Hotel Designs LIVE: Discussing sustainability with Bill Bensley

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Hotel Designs LIVE: Discussing sustainability with Bill Bensley

To kickstart Hotel Designs LIVE on October 13, editor Hamish Kilburn discussed sustainability and purposeful eco solutions for the post-pandemic world with designer Bill Bensley…

Hotel Designs LIVE, sponsored by Technological Innovations Group, took place on October 13. The one-day conference welcomed world-renowned interior designers, architects and hoteliers to discuss the future of our industry in four engaging panel discussions, which were:

• Discussing sustainability with Bill Bensley
• Adding personality in public areas
• Reassuring the post-corona consumer
• The revival of smart technology post-pandemic

The production of Hotel Designs LIVE took place in Technological Innovations Group’s Experience Centre in London, and was produced CUBE Video, a bold, innovative and strategic video and animation agency that believes in empowering businesses with creativity.

The event was launched with an editor’s welcome by Hamish Kilburn, where he discussed the aim of Hotel Designs LIVE. “This event, this concept if you like, has been designed to keep the conversation flowing and the industry connected,” he said. “It is our way to position under the spotlight what we believe to be are the most relevant and engaging topics that are impacting our industry right now. It’s also an opportunity to gain access – albeit virtually – inside hotels and design and architecture studios around the globe.”

Following this welcome, Kilburn introduced the event’s first session and speaker. In order to definitively understand sustainability in international hotel design, while also highlighting new, unconventional methodology in the process, the event invited headline speaker Bill Bensley onto the virtual sofa.

Affectionately known as the “Willy Wonka of Design”, Bensley is a dedicated eco-warrior and a highly qualified jack of all trades – architect, interior designer, lover of all things natural, and most of all, a wide-ranging explorer of as many corners of the earth as he can.

The award-winning designer, who never fails to deliver innovative solutions when designing sustainable spaces, joined Kilburn to discuss how design, architecture and hospitality can coincide with nature. In this session, which was sponsored by Silentnight Group, Bensley and Kilburn discussed whether or not the Covid-19 crisis – which resulted in global daily emissions of CO2 to fall by 17 per cent – had effectively balanced the scales, and debated if hotel design could ever be completely sustainable.

Within this session, the audience heard PRODUCT WATCH pitches from Silentnight Group, Harris & Harris London and Schlüter Systems.

Below is the recording of the full session, which starts with the PRODUCT WATCH segment and leads into our exclusive interview with Bill Bensley.

QUICK-FIRE ROUND:

Hamish Kilburn: What has been your favourite year in this industry and why?
Bill Bensley: Right now!

HK: What lesson would you teach your younger self if you were able to? 
BB: As my folks were both English and homophobic, perhaps I would have reassured a young Bill that being gay will prove to be the happiest life positive ever!

HK: What luxury item would you not live without? 
BB: My dogs, I have six Jack Russells and I couldn’t live without them.

So there you have it, sustainability doesn’t have to be a heavy burden in hotel design. Like Bensley has evidenced within this conversation, being conscious to the environment and implementing sustainable methods in design should be a playful, fun, and enjoyable process. By thinking locally yet still outside the box, we will be able to create innovative and purposeful solutions that will authentically meet the new demands of modern travellers.

The full recordings of the other three sessions (Adding personality in public areas, Reassuring the post-corona consumer and The revival of smart tech post-pandmeic) will go live shortly. 

SAVE THE DATE: Hotel Designs LIVE will return for a third edition on February 23, 2021. Session titles and speakers will be announced shortly. Once these have been announced, tickets for Hotel Designs LIVE will be available. In the meantime, if you would like to discuss sponsorship opportunities, focused PRODUCT WATCH pitches or the concept of Hotel Designs LIVE, please contact Katy Phillips or call +44 (0) 1992 374050.

Hamish Kilburn / 20.10.2020

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