Mix Interiors 178 by Mix_Interiors

Mix Interiors 178

October 2017

TRACING LANDSCAPES From sheltered bays to rolling hills, let the lines of the landscape forge a pathway. Three new modular carpet designs. Textural and organic, Tracing Landscapes is offered in 18 colours and produced from Econyl® 100% regenerated yarn.

T +44 (0)1942 612777 www.millikencarpet.com Artwork featured by Liza Giles — www.lizagiles.com

Carpet Shown — TRACING LANDSCAPES / Geography Lesson

UPFRONT 10 19 Perspective

Inside 29

REVIEW 95 95 London Design Festival

20 Seven...

THE FINAL WORD 100

22 Forward Thinking 25 Material Matters 26 Desert Island Desks

SPOTLIGHT 29 31 Big Question 32 Hospitality Report

ROUND TABLE 60

CASE STUDY 66 66 TalkTalk, Salford Quays 72 Frame21, Herentals 78 Alpha Bank London

PROFILE 86 86 Sean Dare

PREVIEW 91 91 Workplace Week 1

The cover

The logo 'If your life is at your desk. Then your desk must come to life.’ www.buckleygrayyeoman.com The cover The task chair redefined. Trinetic delivers progress in motion. Three independent pivot points combining to achieve the most sophisticated kinetic yet. Trinetic is the world’s first fully certified task chair to provide dynamic support without the need for manual user adjustments. Trinetic does not need to be adjusted for individual users, making it the perfect chair to support flexible work patterns in situations where several different people can be sat on the same chair throughout the course of a working week. Photography: Peter Guenzel www.boss-design.co.uk MIX INTERIORS 178

Wireless retrofittable lighting control system Up to 16 easy to program lighting scenes per zone User controlled allowing employees to manage their own light levels

Mix Interiors 178

October 2017

TALKTALK FRAME21 ALPHA BANK LONDON SEAN DARE HOSPITALITY REPORT

MOTION SENSORS LUMINAIRE CONTROLLER LIGHT SENSOR SWITCHES OCTOBER 2017

Back issues 05/10/2017 09:31

Mix Interiors 177

September 2017

This stylish monitor arm, arguably one of the slimmest of its type on the market today, has been awarded FIRA’s prestigious Ergonomic Excellence Award and is now supplied with a 10 year extended warranty.

RANT Y

RANT

CIARA KEELING LDF PREVIEW

As you’ll see a little later in this issue, we were lucky enough to spend a couple of days in Antwerp last month with our old friends from Phusei and new friends from Drisag. What’s more, my old colleague and now Editor of Crafts magazine, Grant Gibson, was also on the trip. This was always going to be a good one. And indeed it was. We were looked after royally, enjoyed some amazing hospitality and laughed a lot. Still in fine spirits on the Eurostar home, a couple of us set about connecting our phones to the train’s WiFi – at which point one of our party noticed (and did so quietly and without any malice whatsoever) that one of the many networks that were ‘available’ to us was called ‘Emma’s iPhone4’. Queue a certain Editor (and it wasn’t Grant) failing miserably to suppress a loud

guffaw, followed by an even louder cry of, ‘Who still has an iPhone4?’ I have no idea why I found this so funny. Have I really become one of those tech snobs I’ve always derided? What’s more, pretty much everyone in our carriage found it equally hilarious that someone would have such an antiquated phone. When the laughter had died down, we went back to our search for WiFi connection – and I noticed that Emma was no longer there. I’m sorry Emma. I don’t want to be that kind of person – someone who shames another into taking their antique phone to another carriage. Actually, thinking about it, I’m not sorry at all. What are you doing Emma? An iPhone4? You need to get yourself to the Apple Store. If you don’t know where that is, you can just Google it. If you’re rubbish phone has even got Google!

Editor Mick Jordan mick@mixinteriors.com

Contributors Steve Gale Andy Swann

Editorial support Rebecca Sabato rebecca@mixinteriors.com

Address Mix Media Limited 2 Abito 85 Greengate Manchester M3 7NA

Sales director Gary Williams gary@mixinteriors.com

BIRD & BIRD HEATONS WELLBEING CUNDALL

from Mick

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Director David Smalley david@mixinteriors.com

Contacts t: 01709 385470 e: sales@cmd-ltd.com w: www.cmd-ltd.com SEPTEMBER 2017 05/09/2017 13:46

Designer Georgina Nicklin georgina@mixinteriors.com Managing director Marcie Incarico marcie@mixinteriors.com Founding publisher Henry Pugh

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Get your own! To ensure that a regular copy of Mix Interiors reaches your desk, please call 0161 946 6262 or e-mail: rebecca@mixinteriors.com Annual subscription charges UK single £45.50, UK corporate (up to 5 individuals) £140, Europe £135 (airmail), Outside Europe £165 (airmail). Printed by S&G Print ISSN 1757-2371

When Phillips DACH relocated their headquarters the interior was inspired by cultural aspects of Hamburg, picking up themes like the Reeperbahn or the city parks, providing places for communicative, creative tasks and at the same time offer relaxed, quiet zones â&#x20AC;&#x201C; just like the city itself. Create your own positive space with Interface - find out more at interface.com/positivespaces. 3

FURNITURE FOR ACTIVE LEARNING

Introducing Ruckus. Shaking up learning spaces. Move with the chair, move within the chair. Ruckus lets you decide. A chair unlike any other in the world, created especially for maker-centred & project based learning. 4

Experience Ruckus at our London HQ New Fetter Place, 8-10 New Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1AZ www.kieurope.com/ruckus | education@kieurope.com | 020 7405 7082 5

LUX B E N C H

Elite_Furniture

Elite Office Furniture LTD

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ELITE OFFICE FURNITURE UK LTD T. +44 (0)1405 746000 Head Office, Factory & Showroom T. +44 (0)20 7490 4909 London Office & Showroom www.elite-furniture.co.uk E. info@elite-furniture.co.uk E. londonshowroom@elite-furniture.co.uk 6

Mix Interiors 160

Throughout the duration of the project, I have had the pleasure of working with Heatons and would have no

reservation in highly recommending them. The products they have provided are to an exceptionally high standard and their expertise and advice has

been invaluable.

Mix Interiors 160

Our designs and aspirations changed through the process but Nicola and her team were very responsive and always came up with solutions that both met our needs but kept the office fit out within budget. Overall I am delighted with the result but perhaps more importantly so are our employees.

When it came to the project rollout the installation team were very well organised, efficient, attentive, cheerful and flexible. I would not hesitate to recommend Heatons in the future.

We already had some ideas about what we wanted to create in terms of ambience and character inside the building and had put together mood boards and sample boards of examples of furniture and decor. However, it was Heatons who turned these ideas into reality with their determination to find the right pieces of furniture which would fit both our scheme and budget.

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CBRE NEW OFFICE SPACE REFRESHES WORKING CULTURE Commercial real estate giant CBRE has moved to Clifton Heights, one of the tallest office developments in Bristol, taking two floors of the building. Workplace design and build specialist, Interaction, was appointed to create a workspace that fosters staff wellbeing as well as collaborative working. Flooring from Interface has been used to delineate zones, as well as adding splashes of colour. Hayley Lambert, designer at Interaction, explained: ‘The flooring was quick and easy to fit as both collections we have used offer square tiles in the same standard size, while their non-directional patterns meant we could install them in any orientation, enabling us to reduce waste. All of this helped us to significantly cut the amount of time it took to lay the floor, enabling us to meet the ambitious six-week deadline.’

CLUB WEMBLEY OPENS THE ONE TWENTY CLUB If you’re a football fan (isn’t everyone?) you will be excited that the season has started again, kicking off with the FA Community Shield at Wembley. KSS were especially interested because they helped create the stadium’s new members’ club. One Twenty has been designed by KSS and refurbished by Portview. Not unlike we’re seeing in the workplace, the lounge has been designed to be ‘evolutionary’, with smaller furniture clusters and chairs that swivel for guests to define their audience, privacy and sculpt their own experience. Tones of mustard, purple and turquoise colours are used throughout the spaces. Not wishing to be negative at all about this wonderful new space – but won’t it take even longer for the VIPs to get back to the game after half time? They might not want to leave at all!

ffee Tables ting and Genoa Co

ing, Dusk Soft Sea

High Block Bench

NORTH EAST FIRM COMPLETES FURNITURE FIT-OUT FOR NATIONAL RAIL COLLEGE North East furniture manufacturer Godfrey Syrett has completed a six-figure furniture fit-out on behalf of The National College for High Speed Rail (NCHSR). The project marks the final milestone for the £38m scheme, which was completed in time for the first cohort of students in September. Godfrey Syrett was appointed by the scheme’s main contractor, Willmott Dixon, to design and manufacture furniture for the college’s two new campuses in Doncaster and Birmingham. Vince Penrose of Godfrey Syrett said: ‘This has been a very exciting project for Godfrey Syrett. We are delighted to have had the opportunity to design furniture solutions for these two state-ofthe-art learning facilities. With a combined floor space of over 143,000 sq ft, these highly specialised buildings provide workshop space, classrooms, social spaces and outdoor training areas incorporating railway tracks. We provided a selection of innovative products to suit the learning environments and meet the needs of both the staff and students.’

A range of informal study area s, with furniture including Slice Tables and Spark-Hi Booths

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STEELCASE ANNOUNCES NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH DANISH DESIGN COMPANY

The sofa arrangement is perfect for casual meetings or quick catch ups

n an

Betwee use it.

ir and armcha

a sofa,

Steelcase has announced a new relationship with Bolia, a contemporary Danish furniture designer and maker. Steelcase will offer an exclusive curated collection of Bolia designs, including sofas, armchairs and tables, to customers throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa with availability expected in November 2017. This Bolia collection complements Steelcase’s broad portfolio, offering design options born out of its Scandanavian roots, distributed by the largest dealer network in the industry. ‘With a shared love for design, quality and creativity, Bolia products complement Steelcase beautifully,’ said Lars Lyse Hansen, CEO of Bolia. ‘We’re incredibly excited about the new relationship with Steelcase. Together, we can transform offices into creative, inspiring places to work.’

e how to

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VALSPAR SELECT PIONEER DIGITAL FOR CORPORATE AV AT UK OFFICES Leading coating manufacturer, Valspar, wanted a digital installation to match the contemporary feel of its new office space. Selecting Pioneer Digital for the roll-out across its four UK offices meant they could showcase LCD displays, wireless presentation systems and audio systems in both meeting and training rooms; ensuring connectivity for colleagues across both UK and US offices. Bright Valspar paint colours feature throughout the various spaces, which have been designed to motivate employees with inspirational quotes on the walls of meeting and training rooms. All digital facilities using the same connectivity make it really simple for people to use the videoconferencing facilities. Designing engaging spaces with vibrant paint colours was of paramount importance to Valspar – and they’ve succeeded in creating exactly that.

OPENING HOURS Our friends at Dragonfly tell us that their exciting new workspace has been designed to have many uses – from a working office to a place to meet and collaborate with suppliers, clients and the local community. Following the purchase of a derelict pub in Middleton, North Manchester, and its subsequent strip-out, the team found fantastic original features, which inspired the interior design. The ground floor is truly multifunctional, with a number of vibrant, flexible spaces, which can be used for formal meetings, relaxed communal and interactive spaces for team meetings, presentations and entertaining. Dragonfly is actively promoting the space to be utilised by businesses, suppliers, clients and local authority organisations. ‘The response from local businesses and neighbours has been fantastic,’ Lead Interior Designer, Nicola Dunsmore, tells us. ‘We didn’t appreciate what the regeneration of the building meant to the area. Bringing the pub back to life felt like the right thing to do for Dragonfly Contracts Ltd and the local community.’

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LESSTHANFIVE CHAIR Coalesse Design Group + Michael Young 12

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Modern craft. Handcrafted from carbon fiber. Surprisingly light. Exceptionally strong. LessThanFive invites a new creative freedom.

coalesse.eu 13

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PERKINS+WILL NAMES NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR LONDON STUDIO Global architecture and design firm, Perkins+Will, has announced new leadership for its London office. Steven Charlton is the new Managing Director of the 135-person practice. He assumes the role after having spent the last six years as Managing Director of Perkins+Will’s Dubai office. ‘It’s exciting to be returning to my roots in London, where I can apply my experience in Dubai’s rapidly changing and dynamic market to help grow our practice here locally, says Steven, who helped grow sales in Dubai by nearly 60% since 2011, and under whose leadership the practice expanded from a staff of two to more than 100. ‘I look forward to further cementing Perkins+Will’s position as a leader in the UK, and to delivering the highest quality of service to our clients.’ The London studio of Perkins+Will has long been known for its award-winning corporate interior designs but, in recent years, has also earned a reputation for excellence across multiple disciplines and practice areas, including master planning and urban design, architecture, science and technology, hospitality, and healthcare. Recent and ongoing projects include The Stage, a mixed-use residential

project in Shoreditch that preserves one of Shakespeare’s oldest playhouses; 150 Holborn, a 180,000 sq ft new build HQ corporate office building in the borough of Camden; the award-winning Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, and the new The Economist headquarters in London. Under Steven’s leadership, the office anticipates continued growth in these and other sectors. ‘Steven brings a fresh, dynamic energy to the practice, complemented by strong business savvy, a clear understanding of the London and UK market and a clientfirst focus,’ says Jack Pringle, who served as the Managing Director of Perkins+Will’s London office for the last five years and will now focus on strategic growth and the development of new regional client relationships as Perkins+Will’s Regional Director for the EMEA. ‘It’s a natural fit for him, our London practice, and the entire firm.’

CALL FOR ENTRIES 2018 AN AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN BRITISH DESIGN Judged by: Simon Alderson - twentytwentyone Joanna Biggs - GA Design Barbara Chandler - Evening Standard Diana Monkhouse - SpaceInvader Design Ltd Jeremy Myerson - Royal College of Art Thomas Pearce - Sebastian Conran Associates Philippa Prinsloo - John Lewis Pernille Stafford - Resonate Interiors Architecture Jason Wilary-Attew - The Conran Shop Terence Woodgate - Terence Woodgate Design APPLY NOW: www.furnituremakers.org.uk/design-guild-mark/ DGM 183 “Robin Day Armchair” Designed by Robin Day for Hille

Closing date is 19 January 2018

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So, in the blink of an eye, we’ve been Mixology Northing for a decade now. 10 beautiful years. It all started, of course, at what is now the Etihad – in a demountable structure next to Manchester City’s home. It then moved on to the hotel formally known as The Palace (now The Principal), before relocating to the Hilton and the incredible Beetham Tower. We might well have stuck there as well, if it weren’t for the fact that we simply needed a bigger space (talk about a nice problem to have!). As it turns out – and this is in no way a criticism of our friends at the Hilton – it was the best thing that could have happened to our

‘little’ event. Last year we unveiled our new home of Manchester Central – complete with full-on funfair – and it was incredible. This year promises to be bigger and better still. So, with the 10th anniversary just around the corner, we’d like to thank everyone – from sponsors and guests, through to judges, organisers and those businesses who put so much time and effort into entering the awards – for helping to make Mixology North the event it is today. London’s Mixology might be the older, bigger sibling – but boy, hasn’t ‘little’ North grown! Here’s a look back to those glorious nights!

