Restaurants and bars call upon all of the senses, not just taste, to establish an emotional connection with customers. They rely on their architecture and decor to establish a visual identity that reflects ...
Charles Allem, Nini Andrade Silva and Juliet Ashworth share their vision of what will be trendy, what will be tired and what should be tried for 2011.
By Mary Scoviak
THE TREND
Allem: Intellectual chic. Guests’ design savvy and value-for-money mandate will require more functionality and style at every price point. “That’s going to necessitate clever furniture layouts and better value-engineering.” Art will be the bridge between form and function. “It’s really the key to the door.”
Silva: Green. “Sustainability is a cornerstone of our new projects.” Making a big statement will be green technology, such as LED lighting with presence sensors and water taps with sensors that save water and energy. Bathrooms will include more recycled materials (as in tiles made from recycled glass). Toxic materials such as lead, mercury, PVC and certain glues will be off the new source lists.
Ashworth: Versatile chic. “Hotel room space is at a premium because of building costs, but it still has to be adaptable for sleeping, working and relaxing.” Look for furniture elements that can be folded or put away to create more usable floor space. “The manufacturer/designer who comes up with the first ‘folding’ bed that retains all the comforts of the full ensemble bed will be in demand.” Four- and five-star urban business-class hotel rooms will become smaller (250 – 300 sq. ft.) with shower-only bathrooms, while luxury, resort and leisure hotel rooms will on average be 500 – 600 sq. ft.
THE LOOK
Allem: Minimalism. “I’m a strong believer in less is more.” But traditional won’t go away. “The projects on our boards cover the entire gamut of styles.”
Silva: Clean lines with bold contrasts. There will be a rich mix of materials. Although the big pieces will be straightforward and modern, interesting details and accents will contribute a bit of fantasy.
Ashworth: Residential, with soul. Urban hotels will emulate city apartments with rich, bold color, techno and super- plush fabrics and drapery, and theatrical lighting. Decorative elements at resorts will still refer to the setting, but they’ll be adventuresome. “We won’t see such a literal interpretation of local arts and crafts.”
THE MUSTS
Allem: Natural palettes; tactile contrasts. As a complement to all that hard-working furniture, rooms will get softened with tone-on-tone colors, hand-woven fabric (or least fabrics that mimic the effect) and elements with natural and organic textures. Just don’t go too Birkenstock. FF&E still needs a contemporary twist or a bit of polish.
Silva: Intensity. Designers will be drilling down on each element, studying how that piece best fulfills its own function while complementing the other elements in the space. “The challenge is to make a whole but allow each item to keep its own character.”
Ashworth: Inspired bathroom design. Open plan en-suites are continually evolving as they become part of a single enlarged room space. The only separate private space will be the toilet. The showering, vanity and dressing areas will be in full view—though innovations like materials that change from transparent to opaque will let guests determine the level of privacy.
THE MISTAKE
Allem: Any space that is—or even looks—too big. “I have always been obsessed with proportion and scale. Oversized is out of style.”
Silva: Ignoring sustainability in luxury design. “The idea that an elegant and luxurious design is incompatible with environmental respect and the principles of sustainable architecture is outdated.”
Ashworth: One-size-fits-all guest rooms. “The next decade of hotel rooms will be more individual with feature walls, surfaces/materials and creative and interactive lighting.”
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