Designers

    Headshot of Neil Andrew and the DESIGN POD logo

    Episode 33: the future of net-zero in design

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    Episode 33: the future of net-zero in design

    Still fresh from winning The Eco Award at The Brit List Awards 2022 for the studio’s ambitious pledge to be net-zero (embodied carbon) in projects by 2030, Neil Andrew, Head of Hospitality at Perkins&Will joins Editor Hamish Kilburn for the next episode of DESIGN POD…

    Headshot of Neil Andrew and the DESIGN POD logo

    Meet Neil Andrew, an interior designer based in London. As well as being a skilled craftsman in his trade – and with the aim to deepen design’s meaning in hospitality – Andrew and his team at Perkins&Will are on an honest and, at times, unapologetic mission to operate in a net-zero landscape. In 2022, the studio announced that it will be net-zero embodied carbon) in all its projects by 2030.

    Cutting through the noise somewhat, the studio launched its Net-Zero Now: Hospitality report. In it, the studio sets out a series of targets to achieve its deadline and goal. “As a company we have been at the forefront of sustainable design for more than 25 years,” Andrew explained. “It [incorporating net-zero into design] is not something you can switch on overnight – it is a process. The good thing about the term ‘net-zero’ is that people can understand and get hold of from outside the industry.”

    Aside from a headline-grabbing initiative, which led to the studio winning The Eco Award at The Brit List Awards 2022, Host Hamish Kilburn invited Neil onto the design podcast to explore how this social and environmental mindset is opening doors to wider opportunities.

    DESIGN POD is brought to you by Hotel Designs. This series is sponsored by Geberit, produced by Mel Yates and hosted by Hamish Kilburn.

    DESIGN POD Alessandro Munge

    Episode 32: transforming spaces (Alessandro Munge)

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    Episode 32: transforming spaces (Alessandro Munge)

    Hot off appearing on Travel By Design, a podcast hosted by Hamish Kilburn and brought to you by Marriott, Alessandro Munge, Founder of Studio Munge, joins DESIGN POD for a heart-to-heart masterclass on how to effortlessly transform spaces in hotel design…

    DESIGN POD Alessandro Munge

    Meet Alessandro Munge, the Founder of Studio Munge; a visionary interior designer who has worked with leading hotel brands on a global scale to redefine hospitality through the power of design. Editor Hamish Kilburn welcomed Munge as his special guest for episode 32 of DESIGN POD, sponsored by Geberit.

    The Toronto-based designer and Kilburn first met on the Travel By Design podcast, by Marriott, where the two explored the fabrics, materials and the overall design story of Muir Halifax, Autograph Collection, a luxury hotel in Nova Scotia.

    On this episode of DESIGN POD, Kilburn’s aim was to start where they left off from that meaningful discussion, to understand more about Munge’s approach to projects and how he has helped brands, through clever and socially driven design, to amplify perhaps a different side of their personalities.

    A soft interior design scheme inside bedroom at Muir Halifax

    Image caption: Muir Halifax, Autograph Collection, designed by Studio Munge. | Image credit: Marriott International

    In addition to understand the architecture and design narrative of Muir, Kilburn spoke to Munge about sensitively designing EDITION’s first residences in Miami, how to effortlessly amplify a hotel brand’s language through design and the challenges involved in designing Sangri-La’s tallest hotel within its portfolio, which will open soon in Nanning, China.

    DESIGN POD is brought to you by Hotel Designs. This series is sponsored by Geberit, produced by Mel Yates and hosted by Hamish Kilburn.

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    DESIGN POD ep 27 main image

    Episode 27: Sustainability in materials (Richard Holland)

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    Episode 27: Sustainability in materials (Richard Holland)

    Meet Richard Holland, Co-Founder and Director of Holland Harvey Architects, who is pioneering a new era in socially and environmentally designed buildings. Some of the studio’s recent projects, explored in this episode of DESIGN POD, are, put simply, changing the game in this new chapter of meaningful hospitality, design and architecture.

    DESIGN POD ep 27 main image

    In episode 27 of DESIGN POD (the first episode in series four), sponsored by Geberit and produced by Mel Yates, Editor Hamish Kilburn welcomes Richard Holland, Co-Founder and Director of Holland Harvey Architects, on the podcast to explore the significance of materials when having a sustainable approach to hotel design. To contextualise this, Kilburn starts the episode by asking Holland about how his ‘free architecture’ concept led to the creation of the socially and environmentally driven architecture studio, before exploring some of the projects that, put simply, change the game in the conscious hotel and hospitality arena.