“

The Mixology North Awards is a ‘must’ in the diary at the end of every year. As well as being a fabulous evening, with such a huge amount of talent in the region, the awards acknowledge and recognise the stand-out projects of the year. The most memorable moment has to be Oldham Town Hall winning the Hospitality Interiors award last year – for a project that helps regenerate a town centre and breathes new life in to a wonderful old building. Mike Hitchmough, BDP

“

My most memorable moment was when I first won designer of the year in 2007. At every event the staff and organisers have been friendly and welcoming. The vibe at every event is always fun and about enjoyment and laughter. I haven’t had a bad experience ever. David Fox

“

We were lucky enough to have our Sky Leeds Digital Centre be shortlisted for an award at last year’s Mixology Awards in Manchester. The scale of the night was really impressive with entertainment from acrobats, fairground rides and a world famous DJ. We all thoroughly enjoyed the event and had a great night of awards. Jon Saunders, Head of Technology, Sky

“

It’s been a decade of evolution for Mixology North in locations and production values but the team at Mix deliver, year after year, a heady blend of positivity, celebration, reunions and northern pride. To borrow the words of one famously insightful Manc, Frank Gallagher, ‘The most vital necessity in this life is they know how to throw a PARTY!’ Oliver Ronald, Boss

“

Mixology North is by far and away THE best industry night of the year! It’s the one event we all make sure is in the calendar! We have had great nights at Mix over the years and the memories are countless, but often a bit sketchy! Long may it continue and as ever the HLM team can’t wait for the next one. One thing to avoid is being on a stag do in Amsterdam the next day! Jamie Wilson, HLM

“

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cm@spatial.co.uk / 0161 850 9005 17

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ELLA

DARE STUDIO www.darestudio.co.uk

01273 607192 18

info@darestudio.co.uk

Jayne Crampton Walker

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WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW REGULARLY IN YOUR DAY TO DAY ROLE THAT YOU WEREN’T 10 YEARS AGO? Writing this stuff…and listening more. I’ve learnt (the hard way) that listening goes a long way. 10 years ago, ‘we’ thought we knew best and we’d roll out the newest, trendiest, most up to date ‘innovative’ scheme and think it would win design of the year or give our clients the coolest workspace…that’s not enough. Maturity and experience has taught me to listen to what our clients do and don’t say. Engage with them, then you really know what to deliver. NAME ONE TREND THAT IS REFERRED TO MORE THAN ANY OTHER BY YOUR CLIENTS? Staff engagement. It’s not a trend though, it’s fundamental. It’s been around for a while but people are now recognising and understanding the complexities of the subject. WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT WORKING WITH TSK? I’ve personally come a long way in the last 10 years and have made the greatest strides professionally in the last four years, since joining TSK. The way the management constantly strives to do better for both the business and the entire team makes you feel special. They’re not afraid of re-evaluating when things haven’t quite worked and taking new approaches to being better employers for us all. Working with truly amazing clients is also something to mention – and this is not just for print purposes, but a reality. Working with clients that want to do the best for their people and who inspire you to design the best scheme is fantastic.

Perspective Jayne Crampton-Walker is Lead Designer at TSK Group where she’s worked for the past four years for a range of clients, including Arup, Eversheds Sutherland and, more recently, the new headquarters for Swinton Insurance. With over 20 years’ experience, Jayne creates intuitive and truly bespoke interiors with the clients’ culture, people and vision at the heart. She passionately believes in creating workplaces to support people and in the power of great workplace design as an enabler for increased performance.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU AND THE TEAM HAVE TO FACE? Our clients being in a state of flux. When we meet our clients they are looking at change and change breeds uncertainty. They’ve turned to us for our experience and help. Our initial approach is to calm the waters. Engage, understand and reassure in the first instance, before any design or costs come into it. It’s not necessarily about the ‘design’ or the ‘build’, its often about the ‘and’. HOW DO CLIENTS MEASURE SUCCESS? Clearly it depends on the whole company ethos, their business strategy and the initial drivers and expectations of the project. No organisation is the same and every client wants something different. However, ironically, it usually boils down to the same. As part of a consultancy interview I carried out last week, a rather engaging HR Director replied when asked for three points on what success looked like: 1. Noticeable pride amongst the troops 2. Admiration by visitors 3. Envy by competitors. Boom! How’s that as a measure? WHAT DESIGNER OR DESIGN PERIOD INSPIRES YOU? I’m not a ‘funky’ designer. I like simplicity and honesty (and no BS). I don’t believe in design for designs sake, however, that said, I’m in awe of those who push against the norm and create the ‘impossible.’ Zaha Hadid - when you look at her designs you just think ‘how’? Jon Pawson - when you look at the simplicity of his work it takes my breath away. Charles and Ray Eames - how do you take such simple materials and know you can mould and craft them into classical pieces of functional art.

A quote I try to design by is Joseph Chilton Pearce. ‘To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.’ ONE THING THAT GETS ON YOUR NERVES? The M62. Full stop. WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT – THE ‘LOOK’ OR THE ‘EXPERIENCE’? Experience. 100%. We all know looks fade but experience lasts a lifetime. Although to me the most important is how it ‘feels’. As humans we feel before we think and that goes a long way to forming our experiences. NAME ONE THING THAT WILL BE GONE FROM THE WORKPLACE IN THE NEXT DECADE? The idea that the desk is dead. I’m a realist. WHICH PROJECT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? I’ve recently had the most wonderful pleasure of working with an international client to design and deliver their new workspace, and, I’ve got to say that their general manager is the most inspirational man I have ever met. On pitch day he opened the session by giving his version of the brief and, at the end, I was on my feet clapping. I’ve never been so inspired to want to do an amazing job. It certainly made us raise our game to the max – a real 212° moment (shout out to Nigel Risner). WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT? A project for a global lifestyle brand, a wellbeing blog and, always, being a better mum.

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Light Sources

We thought Faye Frankland from Enigma Lighting

would know a thing or two about lighting – in fact

at least seven things, hot from the success of London Design Festival and, more specifically, darc room.

Here Faye shows her passion for her craft and offers a wonderful insight into some great products.

2 4

1. 45 LC – COELUX I couldn’t believe this luminaire was artificial light after first standing beneath an installation at the Light and Build exhibition 2016. It is truly amazing and a true testament to how luminaire design has progressed. If introduced in the early stages of a lighting design, to any space starved of natural daylight, this would be a game changer.

2. ARNE JACOBSEN TABLE LAMP – LOUIS POULSEN I know it’s a design classic, but it captures what I feel is the best way to approach design – a balance of simplicity and aesthetics. It’s something to aspire to.

3. SKIM DOWNLIGHT – ERCO A classic and now a downlight?! Yes I know, but I have used this product on a few commercial office designs, for small and open plan spaces. It makes good use of LED and lens technology to produce a range of beams to use through a space, allowing for a consistency in luminaire language through a design and, of course, offers an alternative to an array of LED panels.

4. BABYLONE LED – GREENWORKS A great feature pendant for any hospitality, residential or open plan office space, embracing biophilia, where the two key ingredients (all too often considered separately) are combined.

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5. SAMPEI FLOOR LAMP – DAVIDE GROPPI A beautifully architectural and graceful floor lamp, which also works well in atria and double height spaces, where power supplies and mounting locations are limited.

6. YOYO – INOX Acoustic luminaires can be striking too! Lighting combined with acoustic materials can help to solve a lot of problems within exposed ceiling, hard surface finish spaces and I feel that the Inox team are producing some of the more eye-catching designs at the moment.

a cage full of ideas. cage– a cabinet system that impresses with its striking design language and authentic blend of materials. wiesner-hager.com

7. VOLTA T – ESTILUZ I love the geometry of the curves created by this feature pendant, moving luminaire design away from the geometric theme, which is quite heavily used at the moment. Placing this as a contrast piece amongst strong architectural or geometric lines could really shake up the feel in a space.

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‘Hospitality creep’ is a sweet fact of modern life Like a benevolent plague of Japanese knotweed, it’s everywhere! Says Steve Gale

This definition of hospitality – ‘The friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers’ – applies to any decent hotel you can think of, but it doesn’t stop there – it’s unstoppable. A hospitable place is about comfort and social behaviour, the sort of thing you expect it in your local pub, but probably not so much in a police station. We can easily identify types of buildings that should be hospitable – and those that are less likely to be. A bus shelter keeps you dry and a changing room holds your kit, but a restaurant should make you feel welcome. Hospitality is expanding its territory, spreading into boringly functional spaces and transforming them so they give people a warm feeling and allow them to dwell, interact, chill out and de-stress? The spaces retain their function but become humane. Take, for example, the archetypical dentist’s waiting room. My life-long fear of dentists was forged in the awkward silence of dog-eared magazines and fish tanks, but now my dentist invites the grown-up me into a sunny lounge with John Lewis sofas, today’s papers, fresh coffee, fast Wi-Fi and friendly receptionists – and usually a cat. This happiness is spreading into workplaces. Expectations of what you get in the office are

changing, vanilla is less acceptable, and the trend is definitely accelerating. Office upgrades migrated from America, the country that put cup holders in cars and waste disposal in your kitchen sink. So now soft furniture in the workplace is ok in a middleweight British office. The comfort will often extend, like a Mexican wave, beyond a showy reception to casual meeting areas and cafeterias. In big organisations the quantity and quality of food goes up, so a promise of biscuits and burnt coffee for meetings evolves into an onsite supermarket without tills. Full catering is no longer just for multinationals the size of Unilever.

My life-long fear of dentists was forged in the awkward silence of dog-eared magazines and fish tanks People in these new workplaces are treated more like guests than employees, which is what hospitality is all about. For many of us the difference in appearance between our office and an upmarket hotel are the desks, which get fewer each year. Why is hospitality invading the workplace? Partly because American Dilbert cubicle farms were seen as a turn-off for talent in Silicon Valley, where competition for good people raised the game to the point where now almost all daytime needs are luxuriously catered for on tech campuses. All life is there. Every leisure

Steve Gale is Head of Business Intelligence at M Moser Associates. SteveG@mmoser.com

activity is accommodated, health and wellbeing needs are serviced and the food and drink on offer competes with the best in town, often at no cost to the consumer. It is corporatised hospitality at a grand scale, but aimed at regular employees, not clients expecting the best bone china. Some of the facilities have become comically over-provided, creating legends of excess and fantasy – like curly slides connecting floors and ski lift meeting rooms. The stakes are high in the tech sector, so big names fight for the same people and they believe the bribery works. It’s not just about retention and stealing staff, there is a much more practical reason for less austere offices – innovation and knowledge exchange. Now that we have functioning communication networks, and the tools of production are no longer hard wired to the desk, the workspace offers new opportunities. For most knowledge workers the only reason to turn up at the office is to rub shoulders with other real people for guidance, swapping ideas, plotting and hearing stories. This shift allows us to reconfigure things to make meetings, conversations and entertainment the main attraction, with places for production and thinking around the periphery. Knowledge sharing is the cutting edge of success. Just today I heard an interview with a newly elected Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, Dr Richard Henderson, from Cambridge, speaking about how he first learnt about his prize winning technique from a colleague in a completely different subject area ‘There’s a lot to be gained from chatting to people over coffee, lunch, tea…having interdisciplinary conversations, and often the big breakthroughs come from the boundaries between two disciplines where people are meeting. Those with their heads in the sand often make long term progress in particular areas, but the big revolutionary steps forward often come from these cross boundary collaborations’. True that, Richard.

Design

Management

Delivery

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Material Matters

In this month’s Material Matters, the experts at Material Lab highlight the latest innovations in eco-friendly design. www.material-lab.co.uk

Remake by Favini Paper uses leather – as you’ve never seen before Including 25% wood tree pulp, Favini Paper’s Remake range uses discarded residue from the leather manufacturing process to provide an innovative example of ‘upcycling’. Both recyclable and compostable, the residues, which are visible on the surface, give the paper a distinctive look and soft, velvety feel. The leather byproduct used is sourced from traceable Italian origin. www.favini.com

Amelia Frost adds value to non-traditional byproducts of the home Focusing on byproducts from around the home, Amelia Frost has created a set of utilitarian objects, which hold ‘embedded value’. She initially asked the question, ‘What happens when we take materials that are not traditionally deemed as valuable and ‘add value’ to them by creating new object outcomes?’ – and through rigorous technical research and experimentation has pursued new opportunities for everyday objects, including eggshells, bread, lint, pegs, hoover dust and bin liners. ameliafrost.design@gmail.com

Johnson Tiles’ Fitzrovia range transforms recycled materials into cutting-edge products One of seven brand new ranges recently launched by leading UK tile manufacturer, Johnson Tiles, Fitzrovia is inspired by our manmade surroundings. Celebrating a rustic appearance through understated distressed markings – in Pearl or Silver – as with all tiles manufactured at the Stokeon-Trent factory, each unit in the collection contains up to 20% recycled content. Available in one size – 600x300mm – and a chic gloss finish, it will provide serious style credentials to your next interior scheme. www.johnson-tiles.com

Dear Human: Creating unusual, sustainable and functional objects Dear Human explores new materials and forms, drifting from fine art into design concepts and back again. The result is a collection that resides somewhere between the two disciplines. Since the brand’s inception, it has been dedicated to thoughtful material use and projects often begin with playful experimentation with industrial cast-offs and scrap materials to see where they can go. The Wallpapering project utilises paper waste sourced from local offices to produce paper tiles that are hard as board and light as cork, with sound absorbing qualities and easy installation. www.dearhuman.ca

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Desert Island Desks

Tamie Adaya is an art patron, interior designer, Creative Director & CEO of Hotel Shangri-La in Los Angeles. Her passion is ‘social architecture’, bringing together creative people from film, fashion, art, jewellery, music, design and literature to orchestrate and inspire social exchanges. She was honoured for her creativity, leadership and business achievements at The Los Angeles Business Journal 2015 Women Making a Difference Symposium Awards. The Santa Monica Conservancy awarded her its preservation award for an exemplary restoration of a historical property following a $30 million refurbishment in 2008. Here are the items Tamie would wish for if stranded on our desert island. My Gucci pineapple sunglasses

Forget the lighter, knife or torch. If I was stranded on a desert island, my number one survival item would be my Gucci pineapple glasses. If I could only wear one pair of sunglasses for the rest of my life, it would HAVE to be my pineapples. I am no stranger to making a bold fashion statement, even if I was on my own, stuck on a desert island!

Hairdryer

My eyeliner pencil and red lipstick

It’s a multi-purpose tool. If I was stranded I could still sketch designs for the range of wallpaper and silk scarves I am currently working on. And my red lipstick has got to be in my survival bag. I mean, how are you supposed to be rescued when you’re not looking your best? A red pout truly makes any look instantly sophisticated and its multifunctional as it doubles up as a blusher. It’s a win, win.

This is another of my absolute can’t live without when stranded on a desert island products. And that includes shampoo, conditioner, styling treatment oil, smoothing serum and hairspray. Come on now…it’s only fair!

SPF 50 sunblock

I literally cannot live without it. My survival bag would be packed with it. Sunscreen comes close to my basic need to survive. Wait, did you say I can only bring one bottle?

Tel 01925 850500 Email info@sixteen3.co.uk

Genie

Well he could sort out food from my favourite restaurants and drinks – I’d definitely ask him to make me a Tamietini – which is the signature cocktail of my hotel – it’s named after me so it’s full of passion with a little punch. Genie would also have to arrange for friends to come entertain me – so that is everything covered. I’m a woman who likes to be ready for all eventualities.

Bed with soft cotton sheets

We spend at least a third of our life in bed, so in my opinion, a good bed and sheets are like buying a Vivienne Westwood couture dress – they’re worth the investment. My sheets must be plush and baby soft on my skin – the butteriest fabric to laze around in when stranded on a desert island.

Magic Carpet

I love travel. It creates perspective. I always tell people to use travel to liberate yourself, transform who you are or affirm who and what you want to be. But with my magic carpet, I would be free to leave whenever I want! And return. So long as it’s a palmfringed beach, with tropical blue waters lapping at my feet, I’d never say no to returning to a sanctuary, a safe harbour and a place where I can relinquish my quotidian concerns.

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Upfront

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The Big Question

Hospitality Report 29

PRODUCT DESIGNERS

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THE BIG UESTION

ANGELA BARDINO, GRIMSHAW ARCHITECTS Your hotel ‘experience’ should begin before you have even left your home. A short set of questions sent by the hotel to get to know you, so they can put together your own personalised holiday plan, presented digitally as you arrive to your room. This could even include getting to know you and your style, so there will be no need to pack! Once you arrive there will be a ready-towear wardrobe already in place.

NEIL ANDREW, DEXTER MOREN ASSOCIATES I would like to see an on-screen guide or App that accurately recommends local destinations based on my interests and likes.

Wh a t p ro d u ct o r s e rv i c e w o u ld yo u l ov e to s e e i n yo u r h ot e l roo m?

CAROLINE CUNDALL, IHG

STEVEN MCGEE, ISG

Filtered drinking water taps in every guestroom. Some hotels are now putting glass water bottles in rooms instead of plastic bottles but they could go a step further with a filtered water tap, particularly in new build hotels. They could offer guests a metal thermos designed for carrying water while they are out and about, which will also keep the water cool in hot climates.

