — and the collision between container and contents is precisely what makes the Kameha Grand Zurich worth paying attention to. The exterior, a low-slung rectilinear volume wrapped in horizontal louvred cladding and floor-to-ceiling glazing, gives nothing away. Inside, Wanders layered Swiss folk iconography over a dark, theatrical palette: the oversized Scherenschnitte-inspired headboards in every guestroom translate the traditional Swiss paper-cutting craft into monumental lacquered panels, alpine silhouettes and heraldic motifs framed against chocolate-brown quilted leather wall panels. Persian-style carpets anchor the rooms in warm red and black, while freestanding oval soaking tubs sit exposed behind glass partitions in the suites. The public spaces push further into Wanders's characteristic blend of the grand and the provocative. The cigar lounge is fitted out in black Chesterfield leather — tufted armchairs with carved cabriole legs, floor-to-ceiling backlit bookshelves, a large photographic portrait presiding over the room with the atmosphere of a gentleman's club that has been slightly unhinged. The Italian restaurant counters with burnt-orange quilted banquettes arranged in sweeping curves beneath a domed ceiling medallion painted with tomatoes, the wall tiles drawing on Portuguese azulejo traditions. Across its 245 rooms and suites spread over multiple floors, the hotel sustains an argument that even the blandest business district can accommodate genuine design ambition.

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