Sleep Awakes! European Hotel Design Awards 2013 Announced

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The internationally acclaimed European Hotel Design Awards is now open for entries. Currently in its 16th year, the scheme is widely acknowledged as the leading pan-European awards to focus on excellence in hotel architecture and design. The Awards are part of Sleep, which is the stand-out event for the hotel design industry, comprising 2 days packed with a hotel design and development talk’s programme, major exhibition, and a showcase of built hotel concepts. This year, Sleep will be held in mid-November beginning with a glamorous Awards dinner on the evening of Tuesday 19th November at Park Plaza Westminster in London where the EHDA winners will be announced. This will be followed by the rest of the event on 20th and 21st November in London’s Business Design Centre.The stature of the European Hotel Design Awards is due not only to their pioneering role in recognising the value of hotel design, but also their consistently high calibre of expert judges and a rigorous judging process that sees all the shortlisted entries visited by a panel member – a feature that distinguishes the Awards from most other competitions.

The Awards’ longevity has been achieved by constant reinvention, as Simon Ford, Chair of the judging panel, explains: “Every year we review feedback from previous awards, consider the types of project we may be seeing in this year’s entries and consider the overall process. One of the things we have seen over recent years has been the emergence of bars as stand-alone design features and so this year they will be having their own award. We have also been challenged previously in comparing very high-end projects with very simple, budget ones – equally well-designed but for different customers with different budgets, and this year we are going to recognise both within each category if the need arises”.

Recent years have certainly celebrated the wide diversity of design talent that now inspires hospitality.

Winners of the 2012 European Hotel Design Awards were:
• Conversion and/or extension of an existing hotel building: Hotel Valentinerhof, Italy – noa*
• Conversion of an existing non-hotel building to hotel use: The Mirror Hotel, Barcelona, Spain – GCA Architects
• New-build hotel: Hotel Lone, Rovinj, Croatia – Maistra
• Lobby, lounge & public areas: Superbude St Pauli, Germany – Dreimeta
• Café, Bar or All-Day Dining: Beau-Rivage Palace, Lausanne, Switzerland – Wilsdon Design Associates
• Restaurant: Sur Mesure Par Thierry Marx, Mandarin Oriental, France – Jouin Manku Studio
• Bedrooms & bathrooms: Superbude St Pauli, Hamburg, Germany – Dreimeta
• Suite: The Whitehall Penthouse Suite, Corinthia Hotel, London, England – GA Design International
• Spa, health & leisure facilities: The Spa, Mandarin Oriental, Paris, France – SM Design
• Sustainable Design Award: Starhotels, E.c.h.o., Milan, Italy – Andrea Auletta Interior Design
• The European Hotel Design of the Year: Superbude St Pauli, Hamburg, Germany – Dreimata
• The Outstanding Contribution Award: Claus Sendlinger, Founder & CEO, Design Hotels

In addition, the Sleep ReardonSmith Student Award saw a young team from Coburg, Germany, win recognition for their design of staff restaurant and relaxation areas in a hotel.

The judging panel is also refreshed annually. As always judges are selected to ensure the broadest range of professional opinions are represented within the industry, and this year’s new faces are: Stuart Wilsdon of Wilsdon Design Associates, Paul Priestman of Priestman Goode, Rob Wagemans from Concrete, Erik Nissen from Stylt Trampoli, Robbie Bargh of Gorgeous Group and Javier Hortal from Mandarin Oriental. They will be joining established EHDA judges who are: Simon Ford (Chair), Celia Geyer of Hilton Worldwide, Jeremy Blake from Purcell, Stuart Bradbury of ADS Design, Eugene Staal from Carlson Rezidor, Ahmed Akudi from Grohe, consultant Eileen Keribar, Gregoir Chikaher from Arup, James Dilley from Jestico + Whiles, Christoph Hoffmann of 25Hours Hotels, Daniel Englander from Benjamin West, Stephanie Briggs of Steph Briggs Design, design journalist Guy Dittrich and Matt Turner, editor of Sleeper Magazine.

Following the exceptional success of last year’s re-introduction of the Sleep ReardonSmith Student Award, it returns this year with a brief to create a master-plan for a new luxury hotel and residential marina development on the Southern Adriatic Coast.

As Claus Sendlinger, Founder & CEO of Design Hotels and winner of the Outstanding Contribution Award in 2012 says: “in the last ten years design has become a minimum requirement. The whole industry is waking up, and is starting to build more and more beautiful hotels.”

European Hotel Design Awards 2013: Categories
Architecture of the Year: Conversion and/or extension of an existing hotel building
Architecture of the Year: Conversion of an existing non-hotel building to hotel use
Architecture of the Year: New-build hotel
Interior Design of the Year: Lobby, lounge & public areas
Interior Design of the Year: Café or all-day dining
Interior Design of the Year: Restaurant
Interior Design of the Year: Bar
Interior Design of the Year: Bedrooms & bathrooms, sponsored by Keramag
Interior Design of the Year: Suite
Interior Design of the Year: Spa, health & leisure facilities
The Hotel Brand of the Year (By invitation only)
Tomorrow’s Hotel Award, sponsored by Arup
The European Hotel Design of the Year (chosen from entries into the above categories)
The Outstanding Contribution Award (for an individual, selected by the judges)
The Sleep ReardonSmith Student Award, which this year will be a competition to design a resort hotel.

The deadline for entries is Friday 14th June 2013

For more information and to submit entries visit: www.thesleepevent.com

Daniel Fountain / 08.05.2013

Editor, Hotel Designs

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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.

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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.
 
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