This plant-covered hotel will offer a leafy green getaway in São Paulo

A soaring, 300ft tower of lush greenery is set to offer an oasis of calm in the buzzing Brazilian metropolis of São Paulo. Renderings of a luxury plant-covered hotel have been released by architects Ateliers Jean Nouvel, who are working to regenerate the district of Cidade Matarazzo.

With an impressive 151 guest rooms, two restaurants, three swimming pools and a caviar lounge, this will be the Rosewood Group’s first 6-star hotel in Latin America. However, the striking Rosewood Tower will undoubtedly be its crowning glory. Local flowers and trees will be planted around its steel latticed exterior, as a nod to the wild Atlantic Forest that runs along Brazil’s coast.

The hub of Cidade Matarazzo is centred around an old maternity hospital, dating back to 1943. Though no longer in use, this complex of striking Italianate-style buildings was beloved by locals, who ensured it was placed under heritage protection in 1986.

Developer Alexandre Allard is certainly confident that Jean Novel will do the area justice. “His fresh, contemporary foreign gaze will reveal and underscore the unique beauty of this poetic isle that has lain abandoned for over 30 years”, he said of the project. “That’s why I chose to work with him.”

Indeed, for Nouvel, it’s about staying true to Matarazzo Park’s existing aesthetic, and ensuring it remains a little haven of green in the midst of São Paulo’s unmistakable bustle and heat. “I would say it’s an oasis, he notes. “The hospital in the middle of the grounds is a sort of mini-town, very well organised around patios. Surrounding this little gem is a chaotic metropolis. What’s most interesting for me is being able to work with the memory of the place.”

The hotel is set to open in 2019.

Copy by Maeve Heslin.