Future Vision: An Interview with Conrad Smith of ReardonSmith Architects

Conrad Smith, managing director of London-based ReardonSmith Architects, forecasts a new wave of &ldquo.sustainably decadent&rdquo. design

by Mary Scoviak, Contributing Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 2/1/2007

Smith: Hotels will be more considerate to the environment both because legislation is demanding this and because there is a perceptible groundswell of interest and concern among guests in favour of ecologically respectful destinations.

In Jamaica, for example, we recently have begun designing a 939-ac (380-ha.) resort that will be so low rise that it will barely be seen above the native trees when approached from the sea. Another example is our scheme for The Belfry in Warwickshire, UK, one of the best-known golf and country resorts in England and sometime host to the Ryder Cup.  Our re-building plans include renewable technology incorporating solar power, use of biomass and ground source heating and cooling such that at least 10% of the energy used will be from renewable sources. We will be introducing intensive and extensive green roofs, which will be landscaped for bio diversity, and underground car parking to reduce the percentage of hard landscaping.  Recycled materials will constitute a significant part of the building materials including concrete aggregates from the current building, eco bricks formed from waste matter and glass with a high proportion of re-cycled elements.  We are also developing a Travel Plan which includes a highway strategy aimed at reducing the impact that The Belfry will have on road usage.  This involves looking at the mix of facilities at The Belfry with the objective of increasing the average length of stay, introducing generous parking for coaches to encourage group travel, options for public transport and a local network of staff buses.

HOTELS: What makes a hotel look right for today and tomorrow not “yesterday”?

Smith: Design that is site specific.  We live in a world of choices, and people are now savvy enough to make their own choice about the hotel they stay in.  However, all hotels need to be well planned and comfortable with quality finishes to match their standard. That has to inform the interior design and architecture as well as all of the elements in space—including the uniforms. Fashion statements alone quickly date—whether for a room or for the staff.

Smith: Minimalism is out and decadence is in.  However, decadence in the 21st century is limited to styling.  Issues of environmental impact mean that there is a new consciousness behind the fur (fake of course) covered chairs and myriad table lamps – sustainable decadence, you might call it.

Smith: In city centers, existing hotels have to maximise revenue generation by unlocking space within the envelope.  This may mean infills, glazing over central courtyards or moving plant and back-of-house to the areas of least potential within the hotel so that revenue generating spaces can be created.  At the Intercontinental London at Hyde Park Corner, for instance, we have replanned the ground floor to allow for a new bar which will capture views of the park along its full length and increased the size of some of the existing bedrooms to become suites while keeping the total number of guestrooms as before by introducing a full-height, eight-story infill.

Food and beverage revenue is clearly something for which hotels have to fight in major cities.  It is interesting to see how many are succeeding now and, in fact, are leading the market in terms of design as well as culinary offering. It seems, guests and local people are prepared to pay a substantial premium for this.

Smith: Quite simply – revenue generation.  This might be plant where there could be a spa, staff offices where could be guest bedrooms or back-of-house storage where there should be a bar.

HOTELS: If a hotel can make only one change in key areas, what should that change be?

Smith: For the entrance/lobby: Clarity in design. Guests should feel welcomed and “at home” as soon as they arrive.  This clarity takes many forms, depending on the hotel.  At Grosvenor House in London, one of the city’s best known grande luxe hotels, the main entrance had become faded and totally lacked the presence guests would expect of a luxury establishment.  A completely new treatment to the entrance was not an option for us but, by cleaning and lighting the façade and introducing two very large and specially designed glazed canopies over the forecourt, guests now feel welcomed by the gravitas and drama appropriate to a hotel of this standing. 

For the restaurant:  Design that reduces noise levels. That involves an improvement in acoustics and use of fewer hard surfaces.

For the guestroom/bathroom: Bigger bathrooms with good showers. It can be a small touch such as getting mini bars off the floor nearer to eye level – as we planning for the bedrooms in London’s famous Groucho Club.

HOTELS: In what areas will we see the most fundamental changes?

Smith: The design of hotel spas is maturing rapidly. Two to three years ago, spas became the ‘need to have’ amenity in most hotel schemes. However, they tended to be similar the world over and to lack focus on the hotel’s specific marketplace.  Now we are seeing more differentiation as well as more emphasis on a truly luxurious environment (which may be a very “simple” environment) to match the particular mix of treatments.  As guests’ enthusiasm for a total well-being experience increases, together with the amount they are prepared to pay for this, we are seeing the emergence of spa bedrooms where the guest can immerse himself/herself in treatments in the privacy of the bedroom. We also are seeing spa wings in certain, larger resorts where some of the bedrooms are built within the same envelope as the spa, away from the rest of the resort.