For me, a good night’s sleep and refreshing shower are an absolute basic requirement of any hotel room, but to create the perfect hotel room, lighting is often underestimated in terms of importance to the average guest. Good levels of daylight, followed by appropriate light levels after dark, make the room experience either comfortable or unbearable! At ISG we go to great lengths to ensure our hotel projects deliver not only client requirements, but we regularly feed in positive experiences from our own stays in hotels around the world to ensure our clients achieve their aims of having the ‘perfect’ hotel room.

ALEJANDRA DE CORDOBA, HKS

DAVID JUDGE, JUDGEXD

A 3D food printer that really replicates any food (shape, but more importantly, TASTE).

I would like to see a truly comfortable armchair with excellent screen and sound for the ultimate in indulgent surfing, screen and sound experience.

Umbrella editorial banner Mix Interiors October 2017 copy.pdf 1 25/09/2017 9:33:50 C

CMY

The Hospitality

Report

In our annual look at all things hospitality, we have hunted and gathered highlights that we think would be of help to those directly or indirectly linked to the sector. This eclectic roundup is a mix of people, places, trends and stats. We have even managed to track down the incredibly busy Ursula Schelle-Müller from Motel One – if you have come across this forward-thinking brand before, you’ll be all too aware of exactly how busy they have been of recent!

NEWS

STATS

FIT-OUT

PRODUCT

TRENDS

INSIGHT

Alejandra De Cordoba Estepa, HKS Alejandra tells us about the latest trends she and the team at HKS are currently seeing. ‘This year we are seeing two main trends in HKS London. Firstly, we are designing hotel resorts with important residential components inspired in the local culture but embracing modern luxury, as our recently designed Fairmont in Taghazout (under construction) shows. ‘The other big trend is the increasing taste of the biggest names in the industry for adaptive reuse, transforming all kinds of buildings into hotels all over Europe and beyond. This has brought some fantastic buildings in amazing locations to our hospitality studio. More than ever, we are creating modern designs rooted in their location for the hotels of the future.’ l

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work + life

E S T.1 9 8 3 33

One Love

We talk to Motel One’s Ursula Schelle-Müller about the rise of this amazing hotel brand.

Hi Ursula. Please tell us about the origins of the Motel One brand? Motel One was founded in Munich in 2000. In 2005 we introduced our now well-known design concept, with the aim of offering high quality in prime inner-city locations, at affordable prices. While every hotel is different, the brand has become known for its striking turquoise colour scheme and iconic Egg chairs.

What is the Motel One philosophy? Motel One’s philosophy is to offer great design, at an affordable price. We put great emphasis on offering individual style and design across the entire portfolio of what is now 60 European hotels. All our hotels feature comfortable chairs, stylish decor and a striking sense of identity with the local area. All hotels feature the One Lounge, a space created to work, meet and relax – the perfect home away from home with a well-stocked bar.

important to us to give our employees the chance to grow together with us. Therefore, we offer regular training opportunities at our One Campus in Munich for all employees to strengthen their skills.

How would you describe the look and feel of your hotels? Every hotel is designed to reflect the personality and individuality of the city it’s in. We love to work with local distributors and artists to really build links between each hotel and its location. We pride ourselves on choosing high-quality fabrics and luxury brands. Of course, you will always find something turquoise in every Motel One – our striking brand colour accompanies us to every new project! u

Having been fortunate enough to experience Motel One’s excellent service levels ourselves, how important is service to the brand? We pride ourselves on offering guests a comfortable stay with impeccable personal service. Our teams are on hand 24-hours a day to assist guests, and ensure they enjoy their time with us. We put great emphasis on our team at Motel One. They are our brand ambassadors and transfer the Motel One spirit to our guests in each hotel. It is very

Every hotel is designed to reflect the personality and individuality of the city it’s in

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How do you stay ahead of the latest hotel trends? We are very focused on developing our brand continuously. We are very keen to exceed our guests’ expectations and listen to their wishes. Our interior design team is always keeping track of the latest trends to see how we can adapt them into the look and feel of our budget design hotels.

With two locations in Manchester and two in Edinburgh, what are the plans to expand into other British cities – or/and expand the London offering? Excitingly, we have recently secured plans for a third hotel in Manchester to join Motel One Manchester-Piccadilly and Motel One Manchester-Royal Exchange. We are also very much looking forward to our upcoming opening in Glasgow in the first quarter of 2018, our first hotel in the city.

When settling into a Motel One bar, which drink do you like to order? We have a fantastic selection with many local wine and beer offerings, so I always like to choose something regional that’s hard to find elsewhere. Our local Gin and Tonics are also worth a try. l

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The Ned h

Sarah Fox from Nulty Lighting tells us about one of the latest trends she has spotted in the hotel market – and how the lighting scheme can transform a guest’s experience.

Sharing economy – or peer-to-peer – lodging platforms are forecast to continue to shape the global hospitality industry for leisure and business travellers and hotel stakeholders. In 2016, the number of listings at Airbnb exceeded 2 million globally. Airbnb represents approximately 10% of the hotel rooms in the top 10 US cities

‘In recent years we have seen the evolution of the ‘microhotel’ – with the focus on large high quality communal areas appealing to sociable millennials and inviting the local community in. ‘On the flipside, guestrooms have been shrinking, becoming functional spaces for sleeping only. As space is optimised we are seeing an increasing number of guestrooms with limited or no access to daylight. For this to be acceptable, the design has to offer more. Light has a huge impact on the quality of our sleep, here at Nulty we are working on a Manifesto for Sleep – how to create the ultimate environment for a good night’s sleep.’

ISG tells us how to implement successful change of use in hospitality With viable new build plots in decline and the demand for hotels on the rise, hoteliers must look increasingly to existing buildings to support their expansion plans. For historical buildings, change of use, while remaining true to their origins, is an incredibly complex process. Our work on changing the Devonshire Club from an office into a private members’ club, and The Corn Exchange in Manchester into a high-end aparthotel, involves real expertise and an appreciation of the historical context and the challenges this presents. This is never a simple process, but with the right contractor on board, the results can be stunning. Devonshire Club Library h

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Multiple shapes in 3 materials Integrated solutions A ceiling for every space*

3 prestige projects 32 plans 100% design focused

*The information is given for guidance only. Photo credits: Thinkstock - aressy.com - 05/17

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Totally Unique

Sarah Stanley, Founder of Unique Home Stays, gives us an insight into her unique business. Can you sum up your business? Today Unique Home Stays is a thriving and spirited workplace, I’m still very much involved but I leave the day-to-day running to my team, who are a collective of creative and committed individuals. We only market homes that genuinely inspire us; where exceptional living spaces and breath-taking settings are equally as paramount, and we visit each one to make sure. Our passion lies in introducing new experiences and destinations to the most seasoned travellers, challenging traditional concepts of ‘luxury accommodation’ by embracing the unexpected.

What were you doing before? I travelled the world and lived in Australia for 12 years; raising my three young children and working as a professional chef.

How did the idea come about? In real terms the journey literally began with the seeds sown in my childhood growing up on a traditional Cornish farm where genuine warmth and hospitality was extended to everyone who walked in the door. Hosting friends and family in my own home in the UK led to a realisation that there was a niche in the market. During my travels I had stayed in many and varied accommodation, which afforded me a clear idea of what I wanted to achieve with Unique Home Stays. My aim was to hand-pick the very best private luxury accommodation oozing with character, with interesting owners that wanted to provide guests with a real experience. I had to find the right homes with the right owners to make the company work. I wanted ‘Unique’ to be at the core of everything that I did.

How did you fund it? I started the company from scratch with just a £500 loan from my mum and a single, simple Cornish cob-walled cottage on ‘the books’. It took heaps of self-belief, a supportive family and great determination to succeed in the marketplace at the time; the birth of Unique Home Stays coincided with the 9/11 tragedy which heralded a downturn in the economy so it wasn’t easy going!

made up the growing portfolio. My business model of listing spectacularly unique private homes worked beautifully as it ignited a keen interest in journalists, and subsequently in the public, who were excited about the prospect of staying in such unusual and luxurious private homes; there was just nothing else out there like Unique Home Stays at the time. I also took a bit of a gamble by investing in the skills of a young web developer who worked with me to create the website and grow the business online. With a large (and growing!) percentage of our bookings made online, search engine optimisation is a key marketing tool still to this day, but it’s ever-evolving so I ensure my marketing and IT departments are always up-to-date with the latest insights. We now also integrate tactical email marketing, social media marketing and other forms of media, but organic, authentic endorsement is key for us. We’re not big fans of advertising, people come to us for genuinely wonderful properties and travel stories. The properties speak for themselves and we’re lucky we have a lot of word-of-mouth referrals.

How did you build a list of clients? As our client base and editorial coverage increase, it just escalated from there quite organically – but rapidly nonetheless. The homes I chose to add to the portfolio were so unique that they worked to “sell” themselves really. The list of clients grew organically through good quality editorial features, word of mouth, and through optimising the keywords on the website so that people searching for luxury homes found Unique Home Stays top of the list!

Where in the home is your office? It started out at the kitchen table in my family home, but as the business grew and the need to employ staff arose, it was necessary to extend the house to accommodate the small team. The office is now situated on the back of the house in what used to be my sister’s room! It’s a wonderful countryside location, and we always welcome our owners to pop in when they’re in the area.

How did you market it?

How do you make sure you’re focused and never get distracted at home?

I focused on generating quality editorial about the business and the unique homes which

The office environment I’ve created and my determination to succeed helps me to remain

focused. However with 3 teenage children, 4 cats and 2 pigs, this busy farmhouse is usually bustling with life and so sometimes distractions do occur!

What was it like at the start? Exciting but extremely hard work. Balancing your home life with a fledgling business is a difficult balancing act as any single working mum out there can no doubt appreciate.

What's the worst thing about working from home? Closing the door on work is just not possible – although is it ever for anyone running their own business? This really eats into the time that I spend with my family – especially important when they were younger. Also, we have staff working at the weekends and so true ‘downtime’ is difficult and very precious to me – usually, I have to stay somewhere else to get privacy and a real break for ‘me’ time. u

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And the best? When you strive for perfection, and your business is hugely important to you, it is great to have literally everything at your fingertips – just in case there is that fastball situation that really has to be addressed now. Also, it works the other way too, I avoid the commute and the hours of the day lost to traffic snarl-ups and can take time out if I need to for my family or to sort out other domestic issues. It’s also easy for me to rustle-up an impromptu cheese and wine night or barbecue (weather permitting) and that seems to go down great with the staff!

Why did you decide to take staff into your home, rather than find an office?

so natural to me then that this is really no different: although no longer a farm, my home is still a working building and this, to me, somehow feels right and as it should be.

Finally…What’s next for Unique Home Stays? We celebrated 15 years last summer with a wonderful summer party with friends, owners and all those involved with Unique Home Stays – it was a magical night! We now have over 160 properties and hope to continue to market the most unique and extraordinary homes in the UK and Ireland… who knows, maybe one day you’ll be able to find them on every continent! l

Firstly, I was lucky enough to have the space – and when the business outgrew the kitchen table, rather than use capital to buy or rent an office it seemed most logical to keep the funds in the business. Then, as I mentioned above, growing up on a working farm was a great experience and the hustle and bustle seemed

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Bristol Cream

Martin Irwin is the owner of Bristol restaurant Wellbourne. Martin had a lot of say in the development and design of the restaurant and has also worked with Dabbous and Marco Pierre White on the running and opening. Thankfully, despite being such a busy man, he was able to spare us some of his valuable time. What is the link between good food and great interior design?

Why is it important to have a clear design vision for a hospitality venue?

Should venues consider the exterior design as well as the interior design?

For me it's all about the atmosphere and the mood you want to create. Today's society is so led by social media that everyone has a photo of something they ate recently. The style of the food is often in conjunction with the style of the venue. We've gone for some statement pieces in our design but also something light and welcoming, which are definitely elements reflected in the boys’ food.

Because it needs to be both hospitable – and also operationally efficient. I think it's pretty obvious when you walk into a place and the design is a mismatch of different ideas or if it’s style over substance. Ultimately, it's all good having a beautiful set of furniture or incredible features, but if they make service impractical or worse than that, uncomfortable for your guests, then it's pointless.

For sure – that's a huge part of it. People need to want to come in! We did a massive amount of work on the outside, removing the whole of the west wall and replacing it with windows being our personal favourite. It's a great people watching spot now!

What do you think are the emerging trends for hospitality design?

What design challenges are unique to hospitality design?

Oooooff...tough. Recently the move has been away from the formality associated with fine dining. Working at Dabbous was an eye opener for that and Ollie & Oskar really set that trend rolling. I don't think people are afraid to get a bit more creative with design these days. With the rise of independent restaurants, notably in Bristol, you end up with a far wider range of styles influenced by a number of different personalities and ideals.

See above haha – whilst the place has to appear welcoming, customer service and the practicality is such an important part of the design. There are also always places on my radar that are categorised – 'coffee places'

The spot that most feels like home is a restaurant called The Dairy in London. It’s comfortable and relaxed without being OTT or appearing to try too hard. I also don't think you can beat a classic pub with a dog laying in front of an open fire. l

What were the most challenging aspects when designing Wellbourne? Well we had to deal with a month’s worth of asbestos! But I guess the unknown was the biggest challenge and having to adapt your ideas to that.In terms of designing, we were lucky enough to gel with the guys at Simple Simon, who took our base ideas (wine display, zinc bar top, oak floor, colour scheme) and made them a reality. The most challenging bit for us was not to second guess each decision and to have a bit of trust in each other.

or 'date places', 'good for Sunday lunch etc'. Whereas, for a venue like us – who are open all day, seven days a week – the place has to be welcoming and appealing for a whole host of people, from families with kids and dogs for coffee, to a couple celebrating a wedding anniversary with fine wine and candlelight.

Other than Wellbourne, what restaurants do you think have amazing interior design?

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Five of the Best Hilton has recently launched a series of podcasts that tell the hidden story behind the aesthetics of five landmark European hotels. The audio guides have been produced to inspire visitors and guests to take note of the architecture and interiors that surround them during their stay. The collection includes iconic restoration projects in Paris and Hamburg, a refurbishment inspired by a little known corner of Dublin, a London conversion on the city’s artistic South Bank and a first of its kind, design-focused concept in Reykjavik. Hilton’s design philosophy is focused on creating a sense of place that reflects the destination – not just the city or country, but the hotel’s district, neighbourhood or even street – within its interiors. h

Reichshof Lobby

Miami Concept

‘More recently, we have noticed that the hospitality industry has experienced a trend which can be referred to as a ‘Miami’ concept, incorporating bright, bold and even contrasting colours such as teal and turquoise paired with softer pastel pinks and loud prints, for example,’ DV8 Designs Managing Director Lee Birchall tells us. ‘Another key trend for interior is the increasing use of copper and tarnished metals seen in fixtures, lighting and accessories. ‘DV8 Designs works closely with clients to understand their brief and then our design concept develops instinctively. We consider ourselves to be trendsetters in the industry and we are always looking to expand and diversify our portfolio.’ DV8 Designs is an architecture and interior design practice based in the North-West

Conrad Dublin Lobby

Being Local In a recent interview with Skift.com, Accor Hotels CEO, Sebastien Bazin, suggested that putting a focus on local has its benefits. ‘99% of what we have done for 50 years has been based on the guy coming from outside of town – a traveller, from a different city, from a different country, which I think is interesting, but not too smart. Because we missed a population which is 100 times greater and better and easier: The guy living next door. The local inhabitants. They live around the hotel or they go to an office around the hotel and 90% of them never dared come into the property, because they’re fearful that we’re going to be asking, ‘What’s your room number?’ They don’t need a room, but they may need a service.’

There are currently over 16,000 rooms in the UK’s active hotel pipeline expected to be opened during 2017 and 2018.

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The future of art curation – what to buy and why?

Go big, go bold, and go ‘alternative’. Those were the key messages we took away from our conversation with art consultant Matisse Ghaddaf of London-based consultancy, Atkya.

