Sleep Show
Sleep Set
In the opinion of Gilberto Vizzini of Il Prisma, the challenge is to convert a one-night stand into a long- term love affair. “Hotels and their designers now have a great opportunity to elicit guest loyalty by combining physical and digital worlds into a new ‘phigital’ paradigm,” he says. “This has the potential not only to create connections between the hotel and its neighbourhood but to deliver new networks for guests when they return home. In our Sleep Set, we will be proposing a system suitable for all types of hotels that explores the “phigital” model. The results will be unexpected, sociable, sexy and, above all, flexible so that hotels and their guests can go on having new experiences together.”
For 1508, it is the small details that create strong attraction and form people’s memories. “Details incite an emotional connection to a space and bring guests back,” explains 1508’s Hamish Brown. “Visitors to our stand will be invited to play a part in imagining a space full of moments of attraction for them, moments that in turn create loyalty and love.” MKV Design is also intrigued by the wider issues. “Loyalty and love are fundamental to us. They influence what we feel about the life we are living and they generate a legacy for the future. Yet, we can be profligate and promiscuous with our loyalties, using up finite resources and rejecting commitment in favour of the latest ‘must do-have-hold’,” explains MKV’s Maria Vafiadis. “Our Sleep Set will belong somewhere within this big canvas, inspired by an article about an island which made us think about the future.”
By contrast, Stonehill & Taylor is thinking about the global context: “Our Hotel Irus will reflect and draw on a multi-cultural wealth of inspiration that honours the environment, embraces globalisation, respects cultural differences and creates a unique experience. And, to underscore the approach of building an engaged world community, the concept was designed in New York, will be crafted in Istanbul and will debut in London,” says Principal, Vince Stroop.
Structured as a competition while approached as a collaborative exploration, the Sleep Set attract developers, hotel operators, architects and designers as well as industry consultants and commentators from across Europe and farther afield. The participating companies will be presenting their case before the panel of judges, this year comprising Javier Hortel of Mandarin Oriental Group, Nick de Klerk of Auckett Swanke and Tina Norden of Conran & Partners, in a Sleep Conference session on the second morning. The winner will be announced at lunchtime on Day Two.
Hotelier & Hospitality Design
This year’s Sleep Set will present four room sets destined to provoke thought on the pressing question of loyalty in today’s hotel world. Four international design practices are participating, bringing a diversity of experience, outlook and culture to the competition. They are: Italian company, Il Prisma, with studios in London as well as in Italy and a portfolio that extends across workplace, retail and hospitality; London-based MKV Design which specialises in the interior architecture and design of high-end hotels and resorts around the globe; 1508 London, primarily known for premium residential architecture and interiors and now expanding into hospitality; and Stonehill & Taylor, the hospitalityfocused architecture and design studio from New York City.
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