Five Star Design – European Hotel Design Awards

For 15 years, the European Hotel Design Awards have promoted architectural excellence in hotel design by inviting entries from the world’s leading hotels and designers for 13 categories which include best lobby and public areas, café’s and restaurants and bathrooms and bedrooms. This year, the Awards introduced a new category called the Sleep Hotel Best room Design. Teams were required to create a five star model guest room in an undisclosed European hotel near the coast, where the mountains served as a back drop; designers were evaluated on the basis of how in tune they were with regards to meeting the needs of a typical hotel guest.

At a glittering ceremony in London last month,’ Shaded White Room’ by Scott Browning and Wilmott Dixon Interiors, a UK-based design agency was the unanimous choice for the best design in the category. The room exhibited a minimalist theme and featured a restrained colour palette; the dominant white contrasted with shades of grey and black. Technology was in corporate in the form of mounted and freestanding iPads with which guests could not only communicate with the reception, but also control lighting levels, blinds and the entertainment system from any part of the room. (These features could also be accessed with a conventional control pad mounted near the bed.)

The scenic mountains were made the primary focal point of the room by ensuring that the bed faced them. The minimalist theme was also evident in the bathroom where straight lines and textured tiles accompanied raised glass panels that allow natural daylight to seep in. That even the bathroom featured a surround sound system emphasized the importance that the designers placed on both luxury and technology.

By winning the awards for the sleep Hotel Best Room Design, ‘Shaded White Room’ showed how hotels and guests prefer the comforts of a minimalist room armed sparingly with technology to more opulently furnished living room styled suites. It might just be a start, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to find hotel rooms design in a similar fashion in the future.

By Shayan Shakeel