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• Focus 11 – Access Great Design
• Sleep Event, London: 24-25 November 2010
• REBEC: 21-22 June 2010
• Hospitality Architecture + Design Conference: Macau, June 2010
• Visit to Belgrade: 2-3 June 2010

Focus 11:

Access Great Design

26 September 2011

ReardonSmith Associate, Sidharth Bhatia, joined a distinguished panel to discuss hospitality interiors today and in the future at Focus 11, part of the annual celebration of interior design held at Chelsea Harbour in London. Fellow panellists were James Dilley, Associate Director of Jestico & Whiles, and Bruno Viterbo, Managing Director of Alexandra Champalimaud. The moderator was Catherine Martin, Assistant Editor of Sleeper magazine.

One of Catherine's first questions for the panel was – why London now? The last 12 months have seen an abundance of five star openings, as well as many new limited service hotels and she asked Sidharth to consider the two major completions that ReardonSmith had worked on – The Savoy and the Four Seasons London at Park Lane.

SB: In general, I think that many of the hotel refurbishments we are seeing in London have a lot to do with what is needed behind the scenes to make the hotel meet the expectations of guests today. Technology as well as much of what is back–of–house has advanced so much over the past decade and quality hotels have to take this on board. However, this means stripping back the building. In the case of the Four Seasons, this was relatively straightforward – the building is only about 40 years old. In the case of The Savoy, it was much more complex because the building goes back to the late 19th Century, has had numerous extensions and makeovers and is listed. Sometimes, working on The Savoy felt like being on an archaeological dig. It is interesting to remember that the two projects were running in parallel with the same architectural practice and the same interior design company – yet the outcomes are utterly different in terms of the interior environments and guest experience that they now offer. Fundamentally, our task at The Savoy was to restore and rebuild in a way which would make guests feel that nothing had changed; by contrast at the Four Seasons we rebuilt the inside of the hotel with the intention of it looking new.

Catherine also quizzed the panel about what they thought were the trends in hotel design for the future.

SB: Definitely sustainability and this does not simply mean reducing energy usage to save on the bills. In fact, sustainability is not the same as being green, although obviously there is some overlap. We are seeing clients becoming wiser about this issue and I think the trend will continue. The other direction, I am sad to say, is towards more security as the threat, real or perceived, of terrorism grows around the world. The trouble is that scanners, CCTV, body checks and the rest are at odds with a good hotel experience. The welcome will be over–shadowed, the sense of retreat from the world diluted, the wish for privacy unfulfilled. It is a challenge for hotel architects and designers.