‘Hoteliers have always needed to be masters of engagement, entertainment and hospitality. But as we know, today’s guests want more from a hotel. They want an experience, they want to be wowed and they expect to be wooed. Art has increasingly become a pivotal player in this seduction process, but in ways quite different from those of the past. ‘For years art and the hospitality sector have had a relationship of convenience, with prints required as wall coverings or artworks selected to play second fiddle to the interior design theme of a hotel, to blend in. But those days are over. Art is now front and centre, loud and proud, colourful and dramatic, central to a forward-thinking hotelier’s branding arsenal. ‘Carefully selected or created artworks can help a hotel be noticed, remembered, loved and returned to, and in an overcrowded marketplace this is hospitality sector Valhalla, Nirvana or Olympus – depending on your mythological preference. ‘The future of art curation for the hospitality sector blends identity and brand with impact and gravitas. Collections are moving away from traditional canvas and prints and towards ‘alternative’, larger and more bold mediums such as ceramic, wall-hung tapestry and precious metals, varied pieces that provide tone and accent a hotel’s design and architecture. But the current main focus of art curation in the hospitality sector is to find a single unique, standout piece, a centrepiece of

such scale and personality that it will come to define the hotel itself. All it takes is a quick glimpse at some of the most spectacular hotel lobbies in the world to see what we’re talking about: One of the most iconic of hotels of the Arabian Gulf has to be Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai. In the hotel’s Grand Lobby stands a spectacular centrepiece sculpture by Dale Chihuly consisting of over 3,000 pieces of coloured blown glass, in blues, reds, oranges and yellows – a water spout of glass towering up to the 19m-high domed ceiling of the lobby with its peak seemingly aflame. The lobby in Raffles Istanbul, Turkey, is dominated by a massive abstract bronze sculpture created by artist Martin Dawe, named ‘Lavinia’, inspired by one of Turkey’s most famous poems of the same name. Botanist and artist Patrick Blanc created an incredible indoor vertical garden that snakes

its way along one vast lobby wall, covering 2,475 sq ft, in Hotel Icon, Hong Kong, proving that simple can be spectacular when seen through an artist’s eyes. ‘What these hotels have in common is their interior designer’s gift for the theatrical when it comes to art curation. They wanted to stand out, and they wanted one standout centrepiece in their collections that would encapsulate their guest’s memories of their stay and draw them back again and again. ‘Matisse puts it best: ‘The future of art curation in the hospitality sector is tied up in the individual personality of a venue – accentuating or creating it – to make a larger than life statement that ensures every guest is under no illusion that they have arrived somewhere truly spectacular. Art curation today means going big, going bold and going ‘alternative.’’ l

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Older and Wiser ‘According to a recent UN report, by 2050 more people will be over 65 than under 15,’ author and designer Jenny Grove reveals. ‘Design is generally a 'young' profession of 20-40/50 year olds, but as there will be little pension provision, all us ageing designers won't be quietly rusting away in a corner, we will still be running our engines well into our 70's. Given that we will have discovered the elixir of youth by then, 70 will be the new 40 – so perhaps it will be an opportunity to bring back in the older experienced designer who will be able to engage this growing silver age group with innovative ideas about how to spend their leisure time and disposable income. We may also have realised by then that mass global tourism is not doing our planet any favours and we will need ideas for new leisure activities to enjoy closer to home.’ Jenny has enjoyed a long career in most aspects of the world of design. She is the author of a new book: Interior Design: A Professional Design www.jennygrove.com q

Overseas visitor numbers to the UK grew for the seventh consecutive year in 2016, setting a new annual record at 37.3 million for any 12-month period.

Global Goes Local

Hotel designs are now more agile, responding to each location, our friends at Dexter Moren tell us. Instead of importing Europe into Africa with standardised rooms replicated all across the globe, interiors reflect the spirit of the place and engage with it. It means guests wake up knowing which city they’re in, rather than which brand. Nowadays hotels have evolved from tourist stopovers into safe and stylish community spaces that locals want to use. Often 24-hour operations, hotel cafés, bars, and restaurants rival any on the high street and bring in local custom. Once dead space, lobbies are now ‘active’, merging business centres with coffee lounges, and perhaps hosting artisan popups to attract passers-by. After all, if the hotel is baking bread for guests, why not sell it in the lobby? Hotels that engage locally can turn their own neighbours into loyal customers, while also giving travellers the uniquely local experience they seek.

Hospitality is our fourth largest industry representing 10% of GDP, equivalent to £143 billion and employs 4.49 million people across the country. Over the past five years the industry has delivered 331,000 new jobs, equivalent to one in five new jobs created in this country, and we are on track to deliver a further 100,000 new jobs by the end of the decade.

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Redefining the Restaurant

The challenges, or opportunities, for the modern hospitality brand include fast-paced changes in technology and design, ever heightened customer expectations, and the desire to do good within the community. Here are three perfect examples...

Supporting Social Enterprise Reviving the roots of the boutique hotel with design and service, The Black Boy, Oxford, while focused on ultimate customer experience and service, has added a community layer to spread the love further. Launched in July, all room furnishings and artwork are curated from the Otmoor Collective â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an Oxfordshire cooperative of artisan creatives whose work you can buy during your stay, safe in the knowledge that the Collective gets 100% of what leaves your pocket. As an example, the dressing tables are the work of Jay & Co, which revives dying British crafts while engaging the most disadvantaged in society.

Agility The Miller of Mansfield was reborn three years ago by Fat Duck Group alumni, Mary & Nick Galer. Maybe it's the evolutionary Fat Duck mindset that's deeply embedded or just a business acumen that standing still won't win any races. Mary always has one eye on how to improve or update a room and this summer has refreshed with an on-trend butterfly wallpaper. She's also overhauled the wine list. Meanwhile Nick has revolted against the lunchtrade stalwart of a set menu because it's not sufficiently reflective of his food offering and because his customers tell him they want more choice and more 'Miller' food at lunch as well as at dinner.

Repositioning What does an established business, in an increasingly crowded marketplace, do to shift their place in the pool? They group their expertise and raise the bar on service with their specialism. The Original Cottage Company pulled all 23 of its familiar brands and local offices under one brand hub (Original Cottages) earlier this year to demonstrate its national scale and to level the playing field in the UK holiday rental marketplace. Their specialism: their local offices filled with locally passionate and knowledgeable people, providing excellent levels of customer service. Not even Airbnb can compete with that!

D AVISON H IGHLEY

Suspension Thriller Neil Andrew, of Dexter Moren Associates, tells us about his firm’s work on the White Lion Bar and Avon Gorge Hotel.

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With one of the largest terraces in the South West, and boasting panoramic views of the world famous Clifton Suspension Bridge the White Lion Bar has always been a favourite amongst Bristol locals and visitors from afar, so you can imagine the excitement at the offer to give the interiors a facelift and bring it in-line with the expectations of the modern-day Clifton clientele. One challenge was to raise the bar’s profile, without alienating its existing user base. The main driver for the design, and the main ethos of the client was simple; authenticity. With that in mind we looked to the underlying industrial origins of the bridge and developed a scheme that will roll out across the whole hotel paying homage to the building’s original structure, bringing to light original features wherever possible, but layering modern colours, textures, and patterns on top to bring it into the 21st century.

WUND ERWAL L

LOOP

L ACE Y

The British Hospitality Association estimates that a minimum 15% of the workforce is from the EU, which equates to almost 700,000 jobs. In some areas the percentage of migrant workers is considerably higher. London has the highest proportion of EU workers in the industry at around 35-40% of the workforce but, in some businesses, the proportion is more than 65%.

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Tea is for Trend ‘We’re experiencing a big shift in design trends in the industry just now; we’re moving away from old is new, unfinished looks, to interiors and fixtures that have a much more polished quality,’ Martin Luney, Co-Owner of Big Red Teapot, tells us. ‘Rather than do away with the East London exposed brickwork entirely though, we’re combining the two styles to bring a fresh feel to our venues. So we have the natural, almost untidy look of the bare brick juxtaposed with stylish design-focused light fittings and furniture. Another big thing at the moment is colour – strong statement colours in blocks, covering everything from the doors to the skirting. I’m a big fan of House of Hackney wallpapers, and have used their floral designs in a couple of our venues, coordinating them with the colour elsewhere in the bar. One way in which the hospitality industry differs from other commercial properties is the extras that have to tie in with your overall design. Just as the fixtures and fittings have a more stylish quality, we’re no longer using mismatch glassware and cutlery, but thinking carefully about how the design can be used throughout the entire experience of the bar.’

Yes we Bōkan Dan Einzig, CEO of hospitality design agency, Mystery, tells us about the innovative and exciting projects the agency has been working on. ‘One of the major projects and innovations we’ve been part of in the past 12 months has been the development of Bōkan – a three-storey restaurant bar and rooftop on the top floors of a new-build tower in Canary Wharf, which recently opened. ‘The restaurant uses design and culinary innovation to elevate the food and beverage offer to new heights for the Novotel brand, thereby making the decision for customers to stay there an emotive one driven by the desire to be based in the same location as a hip fine-dining destination bar and restaurant, rather than choosing a mid-market business hotel room based on the more rational reasons of price and location. The immediate results will not have gone unnoticed by the hotel industry and several brands are now looking to elevate the design of their F&B offering too.’

Restaurant chains edged ahead of pub groups in performance, showing a collective 0.9% like-forlike growth rate against 0.4% for pub and bar operators.

Special Retractable Roof for Canary Wharf Hotel Breezefree, which specialises in designing and installing alfresco spaces, has created a special retractable louvred roof on the 39th floor roof terrace for the aforememtioned Bōkan, at the new Novotel London Canary Wharf.

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Part of the Accor Group, this prestigious new 319 room hotel is known for its innovative design touches, thanks to Koncept Design and Mystery. The design incorporates Victoriana, vintage packing crates and naval engineering, alluding to the district’s shipping heritage. The fixtures and fittings cross time zones with neon-lit stairs and multi textured walls, including the work of renowned abstract artist Sam Peacock. Environmental touches include low energy filament lighting and even a beehive on the roof producing the hotel’s honey. The roof terrace, which complements the hotel’s restaurant and bar on the top three floors provides 360° views of London to rival the Shard. So, the roof had to be aesthetically ‘on point’ to meet the hotel’s huge design credentials, and operationally perfect so that the terrace can be maximised throughout the year. One of the principal challenges facing Breezefree was that when the building was originally planned, the 39th floor roof terrace had not been fully conceived. The concrete roof slabbing was not designed to take a 32 sq m open-sided pergola structure with 92 Kilo Newton wind loads. As a solution, the team at Breezefree proposed a 12-tonne steel lattice frame, spanning over the slabbing and fixed into the building’s perimeter columns. From the lattice, the whole pergola structure of the aluminium retractable roof stands free.

We’re known for our attention to detail, finishing touches and on time delivery. Supplying furniture from leading brands for over 40 years, from showrooms in Manchester and the Wirral.

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Kelly’s Eye

Show me the Sway

Kelly Hoppen MBE has joined forces with leading carpet manufacturer, Brintons, to create a bold new collection of contemporary woven carpets.

KI celebrated its 21st anniversary in the UK at its stunning New Fetter Place headquarters during London Design Festival.

The new venture is the renowned interior designer’s first ever carpet collection and will be launched at Sleep, the annual hotel design event taking place in London this November. The Kelly Hoppen Collection by Brintons brings the designer’s unparalleled eye for trend-leading design to the commercial carpet sector. The result is a distinctive new contemporary aesthetic that completely eschews the typical ‘swirl and block’ patterns for which the commercial/hospitality sector is traditionally known. Instead, the dynamic collection consists of 13 geometric and organic designs in on-trend colourways that reflect the designer’s award-winning design style and pared-back aesthetic. Kelly Hoppen took inspiration from diverse influences ranging from geometric shapes to elements found in everyday surroundings, such as cracks in a pavement and splashes of paint.

The company marked the occasion by launching a number of new workplace furniture products designed to help enhance worker wellbeing. Our friends at KI were also excited to present the launch of the revolutionary Sway2 lounge seating collection, which features a unique gyroscopic motion that self-adjusts to the user’s preferred style. The first of its kind, this statement piece made its debut at NeoCon in Chicago earlier this summer, receiving a ‘Best of NeoCon’ Award for Innovation.

McGee for ISG ISG has appointed Steven McGee as Divisional Director of its hospitality business. The move further strengthens ISG’s senior management team and growth in this key sector, where ISG has established an enviable specialism. Steven has 25 years’ direct experience as a main contractor and developer working on major hospitality and leisure projects, including the £185 million fit-out of Ten Trinity Square in the City of London. The mixed-use project consists of 41 super prime apartments, a 100-bed luxury Four Seasons Hotel, complete with leading restaurants, a luxury spa and a private members’ club.

In 2016, increasing government involvement subjected peer-to-peer players to new taxes and regulations similar to those imposed on traditional hotels. These included building accessibility and safety rules, transient occupancy taxes and headline-making length-of-stay regulations. In New York City no longer permits short-term rentals (if the host is not present), and London and Amsterdam now restrict the number of nights per year a private home may be rented. In London the maximum per calendar year 90 days.

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ANNOUNCING THE 2017 MIXOLOGY NORTH JUDGES

CIARA KEELING

RACHEL WITHEY Associate Designer, 74

DARREN ROBEY

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Procurement Manager, DLA Piper

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Director, Alpha Scotland PRODUCT DESIGNERS

Director of Asset Management, Bruntwood

STEVE DICKSON Senior Director, Faulkner Brown

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Patterns of Disruption What were once referred to as ‘opportunities / threats’ in a SWOT analysis are now often described as disrupters. Here are what Deloitte considers are four of the key disruptors currently affecting the travel and hospitality industry. • ECONOMY For many, technology and innovation are the key distributors to the travel and hospitality industry. However, as the last recession showed us, the economy has a significant impact on business and consumer spending in this sector. Watch out for continued squeeze on consumer spending as wages lag, prices increases and the very likely and new experience for many, interest rates rise. • CONSUMER MINDSETS As we see from this month’s Round Table (pages 6065), customers have begun to expect a personalised experience in the hospitality and leisure market. Further change is likely as the travel companies are forced to adapt • ENABLING TECHNOLOGY The worse thing that a travel / hospitality company can do is invest in technology for the sake of it. As we regularly hear from our hospitality A&D readers, the key is to focus on what the consumer wants and then enable them with the use of technology – think artificial intelligence, mobile applications and the Internet of Things (IoT). • PLATFORMS Most travel companies operate across one platform. Deloitte suggests that... With organic growth hard to come by in a consolidated and mature domestic market, travel brands must realise the benefits of scaling across the travel experience – rather than only trying to grow within their vertical.

Alexa Rules Business magnate Steve Wynn, Chairman and, CEO of Wynn Resorts has been leading casino and hotel developments in Las Vegas and beyond for over 45 years. Best known for his key role in the revitalisation of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1990’s, Wynn is the entrepreneurial figure behind many of the city’s most distinctive resorts, including The Bellagio, Mirage, and Treasure Island. ‘As we have moved through the years, technology has always played an important part in our resorts. The thing that Amazon has done with Alexa is quite perfect. If I have ever seen anything in my 49 years of developing resorts that has made our job of delivering a perfect experience to our guests easier and help us get to another level, it is Alexa. The ability to talk to your room is effortlessly convenient. In partnership with Amazon, becoming the first resort in the world in which guests can verbally control every aspect of lighting, temperature and the audio-visual components of a hotel room is yet another example of our leadership in the world of technology for the benefit of all of our guests.’

Mobile Number In the office we are increasingly working away from the desk, on a couch, in a collaborative lounge, café or video conferencing space, our friends at Orangebox report. In turn, hotel lounges are becoming more attuned to the mobile worker with some flexible, work-friendly public spaces. Orangebox delivers solutions for more dynamic hotels and lounges that encourage productivity, relaxation and ease when travelling, whether in these new communal spaces or bedrooms.

Regional hotels continued to experience a steady growth and occupancy was up by 1.0% to 76.7% – setting a new record.

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JAVELIN BENCH DESKING

The Javelin bench desking system is a stylish, comprehensive and flexible solution for today’s IT dependent office environments. Designed to adapt easily to the ever changing needs of any business, it has a height settable frame from 725mm-810mm future proofing your investment, as well as sliding tops allowing access to the large cable tray for quick and easy cable management.

