Sleep Set, Hotel Design Event in London

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Sleep Set, Hotel Design Event in London

Event at Business Design Centre, Islington, England, UK: International Hospitality Design + Architecture Competition

6 Sep 2017

Sleep Set

How to be Loved: International Design Companies to Create Unique Installations at Sleep exploring “Loyalty: Lessons in Love”

(London – 6 September 2017) This year’s Sleep Set, the feature at Europe’s hotel design event, Sleep, which pulls no punches in delivering challenging, original and layered installations, will this year present four room sets destined to provoke thought on the pressing question of loyalty in today’s hotel world. Selected for their diverse experience, outlook and culture, the participating companies are: Italian firm, Il Prisma, with studios in London as well as in Italy and a portfolio that extends across workplace, retail and hospitality; 1508 London, the leading luxury residential design studio who are bringing their magic to hospitality; Stonehill & Taylor, the hospitality-focused architecture and design studio from New York City; and London-based MKV Design which specialises in the interior architecture and design of high-end hotels and resorts around the globe.

The theme has been crafted in collaboration with global leader in customer experience research, Ipsos Loyalty, and will ask such questions as: What does loyalty mean in this age of promiscuous customers? What might the hotel industry learn from other sectors? And how does design help operators meet changing guest expectations? Glion Institute of Higher Education UK, dedicated to hotel and tourism management, is also working with Sleep to develop a new research paper on the subject of loyalty, and several of the sessions at the conference, which runs alongside the Sleep Set, will bring together experts from across the industry to debate related issues.

In the opinion of Gilberto Vizzini of Il Prisma, the challenge is to convert a one-night stand into a long- term love affair. “Hotels and their designers now have a great opportunity to elicit guest loyalty by combining physical and digital worlds into a new ‘phigital’ paradigm,” he says. “This has the potential not only to create connections between the hotel and its neighbourhood but to deliver new networks for guests when they return home. In our Sleep Set, we will be proposing a system suitable for all types of hotels that explores the “phigital” model. The results will be unexpected, sociable, sexy and, above all, flexible so that hotels and their guests can go on having new experiences together.”

For 1508, it is the small details that create strong attraction and form people’s memories. “Details incite an emotional connection to a space and bring guests back,” explains 1508’s Hamish Brown. “Visitors to our stand will be invited to play a part in imagining a space full of moments of attraction for them, moments that in turn create loyalty and love.”

By contrast, Stonehill & Taylor is thinking about the global context: “Our Hotel Irus will reflect and draw on a multi-cultural wealth of inspiration that honours the environment, embraces globalisation, respects cultural differences and creates a unique experience. And, to underscore the approach of building an engaged world community, the concept was designed in New York, will be crafted in Istanbul and will debut in London,” says Principal, Vince Stroop.

MKV Design is also intrigued by the wider issues. “Loyalty and love are fundamental to us. They influence what we feel about the life we are living and they generate a legacy for the future. Yet, we can be profligate and promiscuous with our loyalties, using up finite resources and rejecting commitment in favour of the latest ‘must do-have-hold’,” explains MKV’s Maria Vafiadis. “Our Sleep Set will belong somewhere within this big canvas, inspired by an article about an island which made us think about the future.”

Structured as a competition while approached as a collaborative exploration, the Sleep Sets attract developers, hotel operators, architects and designers as well as industry consultants and commentators from across Europe and farther afield. The participating companies will be presenting their case before the panel of judges, this year comprising Javier Hortel of Mandarin Oriental Group, Nick de Klerk of Auckett Swanke and Tina Norden of Conran & Partners, in a Sleep Conference session on the second morning. The winner will be announced at lunchtime on Day Two. This year’s Sleep Set is supported by Kohler.

Sleep will take place on Tuesday 21st November – Wednesday 22nd November at the Business Design Centre in London. For more information and to register for a complementary pass, visit www.thesleepevent.com

5 Sep 2017