Sleep, Europe’s leading hotel architecture, design and development event, returns to the Business Design Centre in London on 26-27 November with exciting new features and exhibitors to ensure it stays ahead in today’s fast-evolving hospitality landscape. With details about the line-up for 2014 just released, here’s a quick snapshot of what’s in store so far…The Sleep Set
This year’s challenge for the built-concept room competition (previously called Sleep Hotel) is to create a guestroom blueprint for a new hotel brand which takes as its core value “simplexity”- the emerging theory of a relationship between simplicity and complexity – in a way that provides an original guest experience, translates across any number of gateway cities and delivers ease of maintenance and longevity. Several well-known contenders are already confirmed – watch this space for further details!
Sleep Bar
Sleep Bar is the go-to destination at the heart of The Sleep Set in the design gallery, re-imagined by a different design company each year and providing a unique opportunity to create a space with real wow factor that draws the crowds throughout the show. This year sees Swedish-based Stylt Trampoli, who last year won Interior Design of the Year – Bar in the European Hotel Design Awards last November for its inspired design of the Cuckoo’s Nest at the Radisson Blu Riverside in Gothenburg, confirmed as the designer. Stylt Trampoli’s construction partner will be long-time collaborator Famos Scandinavia AB. So, expect the unexpected!
Exhibition
Stands in the main exhibition hall are almost sold out, ahead of last year but with the same intent to balance leading suppliers with newcomers and introduce a number of first-time features. Sleep is promising several “UK exclusives”, a new look Tech Hub, and a “Roof Terrace”. Designed by a specialist hotel landscape architect, this will showcase the finest in outdoor furniture design, reflecting the increasing trend among luxury hotels for stunning ‘outdoor rooms’ and roof terraces.
Conference
The conference will be packed with thought-provoking and timely content relevant to the hotel design, development and architecture audience including sessions covering the hostel, mountain resort and long-stay apart-hotels sectors. Alongside a line-up of key note speakers from across Europe will be a number of short provocative ‘disruptor’ sessions designed to challenge conventional views and provide an insight into a different angle of the industry. Widely appreciated by visitors last year, the conference will once again be free to attend for all. 2014 also sees the return of the more intimate Round Tables formula and the designers of the Sleep Set hotel design competition presenting their room sets with immediate feedback from the judges.
Sleep ReardonSmith Student Award
Sleep’s focus on the new and innovative extends to students and will once again include The Sleep ReardonSmith Student Award, this year re-aligned to play a larger part in the show and give the competing students an even better learning opportunity. Open to undergraduates and postgraduates in Europe studying full-time for an architectural or design qualification, the competition brief is created afresh each year and this year students are invited to design a new hotel on a site in the old quarter of a central European capital city.
The winner as well as two runners-up will not only have their work displayed at Sleep but will attend an informal coaching session at the event where senior hotel design professionals will talk through and critique their entries one-to-one. The brief and entry details are available on the Sleep website.
A late night opening, until 8pm on Wednesday 26th including a cocktail hour from 6-7pm, will give visitors the chance to take in the show and toast The Sleep Set winner announced at 7pm, followed by a presentation to the Student Award winner.
Grohe is the Headline Sponsor of Sleep 2014 and host of the VIP lounge. The show is the official event partner of the European Hotel Design Awards which will culminate in a dinner on the evening of 25 November when the winners will be announced in a star-studded ceremony at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London.
