A Guide to Hotel Design Pt 3: The Role of the Designer

Some years ago the UK’s Design Council summoned a number of the Principals from the largest interiors practices then extant to a meeting in the Council offices. There the practice leaders were subjected to a harangue on the need for them to address their failure to move the rôle of the designer on to being a fully fledged Consultant.

Fifteen years on from that lecture has anything changed? In the hotel design industry there have been many changes amongst the clients – Forte and Queens Moat are no more, and property ownership has now transmogrified into brand management. The industry has continued to grow, but the same practices that were dominant then are dominant now – Richmond, GA International (then called Gregory Aberhardt) SMC (then known as McNeece) Gensler, Wilson’s and many other familiar names are still the largest players. Some have gone, retired (Richard Daniels, Joseph Ransley), died (Bob Lush, Neil Tibbatts) or failed but generally the industry has survived the storms of the 1990’s in pretty good shape and as the hotel industry has flourished so have the design practices.

Despite this the Design Council would probably still make the same criticism of the industry now as it did then. Few have managed to make the shift from being designer to being consultant. What is the difference you might ask? The Consultant is a strategic thinker, and takes on a role of advising on implementation of the brand strategy across a number of areas within a company not just implementing it within a few hotels. Designers remain involved in the implementation of strategy, not in the shaping of it. Why have designers not succeeded in gaining the level of influence and esteem of, say, the architect or brand manager?

In part, as the Chartered Society of Designers have identified, the problem is in the qualification of the designer themselves. Anyone can call themselves a designer and being a member of the professional body (the CSD has a Royal Charter that charges it with responsibility in this area) is not a requirement of practice, whereas the architect profession and name is strictly regulated through their professional body, the RIBA.(Indeed there are now no less than 5 bodies claiming to represent interior design professionals in the UK, and a house so divided against itself cannot continue to stand in high regard anywhere).

This means that interior design is a broad church ranging from decorator to interior architect. Within this the hotel design discipline is itself similarly fractured. A designer may be the lead consultant on a £multimillion project like the Celtic Manor, or advising on the introduction of a spa into a five star hotel, and yet still not be involved in the strategic thinking.

In many ways the profession is its own worst enemy. A recent major refurbishment has seen a major brand establishing its first UK hotel as the flag bearer for its brand in Europe. Yet the designer has delivered interiors that do not match the brand standard. Where the brand standard states that the brand should deliver luxury soaking tubs and separate showers the hotel has been created as a brand leader without a separate shower in any of the hundreds of bedrooms. Did the designer try to change this decision? The hotel manager seems to have been instrumental in choosing the bathroom ironmongery, matching it against his idea of Englishness, with the result that there is a Victorian feel to the bathrooms – not my view of contemporary Englishness, but raising the question of why was the designer so lacking in respect that the manager was given this rôle?

Managing the Client is a difficult task. Even a long term relationship may not empower the designer. Some have managed this difficult trick (Richard Daniels with Olga Polizzi for example) but in most instances the designer is in a position once ascribed to the fine artist as being the ‘elite of the servant classes’. The profession needs to address this weakness if it is to achieve the true status the press ascribes in its worship of design.

We need to be assertive in promoting design values, intelligent in understanding and interpreting brand values, and aggressive in maintaining design standards. The Design Council was right in its insensitive bureaucratic way, until we get away from the drawing board to the board room, design will not deliver the potential it has to become the prime management tool that it is being seen as by enlightened commentators on both side of the Atlantic.

©Patrick Goff

Fun fact: I’m usually the person friends rely on to organise trips, schedules, and group plans.

Workhighlights: Successfully coordinating events from planning through to delivery and seeing everything come together on the day.

Fun fact: I’m a keen cyclist and will happily bore people with copious amounts of cycling chat. My top cycling experience (so far) would have to be riding in the spectacular mountains of Crete.

Work highlights: Charles joined Forum Events in 2022. With a background in publishing, editorial media and events, Charles brings a wealth of experience to his role as Senior Production Manager. Having being involved with SPACE from the outset, he is excited to see the brand grow and develop.

Fun fact: People tell Sienna she gives off Bridget Jones vibes, and she loves to bake, always making sure there are shortbreads floating around the office

Work highlights: Sienna joined Forum Events & Media Group while studying Communications and Media, starting in the sales team where she managed and helped launch the first the PA Life Leading Venues of London SHOWCASE, where she built relationships with luxury venues across the capital. Drawn to the stories behind these spaces, she naturally transitioned into the editorial team, creating social media and editorial content. Upon graduating in June 2026, she is excited to be joining as Assistant Editor for Hotel Designs and SPACE.

Fun fact: When not working, Jess can usually be found tending to her kitchen garden in the Sussex countryside or foraging for herbs in the nearby woods. A keen grower, she recently studied a RHS Level 2 Diploma in the Principles of Horticulture during her spare time.

Work highlights: Jess joined SPACE magazine in 2022 and has since progressed from Assistant Editor to Editor. During this time, she has worked across many aspects of the publication – from shaping editorial strategy and overseeing operations to contributing to art direction and representing the brand on stage at industry events including Surface Design Show and WOW!house.

Alongside her role at SPACE, Jess has built a creative career spanning the arts, culture, design and travel sectors. Prior to joining the magazine, she spent more than a decade in the commercial art industry, in artist liaison, gallery management, and curating collections for the hospitality sector across hotels and cruise ships. During this time, she also worked on freelance projects as a writer, photographer, and creative content producer.
 
Jess studied photojournalism at London College of Communication and the Danish School of Media and Journalism and holds a first-class BA (Hons) in Culture, Criticism and Curation from Central Saint Martins.

Fun fact: Katy has spent years perfecting all kinds of accents and loves a good impersonation!

Work highlights: Katy has been with Hotel Designs since the beginning, way back in 2015 when Forum Events & Media Group acquired the brand.

During this time, she has fostered many meaningful relationships with clients from across the hospitality spectrum, as well as playing a pivotal role in the launch of The Brit List Awards, Hotel Designs MEET UPs, client-led roundtables and panel talks, brand and website redesigns, HD Wellness Sets, DESIGN POD podcast, Hotel Designs LIVE panel talk series, Accessible Design Talks and more. Katy is always on the lookout for the next opportunity to help grow the Hotel Designs brand even further.
 
Most recently Katy has stepped in to the role of Publisher at SPACE magazine, the printed bi-monthly publication focused on hotel design, architecture, and development.

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