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The Dam United Located in the centre of Amsterdam within the city’s trendy Plantage Quarter, Hyatt Regency Amsterdam is surrounded by green, situated just a few minutes from the city’s most iconic sites. Hyatt Regency Amsterdam has been thoughtfully designed, blending history with a modern-day 24/7 lifestyle. The hotel boasts 211 guestrooms, including 15 suites. Inspired by the invigorating greenery of the hotel’s surroundings that is home to leafy boulevards and the city’s botanical garden, each guestroom is elegantly decorated with blooming floral, botanical artwork and natural materials. Flexible furnishings, a generous workspace, large windows, and a striking bathroom with soothing walk-in rainshower complete every guest experience. Hakwood herringbone flooring was specified throughout the restaurant and bar, while Hakwood chevron and plank flooring was specified for the hotel ballroom, gym, and spa within the 5* hotel.

Further Chinese Money Funding from the Far East, particularly China, has been ever present in the last 5-10 years and although the Chinese government has adopted measures to limit the flow of capital leaving its borders, it’s unclear what the potential impact will be. Just 12 months ago the Chinese government announced plans to scrutinise outbound investments for deals exceeding US$1.0b, if those deals are outside the investor’s core business. Chinese money has principally been invested in what Ernst & Young describes as ‘gateway markets’ – such as Manhattan, London, San Francisco and Chicago. Through 2016, these four markets accounted for over US$3b of investment (approximately 40% of Chinese outbound lodging investment) – Manhattan being the top transaction market, with San Francisco and Chicago next. In London, Chinese investment demand for the city’s commercial property increased due to the Brexit-driven depreciation of sterling. An example being HIG Capital’s sale of the London Doubletree by Hilton to Junson Capital in September 2016.

Edit Editorial As the luxurious seating and furniture collections from Lyndon by Boss Design continue to bring panache to leading hotels, restaurants, lounges and bars, the company is stepping up its offering with a considered collection of products that feature in a sumptuous product guide – The Hospitality Edit. Comprising 13 collections of handcrafted seating and furniture – many of which already grace leading five star hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants around the globe – the 54-page guide provides a visual and inspiring guide for designers and specifiers looking to bring classic elegance to both traditional and contemporary venues.

Source: Mix research, Travel and Hospitality Industry Outlook 2017, Deloitte, Global hospitality insights, EY, Skift.com, BDO, BHA

THE PERFECT HOTEL ROOM

CAROLINE CUNDALL, IHG Caroline is responsible for overseeing the interior design of InterContinental and Crowne Plaza hotels throughout Europe. Her role covers new openings as well as refurbishments across the existing hotel estate. Recent projects include the InterContinental Ljubljana, where Caroline worked closely with the designers to help create an exciting brand new hotel. Prior to joining IHG, Caroline worked for 15 years as a designer at GA Design in London.

STEVEN MCGEE, ISG Steven leads the UK Hospitality Division of Global Construction Services Group at ISG. He comes from a construction management background and has extensive experience in hospitality sector development projects across the UK and Ireland.

DAVID JUDGE, JUDGEXD A brand experience designer with 26 years in the industry, creating award-winning experiences for many global brands, David understands how environmental design works as an integrated part of a multichannel brand strategy. He is a specialist in interactive environments that connect consumers to a shared experience of a brand, its story or product. He has worked across a range of sectors, globally, from sport and fashion to financial services and transport.

ANGELA BARDINO, GRIMSHAW ARCHITECTS With over a decade spent working in the interiors industry, Angela has been involved across a range of sectors including hospitality, arts and culture, and most recently a focus on commercial fit-outs. Angela’s work is defined by informed materiality choices through detailed research and end user insights. This past year has seen her complete the hospitality concept for Curragh Racecourse in County Kildare and The Arter Museum in Istanbul.

PAUL DAVIS, AECOM Paul is a chartered quantity surveyor working at AECOM. He has 25 years of experience in AECOM’s London team, working across a number of sectors including commercial, culture and heritage and is the director responsible for the hospitality sector within AECOM’s cost management business. He is a trained risk and value management facilitator and has worked on some of the most iconic projects delivered in the UK over the past 20 years.

NEIL ANDREW, DEXTER MOREN ASSOCIATES As an interior designer with over 10 years’ experience running projects in the UK, Europe and Middle East, Neil has developed concepts for numerous projects in the hospitality, residential and commercial sectors, in addition to high concept experiential design. Neil has spent time working in Dubai, designing and managing multiple large-scale projects, and also working on smaller freelance projects, from warehouse conversions to art galleries, bespoke pop-up bars and fashion shows.

ALEJANDRA DE CORDOBA ESTEPA, HKS ‘Each project is unique and as such I face it with integrity and passion,’ HKS’ Alejandra tells us. ‘I work closely with clients, operators and consultants, researching new solutions to achieve hotels that trigger an unforgettable experience for the guests.’

BEN REED, HANSGROHE Ben is a Key Account Manager for hansgrohe, the premium German tap, mixer and shower manufacturer. With over 20 years’ experience in the bathroom industry, Ben has been with hansgrohe for over 10 as a key member of the Global Projects sales team, with a focus on the hospitality market. He works closely with all the major hotel brands and associated parties involved with the specification of bathroom and showering solutions across their portfolios.

At hansgrohe’s Water Studio in London, we gathered a delightful cross-section of experts from the world of hospitality that included designers, consultants, end users and brand engineers to discuss the wonderful subject of the perfect hotel room. As with workplace, the hotel sector is experiencing greater change and challenges than at any time in recent history.

For the consumer there is more choice, easier access, increased transparency and immediate, pain free ways and means of giving feedback. For the operators; more competition, greater and ever-present threats and the headache of trying to provide a perfect experience for guests while remaining ‘different’ and true to their integrity. Is there any such thing as the perfect hotel room? There is an acceptance that the market will become more fragmented and we will arrive at a dozen ‘hotel types’. A business traveller’s perception of perfection will considerably vary from a parent’s, for example. Then you have the hopeless romantics, the escapists and the backpackers to consider, not to mention those who are only after a hotel room because they’ve RSVP’d to a wedding or a 50th birthday party. Then you’ve got the added complexity of the tech-savvy generation; those who can’t leave their phones and devices alone for a heartbeat. All of these personality types have different ideas of what constitutes a perfect hotel room; so how do designers, architects and managers working in hospitality create the places that will tick the boxes of the many, as opposed to just the few? How do you personalise an experience for the multitude of personas setting foot in your lobby? PAUL: I think for every project, you have to look at who the end user is. You can tick the boxes for certain people, but you’re not going to tick the boxes for everybody. That’s how we usually start the process – by looking at the user profile. u

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Most hotel owners will have a pretty good idea of which direction they want to go in

ALEJANDRA: The brands help us a lot – because they have diversified so much, it is now pretty clear who you are designing for. How do you work out who you are designing for? You know if you’re designing for Four Seasons or for Hilton. NEIL: I guess the tricky bit is, at the very early stage in the process, when there is no operator selected, how you actually then go about differentiating. CAROLINE: Most hotel owners will have a pretty good idea of which direction they want to go in. From our point of view, at IHG, we have very varied brands and we also have to consider when we put hotels into areas…we wouldn’t, for example, put two InterContinentals into the same town – because they have an exclusivity. You want to create exclusivity with a luxury hotel – whereas with a brand such as Holiday Inn, we actually want them to be everywhere, we want it to be a brand that people know and love. That’s how we would be approaching it

with the owners. When it comes to design, that’s usually already established. Designers already have a direction in which to go through the brand’s direction. So the design is created well before a building has even come out of the ground? STEVEN: From a contractor’s perspective, definitely. What we try to do is to bring some reality to the numbers, to try to ensure that what has been constructed is viable for the developer. We end up with quite an array of clients – some are very experienced and some are one-off funds. Sometimes, what we are advised can be somewhat questionable! Sometimes you have someone with their own ideas – but that might not be the right product. CAROLINE: Sometimes, as an operator, that is exactly what we need to be talking with them about. You might have a historic building – and we think, ‘Brilliant, that would be perfect for this particular brand’ – while they

were thinking about a totally different brand, and it might not be at all suitable for that brand. It does depend when the designer gets involved. Sometimes designers are brought in at that early stage because it’s actually a costing issue – it’s entirely on spec. At the end of the day, the owners are predominantly concerned by what it is going to cost. ANGELA: We’ve seen a complete shift in what we’re asked to do in terms of hospitality. What we’ve found is that it comes out of our workplace studies. We’ve found that businesses are ending up with lots of free space within their office space and they are looking for innovative ways to use it. We’re starting to see this amazing Airbnb-style/mixed office split. We’re doing a really interesting study right now on how that can work for businesses. This is for companies who own their properties rather than renting them – and they want to keep these properties, they are part of their portfolio. They don’t want to rent them out to someone else because that would

dilute their brand – so they are looking for a completely new initiative. We turn to our generous hosts, hansgrohe, and ask when they get involved in the process. BEN: We’re constantly trying to review the market and to talk to designers, hoteliers and investors. We try to get in at such an early stage that we can help provide solutions. Knowing the market so well, we try to give a value-engineered solution up front to match the brand. Understanding our market is crucial – that way we know what is expected of us. Ultimately, of course, it is down to budget – that is always the challenge.

We’ve seen a complete shift in what we’re asked to do in terms of hospitality

DAVID: Are we not operating in a theoretical world here – based on the question of what is the perfect hotel room? If that is the case then I think we should be throwing all logic out of the window! Should the discussion not be around forgetting all the u

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issues of practicality and budget? I’m not a hotel specialist, but I’ve spent 15-20 years being somewhere else in the world, right across the planet – staying everywhere from the very expensive to the absolute crap! There is something about the small but perfectly formed when it comes to the business traveller. I do think that a lot of hotels get things very, very wrong – because they concentrate on being ostentatious at the high-end and then…well, they don’t concentrate on anything at the low-end! They just think about how cheaply they can do it. I recently stayed at a budget chain – and I have to say it was the most awful box of a room I have ever stayed in. It was truly awful. I was there for two weeks. If I had stayed for a night or two it might have been OK – but by third night it was Cell Block H! My two favourite hotels in London are the Hoxton and Citizen M. The new Citizen M at Tower Hill, in particular, manages to sacrifice space in such a brilliant way – you don’t feel as though you are sleeping in a showroom! It really is small but perfectly formed and the attention to detail is simply amazing. It has a sense of personalisation, it’s more about sleep – and it works really well. Talk about

I do think that a lot of hotels get things very, very wrong – because they concentrate on being ostentatious at the high-end and then…well, they don’t concentrate on anything at the low-end!

meeting expectations. I love technology in rooms that allows for a personalised experience. ALEJANDRA: The space needs to be highly technological – but the customer doesn’t even notice that it is. You have to make the room work like an iPad. CAROLINE: The moment you walk in the door, you switch the light on – and I get really peeved by these hotel rooms that have all these variations. You’re tired, you get into your room and you want to be able to switch a light on! DAVID: There are so many hotels, all over the world, where the basics of lighting control is dross! NEIL: What is interesting is that the two London hotels David told us he really likes are both about driving people to the public spaces – and I think they both work really well. You need to look at it holistically – it’s

not just about the hotel room, it’s about the entire hotel. People are actually spending their time in the public spaces and the room is just to sleep in. ALEJANDRA: No business guest is looking for a hotel room – they are looking for a hotel, they are looking for a location. Then you have to design the perfect room – or else they simply won’t come back. DAVID: Interestingly, the Citizen M and the Motel One models make sure that the ‘downstairs’ are fantastic places to be. ALEJANDRA: Just look at what The Ned has done! It doesn’t even matter about the food – it’s a party place. People are going there just for a drink, just for the experience. PAUL: It’s almost intimidating because there is just so much on offer there. You’re senses are almost assaulted! We move on to discuss the emergence of the neighbourhood hotel – and how bringing locals into your space – to work and to socialise – impacts upon the design. ALEJANDRA: If you look at a number of hotels, you can see more and more how the furniture arrangements have changed. You never used to have six or seven sofas in the lobby! NEIL: They’ve essentially become coworking spaces. DAVID: What Citizen M has got really right as brand is their conversational capability – a bit like Ikea, they almost give you a consumer challenge. They allow you to almost shape your own space. They are able to talk to their customers in a way that a lot of the luxury brands can’t. They tell you, ‘This might not be perfect – but that’s ok, because you know that we’re trying to do the best we can for you’. This is something that is ignored by a lot of the premium brands – because they can’t get off their horse and talk to people in a down-to-earth way.

ANGELA: It has made the experience much more vibrant. Instead of having an empty lobby, you’ve actually got people who really want to be in the space. Going back to Citizen M in London, I think it probably is the locals who are using the space more than everyone else. People probably are still going to their rooms to work – but only if they’ve got a room! I’d guess that most of the people in the lobby aren’t actually staying in the hotel. DAVID: And this has to be tied into the change in working patterns – the single employee, entrepreneurial businesses that have sprung up worldwide. The growth here is exponential. The hotel world has to reflect that. ANGELA: Actually, that is very much what we are now thinking about – even with Crowne Plaza. The next direction for the brand is that it will be much more open to people coming in and using it as a workspace. Crown Plaza has always been a business hotel – but the way people now do business has changed and we have to change with that.

CONCLUSION: The perfect hotel room simply doesn’t exist. Each of us has different tastes and wants different things from not just the room, but the entire experience. While one person might be after a tech-laden, contemporary, compact space, another is yearning for a luxurious, spacious, tech-free escape. In order to find the type and style of hotel room we want, we need to align with the right brand – and judging by the wise words of our panel, there are plenty of brands getting it right out there, providing a target audience with the room and the facilities they’re looking for. It is vital that hotel operators adapt to the changing need of both the consumer and the community. This often means a greater shift in the look, feel and experience of the lobby/public space and not necessarily the hotel room – which still requires the fundamentals of a comfortable bed, good shower/bath, functional lighting and temperature controls and, now, free WiFi and easy to reach power and data. l

BEN: I know that IHG has been successful in their open lobby programme with the Holiday Inn brand – which has had a huge impact. Again, this is about opening up to the community.

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Talking the Talk

It’s a good few years since we featured TalkTalk’s (then) new West London campus. It’s also been a year or two since we headed out to Salford Quays – the home of a number of major media companies and once the site of Manchester Docks. Salford Quays became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in 1982 and that regeneration continues, with blue chips continuing to migrate to the area.

Essentials Client TalkTalk Interior Design Claremont Carpets Milliken Wallcoverings Tektura Storage and Lockers Spacestor Bifold Walls and Acoustics Creatif Workstations Staverton Collaborative Seating Orangebox Client Space Seating Connection Artwork and Graphics GR Labels Structural Staircase MM Developments

TalkTalk is a perfect example of this. The telecoms group recently completed its move to Salford Quays, bringing together almost 1,500 staff from two separate offices into a new state-of-the-art building, the Soapworks. The move follows a two-year refit of the former Palmolive/Colgate building on the banks of River Irwell. The company sited a key reason behind its decision to move as the opportunity to build links with the wide group of universities and colleges, who have also made the Quays and surrounding area their home over recent years, to promote careers opportunities for apprentices and graduates. More than that, the Soapworks has enabled TalkTalk to provide its people with an exciting, modern and interactive space into which to work. Spread over five floors, the 106,000 sq ft space features mobile meeting hubs made from clear writeable glass, an industrialinspired café with views of the Manchester skyline, a roof terrace and picnic heath.

Case Study - TalkTalk

The Soapworks’ transformation from industrial shell to inspiring workplace marks the coming together of employees previously based at the company’s former Irlam and Warrington sites. Bringing all these people together under one roof for the first time, the new space also provides ample room for expansion – for up to 1,800 employees. It’s little wonder, then, that TalkTalk’s new base is described as the North West’s largest fit-out project of the year. We make our way into the impressive, open Soapworks entrance where we’re met by Jenny Rickus, TalkTalk’s Head of Workplace Experience, together with Claremont’s Creative Director, Ken Bundy. As we head up to the top of the building for a coffee and a

chat in the new 350-seater TalkTalk café and restaurant on the 4th floor, Ken tells us that Claremont won two separate competitive tenders – the first to provide the design consultancy, the second, to fit out the interior – to secure the multi-million pound project. ‘At the very start we got a commitment from the sub-contractors – because this was a year-long project,’ Ken recalls. ‘Actually, it was a two-year project for me because we did the consultancy first – and then the fitout. In our design pack we put together the tender information for Gleeds – and we were successful, which was amazing! ‘It was a pretty complicated project. This building is still very much in transition – Block D is still to be completed.