    Listen to the full episode here:

    InHabit Hotels, is a fine example of this, which is a cluster of socially connected, environmentally responsible hotels. Holland Harvey Architects together with the interior designers at Caitlin Henderson Design were on the design team from when the brand launched its first hotel in 2019, in Paddington, London. The confident mindset from the client allowed the design team at the studio to, well, design deeper by applying research and finding unconventional ways to retain materials existing buildings, while not taking anything away from the contemporary Scandinavian-meets-British design aesthetic.

     

    In addition to discussing how the story of Inhabit Hotels developed through conscious approaches in both design and architects, and understanding how this developed further in Inhabit Hotels’ second property, Holland and Kilburn discuss greenwashing, materials and putting emphasis on the social aspect of ESG in hotel design.

    Inhabit London Queens Garden

    Image credit: Inhabit Hotels

    Outside the hotel arena, the studio recently completed a project for Shelter From The Storm (SFTS), a London-based homeless shelter that provides 42 beds, fresh food and holistic support to its guests. “Every single space had to be considered with a particular mindset, which myself and my colleagues did not understand at first,” Holland says on the podcast. “We very much leant on the founder to help us understand what the experience meant, what the challenges were and how design could soften the impact of finding yourself in this situation, arriving at the shelter and finding the space and time to rehabilitate yourself to leave the shelter, which is the ultimate goal.”

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    DESIGN POD for Simon Kincaid

    Episode 17: Flexibility in design & architecture (Simon Kincaid)

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    Episode 17: Flexibility in design & architecture (Simon Kincaid)

    In episode 17 of DESIGN POD, in association with Minotti London, Simon Kincaid, Partner at Conran & Partners, joins the sofa to discuss the benefits of a flexible approach to design and architecture… 

    DESIGN POD for Simon Kincaid

    Simon Kincaid, who joins the DESIGN POD podcast, has more than 20 years’ industry experience in residential, hotel and hospitality design. Arguably, there is no one who is better equipped with the skills and know-how to understand and enforce flexibility in an industry that is ever-evolving.

    His latest projects include, among others, Puro Kazimierz, Blake Tower, Luma and The Conran Shop in Seoul.

    The interior designer and architect has worked across residential, hospitality and retail sectors, and brings a great understanding of consumer lifestyle trends to the communal and public areas of all project typologies, often to engage with the wider neighbourhood, as well as creating well detailed desirable homes, hotels and experiential retail experiences. And he does all this (and more) while generating a strong sense of place and identity in every brand he and his team touch.

    Kincaid joins Hamish Kilburn and co-host Harriet Forde for this episode, sponsored by Minotti London, to explore why now designers and architects need to be able to bend in order to create strong brand awareness and deeper narratives.

    For Kincaid, his ability, which was the result of working in various corners of the design and architecture arena, aligned cohesively with Conran & Partners’ approach to projects, which is to put the brand at the heart of the project.

    In the next episode of DESIGN POD, the duo from GamFratesi joins the Minotti London sofa to speak about furniture product design.  

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    DESIGN POD Series 2 Hen'a Yadav

    Episode 13: Unconventional materials in design (Hen’a Yadav)

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    Episode 13: Unconventional materials in design (Hen’a Yadav)

    In episode 13 of DESIGN POD, in association with Minotti London, Hamish Kilburn and Harriet Forde meet Hen’a Yadav, Principal at Studio Carter, to explore the qualities of raw and unusual materials in design and architecture…

    DESIGN POD Series 2 Hen'a Yadav

    Hen’a Yadav’s journey in hotel design recently moved her from LA to London. The Principal at Studio Carter’s first gig here was at HIX 2021, when she was asked to design a multi-layered hotel wellness suite concept. Her approach to design “one room with many faces”, as she described it, allowed her to explore new materials and forms, while harnessing wellbeing properties through a soft and muted design scheme.

    In episode 13 of DESIGN POD, Yadav joined Hamish Kilburn and co-host Harriet Forde to explain what those materials were, and how the project gave her a deeper sense of understanding when exploring opportunities that have emerged since modern travellers started for wellness and wellbeing being enriched in the whole hospitality experience.

    It’s an uncanny chain of events that led Yadav to this exact moment. She was born in Bombay, raised in Katmandu, and studied in Dubai, followed by Basel. With this unusual upbringing and paradoxical perspective on different cultures, she became curious about the various environments she lived in and how they mould us. Thus, her innate drive to study interiors led her to Montreal, to where she came with an ambition to revolutionise and rethink the word ‘lifestyle’.

