Case Study: Zaha Hadid Architects achieves a lightweight, fabrication-ready tessellated pavilion with Altair HyperWorks

Developing a Diamond-shaped, Triangles Studded Pavilion for the Morpheus Hotel in the City of Dreams

Zaha Hadid Architects faced a complex fabrication and structural challenge on the Morpheus Hotel project in Macau when its co|de team was asked to design an internal pavilion (a patisserie beneath the lobby) that would triangulate and mesh seamlessly with the building’s highly tessellated exoskeleton. The team needed a solution that preserved the building’s aesthetic, accommodated electrical cabling, allowed the 8 mm aluminum elements to be rolled and bent, and supported nodes with up to eight members without bulky joints—so they turned to Altair and used Altair® HyperWorks™ for computational design and simulation.

Using Altair HyperWorks, Zaha Hadid Architects’ co|de group drove guide meshes, identified primary structural members, and developed a custom surface and fabrication logic that permitted flat aluminum strips to be unrolled, laser-cut, bent into cassettes and assembled with skeletal nodes. Altair’s simulation enabled a hollow, diamond‑faced triangulated canopy that met electrical and aesthetic constraints, reduced material use, avoided custom milling or molding, and produced a lighter, more economical high‑metal finish—delivering the required structural integrity while maintaining the project’s bold visual language.

Zaha Hadid Architects

Henry Louth

Senior Designer