‘We hadn’t worked with TalkTalk before. They had done quite a lot of their own consultancy internally – it’s such a big project that it had been in the planning for a long time.’ Looking around the brilliant, buzzing, open 4th floor space, we ask Jenny how this differs from TalkTalk’s previous spaces. ‘It’s like night and day!’ she smiles. ‘The move was fuelled purely by us wanting to collaborate better – we wanted to bring our two Northern sites together. Neither of the leases were up. We still had long leases on both sites. The driver was to bring people together – and that was the whole theme of the design. It was all about collaboration and connection. We’ve added the internal staircase, for example, so people can easily connect with one another rather than heading straight to their own floor and never going anywhere else. We wanted to encourage movement and collaboration – which is why, as you’ll see, we have added a lot of breakout areas and this restaurant space. ‘Our two previous locations were about eight miles apart – and it might as well have been 80! This has completely changed the way we work – and are able to work. You can see, just by looking around us, that people like to come together here. We intentionally wanted this space to feel different from the rest of the building. We didn’t want a lot of TalkTalk branding up here – we wanted to create a space where people can relax andu

Case Study - TalkTalk come together in much more informal way. It’s a very different space for us – behind the walls to the far end of the floor we’ve got a load of gaming stations and ping pong…as you might expect, it’s really popular! It’s used an awful lot – especially at lunchtime and by our night shifts. ‘This is a 24/7 operation and that has its own challenges and different considerations. We did have to consider how people would interact with the space differently, lighting levels and also cleaning and maintenance.’ Ken has kindly gone to get the coffees in – which gives us the perfect opportunity to ask about the selection of Claremont for the job. ‘Claremont just understood us and understood our brand,’ Jenny tells us. ‘They knew what we wanted for our people and understood what we wanted throughout the space. We’re also a value brand – so this had to be really good value but also had to have that ‘Wow’ factor. ‘It was also part of our story that we would work with local companies – we had a local site team, local fit-out, local suppliers and, in Claremont, a local design team as well. We really wanted to show that we were best in the North West.’ Speaking of locations, we ask Jenny why the Soapworks and Salford Quays? ‘This site always felt ‘TalkTalk’ to us,’ she explains. ‘It’s not in the centre of Manchester – it’s in Salford and it really has its own character. I feel as though we’ve really been able to capture what TalkTalk is in this building. Another major consideration was scale. It’s not easy to find workable space for 1,500 people without raising something out of the ground on an out-oftown site. The Soapworks clearly ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to TalkTalk’s requirements – including parking space and great public transport links (the tram virtually stops at the door). ‘This is our biggest project to date and it involved every part of our expertise and resource,’ Ken proudly reveals. ‘The finished space strikes a balance between bringing the TalkTalk brand to life and showcasing the building’s history. It was a fantastically challenging and highly innovative brief and it’s testament to the combined commitment and passion of the whole team that the project was so successful.’ To give a sense of the scale here, there are 80 neighbourhoods, 40 meeting spaces, 30 private work pods and booths and various multi-use project spaces throughout the building. Amazingly, the move resulted in fewer than five staff not making the move across to Salford. ‘In fact, I think I’ve seen two of those people today!’ Jenny tells us. ‘We told our staff about the plans two years ago and they knew it would be worth it because the space is so much better. This wasn’t just a move for us but a change in the way we worked and a change in our culture. People were concerned – so we made sure they were fully kept in the loop.’ Before we move on from the brilliant industrial inspired restaurant and café, our hosts lead us u

Amazingly, the move resulted in fewer than five staff not making the move across to Salford

In Short TalkTalk Telecom Group plc provides pay television, telecommunications, Internet access, and mobile network services to businesses and consumers in the UK In 2010, TalkTalk demerged from Carphone Warehouse, becoming an independent company listed on the London Stock Exchange

SPACE Scandinavian simplicity and elegance

Gross profit increased by 1.3% to ÂŁ993m in 2016 Sir Charles Dunstone is the founder of The Carphone Warehouse and created TalkTalk in 2002 TalkTalk has 4 million customers across the UK

www.kinnarps.co.uk

Case Study - TalkTalk out onto the rooftop garden, which boats fantastic panoramic views over the River Irwell. There is even a herb garden here, with said herbs featuring in the restaurant’s dishes. Moving down to the working floors, we can see how the neighbourhoods are linked by smart informal meeting and breakout spaces, while fixed meeting rooms sit alongside scribble walls and soft seating. We particularly like the wooden huts that provide further meeting space and the brilliant artwork throughout the floors, which is inspired by the area and includes striking images of the Northern Quarter and Beetham Tower. ‘Just because we have 1,500 people here – it doesn’t mean that we have 1,500 desks,’ Jenny points out. ‘This project was never about that. It was about creating something different – it’s about sharing spaces and collaborative areas. It’s also about flexibility – we wanted people to be able to work more flexibly, whether that means moving away from a desk, working different hours or even working away from the office. We thought a great deal about how we could encourage our people to work in a more flexible way.’ Before we leave, we simply have to mention a quite brilliant nod to this site’s former use as a soap factory. Claremont has used no less than 512 bars of soap to produce a quirky fireplace art installation. It’s got to be the best smelling artwork we’ve ever seen – or should that be smelled? l

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Case Study - Frame21

Waiter, there’s a Ferrari in my soup We’ve looked at a number of co-working spaces over the past couple of years. We’ve seen the elegant, the industrial, the themed and even the Millennial take on this constantly growing and evolving phenomena. As regular readers will be all too aware, our focus is very much on the UK market. When we find something overseas that is so different and so evolutionary, however, we simply can’t resist featuring it! That is why, somewhat bizarrely, we find ourselves on the back of a golf cart, flying along the grassy bank of the E313 motorway that connects Antwerp with Limburg! For those of you who are geographically challenged, we’re in Belgium to take a look around the remarkable Frame21 Business & Event Center – a co-working and event facility like none we’ve seen before. Firstly, the scale of Frame21 is quite incredible. Secondly, the facilities supersede the scale. Whether Frame21’s residents/clients fancy a delicious cup of coffee in the WIFI-Lounge, a game of tennis or 5-a-side football on the sports roof, an informal drink with other residents in Bar21 – it’s all here. And much, much more. You might have noticed that we haven’t even mentioned work yet! Oh, and the reason for the golf cart ride, by the way, is that it allows us to take a short cut from the nearby restaurant through to Frame21. Frame21 is a flexible work environment that, not unlike Antwerp itself, offers brilliant and beautiful twists and quirks around just about every corner. The origins of Frame21 are rooted in the world of furniture. The facility is the brainchild of Ad Renders, who is also the CEO of Drisag – the leading seating and furniture manufacturer, whose products are now available exclusively in the UK through Phusei. Drisag develops and produces innovative, contemporary products under its own label in close cooperation with renowned designers,

xxx

In Short including Stefan Schöning, Ton Haas, Roel Vandebeek and Mix profilee Bram Boo. It’s clear that Ad and Drisag like to dare to be different – and rather than continue along the tried and tested route of city centre furniture showroom, they have relocated their own showspace to Frame21 here in Herentals. The spectacular building, designed by Antwerp’s B-Architecten, offers the perfect showcase for Drisag’s products – and what better way to show off your products than using them throughout a genuine working space? We’re fortunate enough to be met by Ad and his son Niek, who works alongside his father for both Drisag and Frame21 – and also doubles as a part-time golf cart driver! Upon entering the space, we can immediately see Drisag’s own furniture alongside a collection of weird and wonderful contemporary artworks and products – including an intriguing partition wall that also incorporates a number of rather unusual phallic coat hooks. ‘We like to show unique pieces of furniture here,’ Niek grins. ‘This area can also be used as an auditorium or a space

for events. We work with a lot of local artists here – for example, we have a giant sculpture of a bull’s head, which was made by the local police chief and is constructed from hundreds of individual bull’s horns.’ We head up a grand series of steps, which can double as bleacher-style seating, and get our first glimpse of the flexible Frame21 working zones. ‘We’ve been in this building since 2008,’ Niek reveals. ‘We were previously across the street in our old factory building. We now have the showspace downstairs, we have this flexible co-working space on this floor and then two further co-working and meeting floors above us. ‘ When we started construction here we had about 80 people on this site – now there are over 800. ‘We always had the intention of starting a co-working space here – which I suppose was quite adventurous! At the start it wasn’t so easy to find companies who wanted to come and work here but this building really stands out and we did a lot of marketing – we do have the advantage that there aren’t many u

Drisag specialises in office furniture projects, offering a wide range of office furniture and accessories Company founded in 1970 Headquarters at Frame21 in Herentals, Belgium Drisag operates as a manufacturer of ergonomic chairs and develops and produces upholstered seating under its own label in close cooperation with renowned designers, such as Stefan Schöning (Belgian Designer of the Year 2008), Ton Haas and Roel Vandebeek.

Case Study - Frame21

So we asked them if they’d like to work in our own showspace – they could work with our products and be our testing audience!

companies around here who can offer what we do and give the same service. ‘Today, we have a real variety of companies in here, from banks, government agencies and lawyers, through to digital marketing and tech start-ups – and we even have schools come in and use the space. We really want it to be interactional and collaborative. ‘As well as the business side, we also like to encourage the social side – so we have the roof with the tennis courts and sports facilities. We have an App, which allows people from the different companies to compete against one another.’ ‘This space has been developed to reflect the idea of the modern workplace,’ Ad tells us as we admire the first floor’s vast variety of settings and facilities. ‘We have companies in here from all over Belgium – from Liege to Antwerp. Companies can take space by the hour, by the day, by the year – for longer contracts we have special rates and extra facilities. We even have a postal service, so quite a lot of companies use us as their post box – more than 200 companies in fact. ‘What we have done for a year and a half now is to have a company actually come and work in our showspace. A lot of showrooms have no life in them. We found a digital marketing bureau – who are 30 people and were looking for a new space to work – and we didn’t have the room for them. So we asked them if they’d like to work in our own showspace – they could work with our products and be our testing audience!’ ‘We completely transformed the space,’ Niek recalls. ‘It worked out really well for both them and for us.’ The open, flexible nature of Frame21’s facilities means that users can – and will – naturally u

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"The carpet is a blank canvas upon which to express my passions, drawings, collages, prints in black and white or in colour, albums of old pictures from my personal archives." Monsieur Christian Lacroix

Case Study - Frame21

interact, while the clever integration of work, meeting and relaxation zones adds a level of flexibility that a regular workplace would be hard pushed to replicate. ‘We consciously decided to establish ourselves in a spectacular building with a high ‘Wow’ factor,’ Ad continues, ‘not just to impress, but rather to inspire new target groups, such as young, creative companies. The great advantage is that these users are our own future customers – so we are even growing our own future customer base. ‘These young companies think differently – they bring a lot of good new ideas to both sides of our business.’ A little earlier, Niek spoke of the social side of Frame21. Once residents here have worked up an appetite or thirst on the sports roof they can head to the extremely smart Bar21 – or they can frequent the amazing Garage restaurant downstairs. Cleverly, the space is a showcase for a number of companies to show off their culinary wares – from barbecues to coffee makers – and offers residents and their guests a fine dining experience. There are reworked Fiat minivans, Matchbox car models and motor garage paraphernalia throughout. Oh, and there’s also a genuine, full-size Ferrari F1 car hanging upside down from the ceiling. Of course there is! While we’re here and admiring (playing with) the multitude of Drisag products on show, it would be remiss of us not to ask our friends from Phusei about their own collaboration with the manufacturer. ‘I was at an education exhibition in the Netherlands two years ago and every time I left our stand I walked passed this furniture company whose furniture and style really stood out, Phusei’s Robin Bayliss recalls. ‘Before the end of the show I introduced myself to the owner and set up to meet at their HQ. Two years later, I’m at St Pancras, taking Mr Jordan – amongst others – over to visit Drisag, whom we have signed an exclusive agreement with. ‘There are three main reasons as to why we decided to bring Drisag to the UK. Firstly, if you have ever been to Flanders in Belgium you’ll notice they tend to have a unique design flair and manufacturers are much more daring and willing to put pieces of furniture designed by young unknown designers into production, which other manufacturers just wouldn’t do. ‘The result is unique products not produced or copied anywhere else. Secondly, their utter willingness to personalise – and I don’t just mean colours or shapes. They’ll make what we want or, more importantly, if an interior designer or client has a real desire for something and it can’t be found anywhere else, it’s no problem for Drisag – consider it done. If you want copper

MUSE coloured frames on the desk and on the 5-star base on your task chair, no problem; pink stitching, got it covered – right through to completely new pieces. And finally, of course, it gives Phusei something exciting and new to bring and present to the UK design community and that’s what we’re embarking on right now – our Phusei A&D collaborative roadshow, with 25 never seen before pieces of furniture from Belgium and products from our new Swiss brand, Moving Walls, too.’ We love the enthusiasm. We also can’t help but be impressed by Ad and Niek’s enthusiasm and ambition – however, in their own words, our new friends are only just getting started! There is already a second Frame21 in Roosendaal, with plans for up to 20 more business centres across Belgium and even into Luxemburg. We’ll be really honest, if we’d been asked whether we could work in a large, open flexible, shared, out-of-town space, next to a motorway, before our visit to Frame21, we’d have definitely said no. Not only have we now changed our minds – we’ve even pointed out to Ad which spaces we’d like to commandeer if we decide to launch Mix Belgium! l

NEW MODULAR SEATING BY TRIUMPHFURNITURE.COM T : 01685 352222 SALES@TRIUMPHFURNITURE.COM @TRIUMPH1946

Alpha Bravo How many of you have been caught out by the London Tube map’s depiction of Bank and Monument being conjoined? We’re guessing quite a few of you! We’ve certainly been there – running late for a meeting and thinking ’Monument’s right next door’. For those of you who have no idea what we’re talking about, Monument and Bank stations might be linked underground, but it’s a bit of schlep!

We’re on King William Street, in the heart of the City of London, and if we look behind us we can see Bank station. Ahead, in the distance, is Monument itself. No wonder that felt a long walk underground! We’re here to see the new working home of Alpha Bank London – part of the Alpha Bank Group, one of the leading groups in the financial sector in Greece. Alpha Bank London was established in 1922 and is a UK regulated bank. It provides a comprehensive range of banking and investment products delivered through its Private Banking Unit. Resonate was selected to work with Alpha Bank London on designing its new HQ here on King William Street. The bank was previously located in a traditional environment on Cannon Street, with small floorplates on many levels, which meant it was not conducive to modern ways of working and no longer provided the workplace and client facing facilities it required. Resonate’s Pernille Stafford meets us at the impressive 5th floor reception and tells us more about the origins of the project and the design challenges here. ‘They were in 66 Cannon Street, over six storeys of tiny

floorplates,’ Pernille begins. ‘It was such a different environment. Now they are quite open plan, they are all on the one floor, they are all collaborating – they have a central breakout area – and it’s just a much more pleasant space for them to be working in. ‘They have sold 66 Cannon Street and leased this space. They had some major expansion plans and really wanted to be on one floor. The old building simply no longer worked for them. ‘There were quite a lot of motivators behind the move – and they did look for a new space for quite a long time. ‘This is essentially a doughnut-shaped building, with the core and the lifts in the middle. We’ve got the client facing suite and meeting rooms overlooking the Bank of England, then a team of people to the left and another team on the right – and we’ve deliberately placed the breakout space in the middle of them so that everyone can come together. ‘They have a lot of private clients – so it was important that the look and feel of the suite was right. u

Case Study - Alpha Bank London

Essentials Client Alpha Bank London Interior Design Resonate Furniture Abstracta, Allermuir, Forma 5, ICF, Lyndon, Marelli, Morgan, SB Seating, Task, Vitra, Viccarbe, WJ White Storage Maine Office Wood Flooring Broadleaf Carpet Shaw Contracts Reception Desk Radii Partitioning Marble GD Stones Lighting David Village Lighting Drapes The Romo Group

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Case Study - Alpha Bank London

In Short Established in 1922

‘They were quite brave to take this building because it is so different from where they were. They were extremely keen to keep the heritage – this doesn’t feel like a harshly contemporary office, it’s quite subtle and elegant. They have a number of Greek works of art, which they were keen to show off, so we’ve made a real visual statement with them throughout the client facing suite – to celebrate their history and heritage. ‘We’ve taken their logo – which is from the Greek alphabet – and applied it to the reception desk design and the manifestations throughout the client facing space. We really wanted to celebrate the fact that, when you go to the far corner of the boardroom, not only do you get an amazing amount of natural light, you also have a view out to the Bank of England – so their clients get that real sense of London. The boardroom can be completely opened up – these beautiful Zebrano wood panels can be folded back to allow the space to be used for receptions, events and parties. ‘There are lots of little details throughout. They didn’t want the space to be overly technical – so we’ve used simple, stylish elements such as sliding signs to show whether the meeting rooms are occupied. ‘We’ve used lots of different textures and finishes throughout – but all in similar tones. We wanted it to feel subtle and harmonious. ‘It’s been a really smooth project – it was run really well by Parkeray. We worked with on the furniture. They were great. There are a lot of pieces and once you get into all the joinery and the inlay and the details, there was a lot of work. We constantly made sure u

Alpha Bank London provides flexible structured property finance solutions tailored to the requirements of the client.

