Firmly anchored in Busan‘s hospitality scene, hotel tt manages two boutique properties across the city—one downtown, and a newly opened hotel in Gupo, a largely residential neighbourhood alongside the Nakdong river. The property boasts 133 rooms set across 20 floors, and features a lobby and top floor restaurant designed by local architecture and design practice design by 83. The chosen design codes not only take inspiration from the scenery and culture of South Gyeongsang, the coastal province of which Busan is by far its biggest city, but also the spatial dimensions of the two spaces, and aim to be distinctive and make the hotel stand out. The lobby measures 150 sqm. (1,615 sq.ft.), and its voluminous dimensions are accentuated by an undulating ceiling. Mimicking the nearby sea and waves, a connotation most people have when thinking of Busan, the volumes are crafted from water wave panels covered in tinfoil paper.

Interestingly, artificial lighting was avoided to make the materiality of the finishing material look even better, and indirect lighting is being used instead. Uncluttered and airy, the lobby is merely furnished with an understated reception desk, flanked on one side by a seating arrangement with upholstered benches. Up on the top floor of hotel tt sits the restaurant. After taking the elevator, guests access the dining establishment by way of a corridor which leads to a preceding buffet where the food is served before they proceed to their seat of choice. Here, the aim was to evoke a strong sense of nature. Large windows wrap around the venue, allowing in plenty of daylight, but also provide guests scenic peaks of the nearby river and mountains. Walls covered in a stone mosaic are paired with polished timber flooring, and although the furnishings are contemporary, the setting has a slight yet distinct bucolic edge.