Scott A. Lee, AIA, vice president and principal with San Francisco-based SB Architects, talks about the environment, construction costs and the next new influences in hotel design.

by Mary Scoviak, Contributing Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 3/1/2007

HOTELS: We are hearing a lot about the importance of environmental sensitivity. Is it just talk, or is it changing hotel development?

SL: Environmental consciousness is very much for real. Hotel companies are paying more attention to environmental sensitivity because their guests do. Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group wanted a lot of green initiatives integrated into the (80 villa/suite) property on Royal Island in the Bahamas. Resorts on private islands or in locations that are off the grid will generate power in sustainable ways, whether ground source heat pumps, wind and/or solar energy.

Solar energy is emerging as a practical option. It is not just about those great, ugly photo-voltaic panels anymore. They were not exactly aspirational. The new collectors require much less surface area. We are seeing solar gardens, mirrored collectors, wall panels and photo-volatic panels in shingle form that can enhance the architectural design. Some resorts will be making a feature out of energy conservation features and will offer tours of their solar farms or reverse osmosis facilities.

Even if a hotel cannot be sustainable in its entirety, it can market around one feature-maybe a solar-powered spa, for example. We will see more non-air-conditioned spaces in resorts, larger overhangs and movable shutters that keep out the sun or rain but let the air flow through. There is a lot of marketing power in sustainability and green practices.

HOTELS: The bar for luxury resorts is phenomenally high already. What will the next generation bring?

SL: Words like 'new, hip, different' are not adjectives traditionally associated with Caribbean resorts. That is changing. The Ritz-Carlton we are designing on Rose Island in the Bahamas is not just another Bahamian village, nor does it borrow slavishly from the past. Projects will reference local culture and design without recreating them verbatim. For example, plantation shutters are a typical design element in the Bahamas. Rather than framing the windows with them as expected, we are using shutters as a metaphor for the entire skin of the building. The elements are there-the louvers and screens-but on a macro scale. Architectural approaches like these not only work in design terms, they enable guests to customize the experience. Each guest can control how much sunlight comes into the room and how private he or she wants to be.

HOTELS: What are the new influences for interior spaces?

SL: There is a more unified message throughout, from the architecture to the interiors and the landscaping. There is also more flexibility. Restaurants have movable walls with floor-to-ceiling doors-not unlike those used in ballrooms-so that they always feel appropriately sized. The guest bathroom is playing an ever bigger role in the guestroom experience. The wall between the sleeping area and bathroom continues to erode to make the view accessible from any point in the room.

We are going to see more innovative solutions for conversions and renovations. Guests expect luxury guestrooms to be 550 to 650 sq.ft. Not every hotel has that kind of space available. The Ivy (a 166-room boutique hotel under way in San Diego's Gas Lamp district) has rooms that are 400 sq.ft. or smaller. For projects like this, we will see the bed becoming integrated into the architecture to free up central floor space and make the room 'live' larger. We also will see new treatments that utilize the entire space, such as using a wood wall as a 'headboard' that draws the eye from the bed to the ceiling. More amenities such as the desk or television will be built into the room or contoured into the interior architecture. Overall, 'warming' remains a major trend.

HOTELS: Does the emphasis on warm, residential appeal extend to the staff and how staff attire merges into the spaces?

SL: In resorts, guests like to see people who look "of the place." So, staff attire is becoming less formal. What staff members wear should make them an accessible interface for the guest. Staff clothing can be hip and modern in a city hotel or relaxed and culturally referenced at a resort. It should never be intimidating.

HOTELS: When it comes to materials, what makes a hotel look modern?

SL: Natural stone still has a lot of appeal, but it needs to be different. For the Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage (240 spa suites, club units and ownership villas in Rancho Mirage, California), we sourced natural stone from China and India.

Simulated materials are becoming more interesting. For one project, we used a simulated wood product from Japan in area in which wood would not hold up. Lots of flooring in The Ivy is vinyl. There is a whole gamut of new simulated materials to explore.

HOTELS: What is passé?

SL: If I could eliminate candlelight and use incandescent light, I would. Lighting can make an important statement. I recently saw a huge chandelier which pumped paraffin to each candle. It illuminated the entire space and produced an incredible effect. Grand closets also are a thing of the past.