They were quite brave to take this building because it is so different from where they were

The UK regulated bank operates on a stand-alone basis from parent company, Alpha Bank AE. Chief Executive Officer is W Lindsay Mackay Parent company Alpha Bank is the 4th largest in Greece by assets

Case Study - Alpha Bank London that the quality of the design and the joinery carried throughout the project. ‘The very first visual we did for the project was for this boardroom space and it looks almost exactly the same as the CGI! We didn’t have to make many design changes at all. We had taken a good brief, they loved that vision – and that’s pretty much what we’ve delivered. It was a really nice project. They put a lot of trust in us. The original look and feel is what they’ve got – which was really special.’ The result of that hard work is that Alpha Bank London can now boast an amazing client experience and a truly modern and supportive workplace. The front of house space is calm, deeply detailed, considered and represents and celebrates the ethos of this heritage bank. On entry, visitors and staff are greeted with a serene reception space encompassing beautifully appointed seating areas, with eye-catching lighting features and a gleaming glass and marble reception desk, flanked by marble panels, providing an air of solidity and elegance. The meeting rooms are designed to surround this space, ensuring an easy transition from one area to the next. These are constructed from glazed partitions in bronze framework and feature the Greek logo manifestation. The impressive finishes are u

Case Study

Case Study - Alpha Bank London

in a muted and sophisticated colour scheme of taupes and bronzes. The main office side of the space has been designed in keeping with the front of house in, once again, a soft and sophisticated palette, while contemporary furniture has been integrated throughout. We particularly like the special taupe finish on the worksurfaces of Task’s systems furniture. Following the same language as the client facing areas, the working spaces feature leading furniture manufacturers such as Flokk, ICF and Forma 5, which set the scene for a professional and well-appointed environment. We can’t help but stop and admire more of WJ White’s joinery, in the shape of a beautiful round meeting table placed in a large, bright corner room. We’re told that the space was originally designated to Alpha Bank London’s CEO – but he took one look at the great views and the generous natural light the room attracts and decided it should be for everyone to use and that he would be just as happy in one of the smaller adjacent cellular spaces. We like that. The staff café/breakout area that sits between the two working ‘wings’ is a perfect escape from the serene, professional working floors. The space features a marble self-serve counter and coffee point (it was important to the client that the coffee was good, we’re told) and a variety of seating options to accommodate agile working and lunchtime meetings and gatherings. The high quality of furniture continues throughout this area, with products from Vitra, Allermuir and Morgan all catching the eye. We particularly liked the feature walls, which incorporate the Alpha logo in a bronze film. ‘They did want to invest a lot of money in things like the coffee machines,’ Pernille confirms. ‘They really wanted to look after their staff and enhance the facilities to provide a contemporary workplace. We had to ensure we had designed in for wheelchair access, so the doors here are semi-automatic, which allows movement throughout the entire workplace and we have also put in lowered counters – it was important to them that the design was totally inclusive, which is great.’ Subtle, inclusive, elegant – not always words you’d use when describing a bank. Then again, Alpha Bank London clearly isn’t just any old bank. l

They really wanted to look after their staff and enhance the facilities to provide a contemporary workplace

Dare

Profile - Sean Dare

We Ask Sean established his award winning studio in 2009. Dare Studio has gone on to produce contemporary furniture and lighting products for luxury domestic interiors and high specification contract environments. The family-run company champions the skills of the finest British craftsmen, setting a benchmark for the very best in contemporary design and manufacture. ‘All of our pieces are hand made to order with an acute attention to detail,’ Sean says. ‘We use a combination of sophisticated techniques and the finest, carefully selected materials, making each and every piece special – something we are very proud of. ‘We can offer bespoke flexibility throughout our range allowing all of our pieces to be tailored to the exact requirements of our customer. ‘As a studio, we also offer design and production services to the industry as well as the individual.’ From one off bespoke commissions to mass-produced commercial solutions, Dare Studio has collated an enviable client list,

We’re in Brighton to meet with leading product designer Sean Dare. It’s only as we sit in the town’s tiny yet perfectly formed 64 Degrees restaurant (owner and chef Michael Bremner recently worked his way to the banquet on TV’s Great British Menu) that we realise that, over the years, we’ve seen plenty of Sean’s work, we’ve sat in a number of his chairs, we’ve walked through factories and watched his designs being manufactured – and yet this is the very first time we’ve formally met the man. 86

One of the most crucial things has been to find the right partners

which includes the likes of BBC, Sofitel, Hilton Hotels, Langham Chicago, Diesel, Microsoft, Facebook, Magdalen Chapter, Waterfront Auckland, Pullman Hotels, Royal Obidos, Scandic Hotels, Knightsbridge Furniture, Herman Miller, The Conran Shop, Liberty, Soho House, Selfridges, London Edition, Hard Graft, CB2, The Lakes, M&S and Ercol, to name a few! We feel it’s important to say, before we go any further, that Sean is also a really good guy. He’s clearly as excited as ourselves to be here at 64 Degrees. ‘I was asked back in the studio whether I was being schmoozed,’ Sean reveals with a big grin. ‘I said that I didn’t know what I was being – but I’m going to 64 Degrees!’ Between the many amazing courses, Sean is happy to answer our questions and tell us about himself and his work. ‘We’re chiefly a design office,’ he begins. ‘We have small batch production facilities in the UK – we run three small workshops locally in Sussex, which cater mainly for the bespoke pieces, then we have manufacturing partners across Europe – and we now have manufacturing partners in the States as well. ‘One of the most crucial things has been to find the right partners. If you look at the link up with Knightsbridge, for example, that relationship actually started years and years ago through our need to partner with the right manufacturers. ‘I started Dare Studio by accident, to be honest. I’d been designing freelance for about five years – for the likes of M&S, John Lewis, Conran Shop, Knightsbridge and a number of other manufacturers – and it was an exciting time in my career. I was designing lots of products, with virtually no stress. Then I decided that I would get a few of my own designs together, take them to 100% Design with a view to getting a lot of freelance work off the back of that! I came away with about £150,000 worth of orders – and that’s how u

Profile - Sean Dare

the studio started really. The freelance work started slowing down because I no longer had the time to focus on it – because I was busy building up this whole new operation.’ Sean tells us that, today, Dare Studio’s business is approximately 80% contract and 20% retail. ‘Freelance work is now once in a blue moon!’ he smiles. ‘Even my work with Knightsbridge, for example, has come off the back of that long-standing relationship. ‘They’ve always been really good to me. The first design I did for Knightsbridge was the Affinity range. They were producing it in their manufacturing works in Bradford. One of their clients was Herman Miller – and they came into the factory one day, saw Affinity and said, ‘We like that, can we have it!’ So they (introduced) me to Herman Miller! As you can imagine, for a young designer, to suddenly be affiliated with a brand such as Herman Miller was amazing! ‘That’s why I didn’t hesitate when Knightsbridge asked me to work with them again.’ The results of that collaboration include the brilliant Alfie range of upholstered seating, which was recognised at last year’s Mixology North and is still a firm favourite amongst the Mix team. ‘It is a very comfortable chair,’ Sean admits with a smile. ‘We completely smashed it with Alfie. It went from one design, it then easily translated into a sofa – and I think there are now about 12 different models in the range! The wingback version has gone down really well. It’s huge – it’s a statement. I’m very happy with how everything has progressed. The range has come out really nicely. We give Sean a couple of minutes to actually enjoy his lunch, before asking him about his own background. ‘I’m originally from Somerset,’ he tells us. ‘I grew up in the country – and then moved to Brighton about 20 years ago. My formal education was at the esteemed Bournemouth University. The course I took was Furniture Design and Business. My mum persuaded me to take the course. She said, ‘Darling, if you’re no good at furniture designing you can always fall back on the business thing!’ The course only ran for a few years but the beauty of it was that there were only about 15 of us on it. It was really small and really effective. It was run by a guy called Peter Miles, who was the Miles in Miles & Carter, who were quite a prolific company back then. I really found my feet when we had to go out and do a year in industry. I went to work for a company in Somerset who mainly did bedframes and occasional furniture – they supplied a lot of pieces to M&S. I designed a

few ranges for M&S which went on to be very successful. It was mainly metalwork. It was great. I then went and did a post-graduate degree in management – and all of this came into play when I started Dare Studio. ‘I now have two children here in Brighton and feel as much a part of the place as I guess anyone can. It’s a very creative place – it’s about 80% students and the main industry here is tourism, media and software. There’s also a nice little design community here. I remember, a few years ago, deciding that I should try to connect with some of the design firms down here. I went to see Platform, with a couple of chairs under my arms, looking pretty scruffy as I had come straight out of the workshop – but that’s ok because everyone looks pretty scruffy in Brighton – and I showed them our collection. A couple of days later they came back to me with a fantastic order for the VIP area in the O2! I thought, ‘Wow, is this what happens when you actually go out and try to sell your stuff!’ ‘It has taken quite long time to build up our own product portfolio, to be honest, but we’re now at the stage where we’re producing pretty good volumes across the board.

‘We have been attending almost every UK show for the past eight years. Then, last year, we started heading abroad – to ICFF and Maison et Objet – and the response from those shows has been incredible. That in turn has made me stop and reconsider focusing purely on the UK shows. ‘The US market is phenomenal. In the UK if you pick up an enquiry for a restaurant project, on average you’ll get asked for 100-200 units. In the States, the average is far greater – because you’re no longer talking about a single project, you’re talking about large chains of restaurants. They’re not looking to just replace one restaurant – if they’re going to do it, they’re going to roll it out. I came away thinking, ‘I need to gear up big time for this!’ ‘We can cope with those kind of numbers – when you have good manufacturing partners and you tell them that you need something in the region of 2,000 bar stools, they’ll make sure they gear up for you!’ Well, judging by Sean’s recent product introductions, he’d better ready himself for some of those lovely big orders. It’s been a real pleasure chatting with Sean – and we’d also heartily recommend 64 Degrees! l

Review

Design: Bruce High

We’ve been doing meeting tables for ages here at Cambridge Park. What we don’t know about designing and making gorgeous tables of all shapes and sizes, frankly isn’t worth knowing. So what we’ve done is taken all that table knowledge and turned it into a fantastic new meeting room chair! Obvious really. It’s available in lots of options, from high-back four star swivel base with adjustable height and auto return, to a medium-back version with a cantilever frame. We also offer an (almost) unlimited choice of upholstery and the ability to powder coat the arms and base. It’s also very comfortable. Which is handy, because it is a chair after all.

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WORKPLACE WEEK IS BACK 13th - 17th November 2017 Organised by AWA www.advanced-workplace.com

Workplace Week is back for its 6th year. Throughout the week, the AWA team will be hosting a series of tours and bespoke events at some of London’s most innovative and creative workspaces, with all proceeds being donated to BBC’s Children in Need. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to have a sneak peek at some of London’s most creative and innovative workspaces.

2017 TOURS LONDON & PARTNERS Monday 13 November: 10:30-12:00 2 More London, Riverside, London, SE1 2RR The impressive and sustainable headquarters for the Mayor of London’s official promotional agency offers one of the best views in London, overlooking Tower Bridge and the River Thames. Widely recognised and celebrated across the industry with two rankings in the prestigious Sunday Times ‘Top 100 Best Companies to Work For’, the HQ serves as a ‘playbook’ for other companies wanting to achieve modern creativity with sophisticated, flexible appeal.

MOO PRINT LTD Wednesday 15 November: 10:30-12:00 Farringdon Rd, London, EC1M 3AF Located in the heart of London’s original 18th century printing district, the large open-plan office (the size of three Olympic swimming pools) features an impressive 60m-long paper installation suspended from the ceiling, constructed from over 500 panels of beautifully crafted, GF Smith Colorplan paper. This is one of London’s greatest examples of an office that certainly adds a splash or two of colour and fun to contemporary worklife.

MINTEL Monday 13 November: 14:30-16:00 11 Pilgrim St, London, EC4V 6RN The 18,000 sq ft site, located a stone’s throw from St Paul’s Cathedral, is a great example of modern meets industrial and old traditional meets new technological. Boasting a courageously bold interior design, the agency has succeeded in creating a world class office suite with intricate, imaginative detail.

RICOH Wednesday 15 November: 12:30-14:00 22nd Floor, The Broadgate Tower, 20 Primrose St, London, EC2A 2EW This impressive office space has been designed with flexible working in mind, allowing people to be productive by blending the latest technology with cutting-edge space planning techniques. Offering stunning views, the office has been created after thorough consideration of different work styles and workflow to develop a new way of working that delivers a sustainable plan for the future.

LLOYDS OF LONDON Tuesday 14 November: 08:30-10:00 1 Lime St, London, EC3M 7HA The Grade I listed building is one of the city’s most inspiring examples of high-tech architecture in full force. With its iconic exterior stainless steel lifts and treasured artifacts displayed throughout, including the iconic Lutine Bell and the official Maritime Loss Book, there is no better example of a building that’s peppered with history but caters for the needs of the 21st century.

HELLOFRESH Thursday 16 November: 08:30-10:00 60 Worship St, The Fresh Farm, London, EC2A 2EZ With a range of upcycled furniture, pallet cladded columns, a wall of preloved cookery books,and a fully functioning cookery school, all creating a unique environment for teams to come together, this trendy North London HQ is a deserved winner of the London Design Award for ‘Best Office Space’. There’s no better place to stop for a breakfast smoothie, with a side of creative inspiration, before a busy working day.

ZPG Tuesday 14 November: 10:30-12:00 The Cooperage, 5 Copper Row, London, SE21 2LH Listed as one of the ‘Top 10 Coolest Offices in 2017’, the HQ of Zoopla, USwitch and Prime Location is infused with impressive industrial design, breakout spaces, natural light and its own on-site gym and laundry service. With boardrooms and collaborative spaces designed as a living room, dining room, wine cellar and even a tree house and swimming pool (including a diving board!), visitors will feel right at home the minute they walk through the door.

PWC Thursday 17 November: 12:30-14:00 1 Embankment Place, London, WC2N 6RH This 25-year-old London HQ is globally renowned as being one of the most iconic, energy efficient and environmentally friendly offices in the UK, once achieving the highest ever Outstanding BREEAM ranking. Shortlisted in the ‘International Interior Design of the Year’ category for the Emirates Glass LEAF Awards, the nine-storey, post-modern office design, spanning 48,000 sq m, presents an excellent business case for modern, vibrant working.

Preview - Workplace Week

Mother London

Hello Fresh

Macquarie

ZPG

Mother London

Review

Preview - Workplace Week

2017 TOURS MOTHER LONDON Tuesday 14 November: 14:30-16:00 10 Redchurch St, London, E2 7DD Located in the Biscuit Building, visitors can take a seat around the awardwinning, 250 ft-long concrete worktable (surely one of the largest tables in the world) which circuits through the 2nd floor like a racetrack. With concrete used liberally throughout, together with bright and vibrant colours, this is a great example of a fast-tempo office that defies spatial hierarchy.