    After graduating, she started her career in Dubai by designing royal palaces. The opulence of that lifestyle led her to seek a role specialising in hospitality. She continued to explore different design communities and cultures by working in Hasselt, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore, quenching her creative curiosity with fabulous mentors and celebrity designers along the way.

    After 18 years of this nomadic, creative journey, she has seamlessly accumulated a vast and versatile portfolio with unique set off experiences. This has now all culminated in a fabulous role in London after Los Angeles, and as a principal of a boutique, a lifestyle-driven firm called Studio Carter where she continues to spearhead the London office.

    Studio Carter consists of a team of internationally based creatives that provide a personal and articulated perspective on hospitality, creativity and wellbeing. The studio commits itself to have a positive influence through holistic and timeless design. Years of experience, a highly talented team and a strong vision create a position of trust and dependability with our clients. All work starts from an artistic viewpoint, adding authentic creativity to a unique interior design. Studio Carter transfers a story into a tangible and sharable experience whilst constructing a narrative that people will be immersed in.

    DESIGN POD, series two, is sponsored by Minotti London. In the next episode, Kilburn and Forde meet Guy Oliver, Co-Founder of Oliver Laws.

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    DESIGN POD Series 2 - Timothy Griffin

    Episode 12: Design’s role in hotel development (Timothy Griffin)

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    Episode 12: Design’s role in hotel development (Timothy Griffin)

    In episode 12 of DESIGN POD, in association with Minotti London, Hamish Kilburn and Harriet Forde discuss design in hotel development, and meet Timothy Griffin, Principal at Wellbrook Hospitality who was the former Managing Director for The Hoxton brand in Northern America… 

    DESIGN POD Series 2 - Timothy Griffin

    Timothy Griffin is a Principal at Wellbrook Hospitality and Co-Founder of the LEVEN hotel and lifestyle brand, which recently opened its first hotel in Manchester – and Hotel Designs were first to check in.

    As well as having his finger on the pulse when it comes to hotel development hotspots, Griffin was also responsible for the design – and all creative elements, including branding – for LEVEN Manchester And for this episode of DESIGN POD, Hamish Kilburn and Harriet Forde wanted to understand design’s role in hotel development.

    Throughout the episode, Griffin discusses challenges and opportunities that emerged when blurring the lines between luxury and lifestyle. In the case of the Manchester property, celebrating the raw nature of the architecture with soft and comforting elements answered this brief for the space to feel immediately residential with plush touches.

    Before LEVEN, Griffin’s career was split between New York City and London. Most recently as Managing Director for the North America region, he brought The Hoxton brand to the US, opening sites in New York, Portland, Chicago and LA. He played a key role in defining the Hoxton brand, and as the group’s Brand Director he oversaw graphic design, PR, social media, retail, digital marketing, partnerships and events.

    The next episode of DESIGN POD will explore unconventional materials in design, and will welcome Hen’a Yadav, Principal at Studio Carter, as the special guest.

    Main image credit: DESIGN POD/Hotel Designs

    11_Rachel Hoolahan Orms DESIGN POD

    Episode 11: Sustainability & conscious design (Rachel Hoolahan)

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    Episode 11: Sustainability & conscious design (Rachel Hoolahan)

    In episode 11 of DESIGN POD, in association with Minotti London, Hamish Kilburn and Harriet Forde welcome Rachel Hoolahan, an architect and the sustainability coordinator of Orms to discuss a circular economy, greenwashing and materials passports…

    11_Rachel Hoolahan Orms DESIGN POD

    In the first episode of series two of design and architecture podcast DESIGN POD, host Hamish Kilburn and co-host interior designer Harriet Forde meet Rachel Hoolahan, who has recently become the sustainability co-ordinator at Orms.

    A pioneering example of someone who is putting forward innovative and honest initiatives that will encourage the industry – and the wider world – to work towards a circular economy, joined the podcast while the studio’s latest project to breath new life into the former Central St Martins Building in London – and has a few clever ways to convince clients to think more consciously.

    Thinking sustainability is not a new concept for Orms, though, which in 2019 completed its project as one of the architecture studios involved in The Standard London – and was the only studio, out of a handful that pitched, that pushed to save the building’s 1974 Brutalist structure. After it won the pitch, Orms was responsible for the exterior architecture / shell and core, and worked alongside interior designer Shawn Hausman Design and interior architect Archer Humphryes on behalf of Crosstree Real Estate Partners and The Standard.

    DESIGN POD, series two, is sponsored by Minotti London. In the next episode, Kilburn and Forde meet Tim Griffin, former Ennismore Managing Director (USA) who recently launched his first hotel, LEVEN under Wellbrook Hospitality.

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