(In video) Hotel Designs LIVE: A design assault on the senses

On August 10, designers, architects, hoteliers and developers from around the globe tuned in to watch the latest edition of Hotel Designs LIVE. The event, which first launched in June 2020 to keep the industry connected while keeping the conversation flowing, took place virtually – broadcasted at Minotti London’s Fitzrovia showroom, and included four engaging panel discussions with world-renowned hospitality and design experts on the following topics:

• A design assault on the senses
• Designing the perfect nights’ sleep
• Design, beneath the surface
• Social spaces in 2021 & beyond

During the editor’s welcome, editor Hamish Kilburn was joined with Anke Summerhill, Managing Director of Minotti London which was the event’s headline sponsor. The pair discussed what’s new in the Minotti 2021 Collection as well as exploring how recent cultural shifts will impact the social nature of hospitality while the panel for the first session of the day were preparing to go live in the virtual wings.

The first session of the day, sponsored by bathroom brand GROHE, was inspired by a previous session that was broadcasted on the Hotel Designs LIVE platform, which looked at sound in design. Taking what he learned during that hour-long conversation with designers and architects, Kilburn was keen widen his perspective to discuss all of the senses in hotel design and hospitality. “Following that insightful session on sound’s role in hotel design and after reading a mountain of press releases recently that all reference sound, touch and even smell to evoke a deeper meaning of wellness and wellbeing, it feels fitting to position the editorial spotlight on the sensory experience for our next event,” Kilburn said when introducing the subject. “It also comes as the industry, albeit slowly, is starting to reopen and reconnect.”

On the panel:

• Damian Saint, Music Director – W Hotels Asia Pacific
• Robbie Bargh, Founder, Gorgeous Group
• Diana Espejo, Director of Technical Services (EMEA), Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas
• Justin Wells, CEO, Wells International

The conversation began with Kilburn asking the panel why only now we as an industry were starting to look at the benefits of sensory design in hospitality experiences. “I might challenge that, becasue I think in design, we have always been striving to extend the positive outcome for the end user,” explained Justin Wells, CEO, Wells International. “Take the retail sector, for example, which has been exploring sensory design for many years. Currently, today, there is a heightened awareness around reconnecting and with a higher demand for wellness and wellbeing it has perhaps amplified our appetite for understanding technology. As a designer and architect, I have always researched how we can create a better, more holistic approach – and sensory design is most certainly a way to achieve this.”

To understand how a brand like Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas was utilising the technology around sensory design – and how the brand plans to inject their luxury wellness and wellbeing hospitality experience in an urban environment, Diana Espeja, Director of Technical Services (EMEA) for the brand explained: “The Six Senses brand is growing and the challenge was face is how we translate our core values into different environments. The beauty of this is that our pillars of wellness and sustainability are really universally applicable – so we are constantly challenging our consultants to think outside the box on how we can achieve this. We do use the sensory experience not only in our design, but we also like to create really unique moments for guests who are checking in. In Ibiza, for example, the energy was amazing – and we really wanted to inject this into the design and the hospitality. We are constantly evolving and there is not a formula that works across all of these destinations – you have to research the area.”

Moving the conversation on, Kilburn then engaged with Robbie Bargh, a F&B experience consultant and the founder of Gorgeous Group, to better understand how sensory design can be utilised effectively in F&B spaces. “Telling stories is a fully immersive experience and to do this you have to use all of the senses,” he said. “Everyone gets obsessed by the way something looks, but actually when you get into it, the sound, smell and touch are all equally important to consider. And now, this is even more important.”

Here’s the full video of the panel discussion (on demand), produced by CUBE, which includes Product Watch pitches from GROHE, Benholm Group, Utopia Projects and Franklite.

The full recordings of the other three sessions (‘Designing the perfect nights’ sleep; Design, beneath the surface and Social spaces in 2021 & beyond) will be available to watch on-demand shortly.

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Headline Sponsor: Minotti London