INNOCENT DRINKS Thursday 16 November: 14:30-16:00 Fruit Towers, 342 Ladbroke Grove, London, W10 5BU You might think this space is better suited as an indoor picnic spot than as a serious place of work. However, do not be fooled by the synthetic grass, park benches, suspended basket chairs and ping pong table at Fruit Towers. The light and spacious office is reminiscent of an English fair, turfed with green grass throughout, to encompass the brand’s cheery, cheeky nature.

MACQUARIE Timing; Thursday 16 November: 16:30-18:00 28 Ropemaker St, London, EC2Y 9HD The award-winning HQ – ranked by The Telegraph as one of the UK’s ‘Top 10 coolest office spaces’ in 2015 – is the epicentre of contemporary innovation. Spanning six floors, the spectacular office incorporates open spaces and portable technology to enable staff to connect and collaborate, with its iconic red staircase climbing through the heart of the building to reflect a culture of openness and connectivity.

EXPEDIA Friday 17 November: 08:30-10:00 The Angel Building, 407 St John St, London, EC1V 4EX Voted as the ‘Best Place to Work in the UK’ for two consecutive years and the ‘happiest office in London’, the travel giant’s London office has taken creativity to a new level, with a range of internationally themed meeting rooms throughout.

CHISWICK PARK Friday 17 November: 10:30-12:00 566 Chiswick High Rd, London, W4 5YA Rare, brilliant, surprising and inspiring, this award-winning campus is home to more than 50 of the world’s leading companies. Championing city chic with a village atmosphere, the site boasts a range of restaurants, bars, and leisure facilities, surrounding a central lake and beautiful landscaped grounds. There’s hardly a design, construction, workplace, environmental or health related award that Chiswick Park has not won over the last 10 years.

KPMG Friday 17 November: 12:30-14:00 15 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5GL The recently expanded office (offering spectacular views over London) provides a five-star atmosphere, with an emphasis on brightness that welcomes visitors and occupants alike. Diverse and contemporary in look and feel, with pops of colour throughout, the immaculate design is based on a ‘cassette concept’, to encourage collaborative and flexible working.

ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANTS (formerly CIMA) Friday 17 November: 14:30-16:00 The Helicon, 1 South Place, London, EC2M 2RB With a rich history behind them, the Association has designed a workplace fit for a new era. With the modern design of the workplace taking full advantage of the building’s architecture, with timber-slatted ceilings and full length windows, this space clearly works – and gives a clear message to anyone who visits the Association; this is an ambitious and forward-looking institute.

TESCO Thursday 16 November: 10:30-12:00 Falcon Way, Shire Park, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire Proving its own theory that ‘every little helps’ when it comes to the devil being in the detail, the timing couldn’t be better to ‘check out’ this HQ. Over the last 18 months, the campus has experienced a radical overhaul, in a bid to create a smarter, more flexible workplace that encourages colleagues to work collaboratively. With eight buildings, spanning more than 450,000 sq ft, the campus is a great example of smart innovation and investment.

Expedia

Moo

ZPG

COLOUR COMPOSITIONS

Review

Harmonious and balanced or challenging and unexpected, explore colour and form with each individual floor composition. Colour Compositions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a new collection of carpet planks, offered in 75 colour choices.

Artwork by Ditty Ketting

T +44 (0)1942 612777 www.millikencarpet.com

Netherlands, b.1952 Untitled 375, Courtesy of Rocket Gallery, London

Review - London Design Festival

Best of the Fest We’ve got sturdy, comfortable footwear on, our Oyster Cards are topped up and (cue poor Worzel Gummidge impression) we’ve got our drinking heads on, Aunt Sally. It must be London Design Festival time again. As ever, we’re thoroughly enjoying ourselves – catching up with industry mates, attending the odd launch and soirée – and even taking a look at a few inspirational products and displays. In fact, if it weren’t for the inclement weather (we should have added waterproofs to our list) we’d be the proverbial pigs in muck. Here are a few of those inspirational products, displays and events – from both old and new friends alike.

Protocol collaborated with Italian manufacturer Metalmobil to showcase some new and exciting designs on its 100% Design stand. Most notable were the polypropylene Nassau chair by Marc Sadler, the Dalton range from Giulio Iaccetti and the extensive Myra soft seating range by Emilio Nanni. Protocol is now a preferred supplier of Metalmobil furniture in the UK and features on Architonic. Our friends at Nowy Sytl Group reminded us that 79% of new ideas are born away from the desk and, this year at 100% Design, presented a collection of furniture that encourages collaboration and creative thinking. The company featured LinkUP – a modern chaise perfect for taking a break and relaxing, together with Tepee, a new modular sofa system with added privacy in the form of thermoset felt panels. For those times where a desk is crucial, the Group has also introduced Levitate, a new desk and workbench with domestic styling, a wooden frame and a pastel colour palette.

Protocol

KI opened the doors of its New Fetter Lane showroom during LDF to unveil the new Ruckus seating collection, which disrupts and redefines the boundaries of learning spaces. Today’s educational environments are required to support ‘active learning’. Innovative curricula and pedagogies can only succeed if students are able to move freely and engage with their teachers, their materials and each other. Ruckus offers a unique approach to facilitating this essential movement – it allows the user to rotate 360 degrees within the chair, rather than having to move the chair itself. Regardless of starting position, the user can quickly pivot and reorient themselves to where they need to direct their attention. KI

Review - London Design Festival

For LDF 2017, Milliken’s flooring showroom in Clerkenwell became a celebration of creativity in the city. Events focused around the launch of design journalist Katie Treggiden’s latest book: Urban Potters – Makers in the City. Throughout the week Milliken was home to an exhibition of ceramics by makers featured in the book: Nicola Tassie, Barry Stedman, Florian Gadsby and Matthew Warner. ‘It was such a privilege to see the themes and ideas I'd explored in the book brought to life through an exhibition, a film, workshops and demonstrations in the Milliken showroom throughout LDF,’ Katie summarised. Meanwhile, ceramicist and former Victoria & Albert Museum artist in residence, Matthew Raw, recreated his studio in the Milliken showroom and gave demonstrations and making-workshops.

It was a double designjunction for Humanscale this year, with a presence in the retail destination, The Canopy, and Cubitt House for trade. In the retail space, the Trea chair by Todd Bracher incorporated fabrics that emulate the textures of nature, with designs from British textile company Zoffany, alongside the stunning architectural Vessel light, a totally glare free LED encapsulated in a finely-tuned quartz cylinder. Humanscale continued to lead the way with ergonomics in Cubitt House, introducing the brilliant QuickStand Eco, which combines sleek userfriendly design with expert engineering. The latest task light Infinity, was also showcased – the 2017 Red Dot winner has optimal usability and best of class light output, quality with an intuitive dimmer control to customise nine levels of light, plus a passive infrared, energy saving occupancy sensor.

Silverline showcased its latest storage products, Switch+ and Sync, at 100% Design. Switch+, a mobile unit with integrated power and smart accessories, attracted a great response, we’re told. Sync, which was also well received, combines the strength of a steel construction with the variety of wood. Enigma Lighting exhibited at the first ever lighting specification exhibition to be part of the LDF, darc room. This was a great platform to broaden the conversation to designers who may not work with lighting everyday but nevertheless are involved in the lighting specification process. It was great to see lighting being put at the forefront of design! Knightsbridge Furniture has been designing and manufacturing quality British furniture for almost 80 years now – and has recently been collaborating with some of the brightest names in contemporary British furniture design. The sumptuous curves of the Bebop collection, designed by award-winning furniture designer David Fox, created a welcoming atmosphere to the 100% Design stand. The Bebop booth and study bays are designed to allow for occasional meetings, giving both privacy and comfort. High and low back seating can be mixed and matched, allowing clients to create collaborative work environments. Jessica Burston, Knightsbridge Marketing Manager, commented: ‘We had a great show and were really pleased with the interest that we received both from existing and new clients.’ Also showcased at the show was Alfie – which was designed in collaboration with this month’s Mix profilee, Sean Dare, and was inspired by the 1960’s cult film of the same name.

Milliken

Knightsbridge Furniture

Enigma Lighting

Review

Four Real Flake ÂŽ

Modular folding tables with integrated castors London Showroom 20 Old Street Clerkenwell London, EC1V 9AB Half Ellipse

Ellipse

Diamond

Curve

t. 01604 674674 www.oceedesign.com sales@oceedesign.com @OceeDesign

ANTRON FIBRE TUNES INTO THE RIGHT FREQUENCY AT TAGETIK

SUSTAINABLE SURFACES AND SO MUCH MORE

INVISTA Antron fibre, featuring in Frequency carpet tiles by Quadrant,

Granorte is continuing to demonstrate the versatility of cork as a

is providing the offices of financial performance specialist, Tagetik,

sustainable interior surface. High-profile projects that use the material

with a high-performance carpet. Saheed Mustapha, designer for Open

include ceiling panels at Shoreditch’s Ace Hotel and 3D geometric

Workspace Design – who were responsible for the specification of the

wall tiles and sinks at a leading restaurant chain. Paulo Rocha, R&D,

carpet – commented: ‘We chose the Frequency design because of its

Granorte said: ‘We are seeing a growing number of designers and

ability to be laid randomly, which helped to create an irregular pattern

specifiers considering cork as a serious choice. We expect cork to play

throughout working spaces. The final look is amazing and I will certainly

an increasing role in commercial projects of all scales.’ www.granorte.co.uk

use the carpet tile again if the opportunity arises.’ www.antron.eu

FOSSIL FOR THE FUTURE FROM QUADRANT

A WONDERFUL WEBSITE FROM WILTON CARPETS

Quadrant has launched Fossil, a high-texture carpet tile with a time-worn

Wilton Carpets has redeveloped its website from the ground-up to

aesthetic, echoing materials eroded through years of exposure. Fossil is

deliver improved content and navigation, with the ambition to inspire

made with 100% regenerated Econyl nylon fibre for faultless performance

and inform a generation of designers and specifiers about good carpet

in commercial environments and comes in 18 colourways. James Scully,

craft. Andrea Evans, Marketing Manager at Wilton Carpets, comments:

Managing Director of Quadrant, comments: ‘A great component in

‘We wanted our website to reflect our unique blend of heritage and

dynamic floor layouts that thrive through contrasts of texture, pattern,

innovation, so it is full of content that designers and specifiers keen to

colour and material; Fossil can be used to create bold blocks of breakout

learn about carpet will find genuinely useful.’ www.wiltoncarpets.com

space in bright pink, or areas of industry in practical and subtle grey.’ www.quadmod.com

COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY: FORBO HELPS REVIVE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL WITH UPLIFTING FLOORING

DESSO EXTENDS ‘MAKE IT YOUR OWN’ COLLECTION

Tinto Architecture specified Forbo Flooring Systems’ acoustic floor

‘Make it Your Own’ carpet collection – Pixelate and Metallic Shades.

covering, Sarlon, to create an interior that had a positive effect on both

Inspired by colour layering, Pixelate is available in eight colours with

patients and staff at The Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. Associate

a soft gradient design that can be installed in different directions to

Architect at Tinto, Ewen Buchan, said: ‘We knew we had to create

create zoning between spaces. Metallic Shades provides 10 colours

surroundings that would produce a comfortable yet calming environment

in two different tile formats, with differing intensity of metallic yarn,

for patients and parents. It was also important that we created a space

enabling designers to experiment with lustrous and matte effects. www.desso.co.uk

DESSO, a Tarkett brand, has added two new product ranges to its

that children would love and in which they would feel completely at ease.’ www.forbo-flooring.co.uk/healthcare

KNAUF AMF ADD SHINE AND COLOUR TO CREATE A STYLISH RESORT

MODULEO CELEBRATES FIFTH ANNIVERSARY IN THE UK

Amarin is a stylish hotel in Croatia, part of hospitality company, Maistra

Leading luxury vinyl flooring manufacturer, Moduleo, is celebrating

AG. Acoustic ceiling systems from Knauf AMF were chosen to provide the

its fifth anniversary of trading in the UK. To mark the occasion, the

necessary sound absorption required to ensure the hotel’s active and

company has unveiled a milestone infographic highlighting some of the

quieter zones work in harmony. For the ceiling design in the hotel’s elegant

it’s achievements, including the number of patterns launched and the

reception area, 700 sq m of AMF Mondena System A metal ceilings were

amount of planks sold. David Bigland, Managing Director for Moduleo

installed to enhance the chic, polished interior and add a visual contrast to

UK and Eire, comments: ‘It’s such a pleasure to be a part of a dynamic

the smooth white surfaces around the entrance. www.knaufamf.com

company with a passion for manufacturing not only functional but design-led flooring solutions.’ www.moduleo.co.uk

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Be Well: But How? Following on from last month’s Spotlight feature on Wellbeing, BDG’s Andy Swann gives us his take on this hottest of topics. The idea of wellness in everything we do is everywhere and has become the go-to sales patter of many lifestyle suppliers. In recent times, the idea of wellness as an important factor in the workplace has crept in too. The original idea of employee engagement and the notion that employees should be treated in a way that engaged them in the task at hand, or the purpose of the company, still expected the people to be beholden to the company. The tide has turned today. Employers are starting to realise that people are more than their job title. More than a work-life balance, people work best when work and life are integrated. By allowing people to be who they are and enabling them to thrive, they are able to do their best work, because the conditions are right for them to do so. But how does that translate to providing an actual, physical workplace? Where flexibility, changing tasks, personal preference, mood, physical and mental health all come into play, creating an environment where everyone can thrive and achieve their own version of wellness at all times requires attention in a number of areas. Socialising and comfort are as important as a secluded space to

concentrate – and all of these things help people to work better too. Studies show that when we’re happy or content, we’re less distracted and more able to concentrate on our best work. We also live in an age where collaboration, crowdsourcing, the development of ideas and the sharing of information are replacing old, secretive and controlled ways of working. So by creating the right environment for people to thrive,

The tide has turned today. Employers are starting to realise that people are more than their job title

organisations create the right environment for themselves to thrive. But what really constitutes a working environment? Is it purely the physical space, or is it the way it’s configured, the equipment it

provides, the flow and energy, the inspiration, the equipment? If the organisation is a platform for people, it needs to be a combination of all of these things and start to consider them as an intrinsic, non-negotiable part of its own design. I’ve been lucky enough to watch the development of ‘Wellness Together’, a groundbreaking piece of research, looking at what factors really contribute to workplace wellness. Launching soon, it examined the needs and views of over 1,000 employees to start to piece together the people’s view of what really creates wellness at work. There’s no surprise that a key finding was that there’s a strong link between people’s wellness at work and a positive outcome for the business, but this study delves deeply into what factors create that elusive ‘well’ workplace and will enable a conversation on what those by-design factors need to be. Let’s hope it’s the starting point for an even deeper understanding of the link between people and work. Far from the dark ages of the subservient employee, employers need to truly understand that when people thrive, they thrive too – and build for it. Maybe for the first time in the history of work, it’s a situation where everyone wins!

Andy Swann is a Human, an Over-Excited Work Explorer and Change Maker at BDG architecture + design. Andy’s book The Human Workplace will be published by Kogan Page in October 2017. andyswann@bdg-a-d.com

T: 0161 402 3340 E: hello@opus-4.com W: www.opus-4.com

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ZÜCO SIGNO – ELEGANCE IS NOW COMFORTABLE

The main focus of the latest innovation from Züco is on design, comfort and quality. The upholstery of the backrest is not based on conventional upholstery materials but on a frame structure covered with flexible material. Thus, a very slim cushioning system and the high seating comfort can be achieved.

NEW ADDRESS LONDON OFFICE Dauphin HumanDesign® UK Limited 1 Albemarle Way I GB London EC1V 4JB Phone +44 207 2537774 I Fax +44 207 2531629 www.dauphinuk.com I info@dauphinuk.com

WIRELESS CONTROL S

ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE ®

The Audacy Wireless Controls system focuses on efficiency in all its forms. Faster and easier to install, you save time and costs associated with build-out and renovation. Our streamlined wireless system allows you to better control your powered environment while advanced smart components minimise energy and lighting costs over time.

Wireless retrofittable lighting control system Up to 16 easy to program lighting scenes per zone User controlled allowing employees to manage their own light levels

GATEWAY MOTION SENSORS LUMINAIRE CONTROLLER LIGHT SENSOR SWITCHES