If the spa is in an urban hotel, often, context is lacking.  The spa is at the end of a winding passage, tucked away and is no more than a bunch of treatment rooms. So, the change should be towards more holistic planning of the space even if the overall envelope of the building dictates the spa’s location.

Smith: We will see I-Pod docking stations in every bedroom.

HOTELS: Will we continue to see open spaces between showering and sleeping areas?

Smith: Personally, I very much hope not. In fact, we definitely are seeing the return to more constructed rooms.  Bigger bathrooms allow people to share if they want to, but totally open spaces are impractical leading to steamy and sometimes flooded bedroom areas. They allow no option for privacy and confuse the ambience of the bathroom and the bedroom.

Smith: Thank goodness the TV armoire has now more-or-less disappeared. But why has it been replaced in some cases by 40 inch flat screens that are too large to be properly viewed in an average sized room, that sometimes obscure the view and that are not attractive when switched off?  They should be smaller.  Generally rooms should be as uncluttered as possible.  The average stay in an urban hotel is 1.5 nights, so most of the wardrobe could go too.

Smith: Space.  A larger sized guestroom costs more to start with but the return on investment can be so much greater.  Good wall insulation so no extraneous noise can be heard, lighting and large, well-designed bathrooms are also value for money.

Smith: We will see more patterns for a while.  Luxury and design-led hotels initiated the move from plain neutrals to patterns several years ago.  Now, this has been taken up by retailers in the home décor environment and they will, in turn, stimulate the budget hotel sector to pick up on patterns.

Smith: Space equals luxury.  However, some top-end city hotels simply cannot offer space. Their solution is to provide something else which may be a fashion label, a destination bar or a particular design style that captures a specific following.  The challenge for the architect is to make small rooms in quality hotels work through clever space planning, eliminating all unnecessary elements and ensuring the guest can navigate the space without feeling cramped.

Smith: Growing environmental awareness, not to mention legislation, will impact hotel lighting. As demand grows, I hope that manufacturers finally will produce more environmentally friendly lighting that is suitable for luxury hotels.  At the moment, for example, LED technology still does not provide the kind of display lighting required for upper end hotels, although it is improving, compared with halogen lighting.

Smith: Restaurants should be places where guests can concentrate on the food and the company.  Often, rather than putting things into them, I would take things out, especially banquettes, chairs that are uncomfortable and the wrong height for the tables and anything that smacks of over-design.  However, as with hotels, it’s about choice and different people will choose different dining environments at different times, which I applaud – so long as they are comfortable.  Resort restaurant design will clearly need to differ from urban restaurant design. At Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove in the Seychelles, for example, we designed a restaurant that is all about the views beyond, so the space planning, lighting and seating was all about supporting these.  By contrast, our design for one of London’s oldest restaurants, Wiltons, which is tucked into a small, traditional building, is about looking inwards and creating intimate areas where guests can feel private and cozy.

HOTELS: How will design evolve differently for hotels versus resorts?

Smith: The role of brands In urban locations, there will be more development of mixed-use buildings, usually involving residential, retail, leisure and a hotel.  In capital cities and many new destinations, this will involve building towers, which can be a plus environmentally in crowded locations as well as an iconic symbol. In most resorts, the trend is towards low-rise clusters of buildings either located to “melt into” the natural environment or to echo the traditional village community.  What is interesting is that, in a total reverse of say five years ago, the hotel now is seen to be the epicentre of the scheme. It is a major impetus for investment by the funders at the outset and then by purchasers of the associated residential components.  Leading retail brands have long played the part of “anchor tenant” in shopping mall developments; in mixed use and resort developments, it is now the hotel-- with the result that hotel brand matters more than ever before.

HOTELS: Residential components are a point of fiscal reality for luxury resort development. How will that impact design trends?

Smith: Residents expect to use the hotel as their local center of leisure. We are seeing how residential components demand more out of the hotel by way of amenities, especially a larger variety of restaurants. Residents also expect to use the hotel spa. This may mean that it needs to be discretely zoned with areas for local families to meet their daily requirements and other areas for hotel guests paying for their annual spa experience.

Smith: The minibar.

Smith: I stayed in the George V in Paris about 10 years ago, before the current owner, Fairmont, and designer Pierre Yves Rochon, transformed the hotel into a stunning example of beautiful and comfortable design.  Naturally, it was very expensive to stay there. What came as a shock were the poor ventilation, excessively hot rooms and a bed like a banana. Inexcusable in any hotel but even more so when you are paying a top of the market price.