HI Design EMEA 2010

Since its launch in Stockholm in 2006, HI Design has established itself as a key event in the industry calendar providing a meeting place for all those involved in the interior design of hotels. Its format of scheduled meetings, educational seminars, and a mini-exhibition has proved so successful that organisers Atticus Events launched the concept in Asia in 2009, and are now celebrating the fifth anniversary in the EMEA region.

Dubbed “HI Five” in recognition of this milestone, HI Design 2010 attracted a record number of delegates coming from 70 buyer companies and 75 supplier companies. Representatives from leading design practices and hotel groups included Rachel Dunthorne, Director of FF&E and OSE, Hilton Worldwide; Gordon Anderson, Director of Projects Procurement, InterContinental Hotels Group; Alison de Castella, Associate, WATG; and Jeremy Blake, Partner, Purcell Miller Tritton. On the supplier side, delegates included Josh Beach, Head of Contracts, Conran Contracts; Alain Taillandier, Managing Director France, Artemide; and Angel Salvador, International Contract Director, Dedon. Some were new to the event, whilst others had racked up a 100% attendance record, but all were here to do business. 

“This is a really good opportunity for us to see what’s happening in the industry and learn about new products,” explained one HI Design regular. Another, Rowena Preiss, Creative Director of Philips Lighting added that the event was a “unique platform to gain real insight into the needs of the market”. And Erik Nissen Johanssen, Founder of Stylt Trampoli confirmed: “The fact that this is a niche hospitality event means that everyone here has a great relevance to us.”

Event Directors Jonathan Needs and James Burke welcomed delegates to the Hilton Hotel in Malta stating: “There are 215 people here today, up from 100 in the first year. That shows how much the event has grown over the years.” Despite this growth, Needs was also keen to stress that it was “quality, not quantity” that remains of paramount importance.

As always, the focus of HI Design is to provide an environment in which to do business, whether it be through one-to-one meetings, or the more informal evening receptions. The conference element, hosted once again by Guy Dittrich, is designed to provide an overview of the industry with guest speakers, presentations, and panel discussions.

Kicking off this year, Trevor Ward, Managing Director of W Hospitality Group, provided an insight into market performance and pipeline in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Beginning with Europe, Ward claimed that year-on-year results for 2009 vs 2008 were not as bad as initially expected. He named the top ten performers in terms of occupancy as London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paris, Hamburg, Manchester, Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Cardiff and Zurich. Amongst those that “fell off the cliff” were Moscow, Milan, Prague and Budapest. The picture was even gloomier for RevPAR performance with Moscow showing a massive 40% decline in 2009 versus 2008.

The European pipeline painted an interesting picture for the next two years with development concentrated in the economy sector, according to figures from STR Global. Few projects were anticipated at the luxury end of the scale indicating that the boom of budget hotels is set to continue.

Moving on to the Middle East and Africa region, Ward presented further data from STR Global that confirmed Beirut as the best performer in the world in terms of occupancy, increasing by 27.5% YTD December 2009 vs YTD December 2008. The city also recorded a 62.1% increase in revPAR for the same period as travellers returned following the conflict there in 2008. Dubai, the subject of much analysis given its turbulent times, was the biggest loser in terms of revPAR, falling by 31.4%. Pipelines in the region showed a concentration towards the upscale end of the market with very little interest in midscale and economy.Ward admitted that it was “very difficult” to know where the Middle East and Africa are headed but questioned: “Given that we can fit the USA, China, India, Europe, New Zealand, and Argentina into Africa, doesn’t that mean we should pay it some attention?”

Ward said that there were certain challenges unique to developing in Africa, but believed these were far outweighed by the “enormous opportunities”. Statistics from five major hotel groups revealed that the pipeline for the entire continent stands at only 30,000 rooms, not many for 53 countries. Egypt was shown to be a hotspot for development followed by Nigeria, Morocco, Libya, and South Africa.

Further seminars throughout the two-day event included a presentation on ‘Sustainable Design’ by Jan Peter Bergkvist, Founder of sustainable business advisory service Sleepwell. Bergkvist questioned: “Does your organisation have a robust definition and understanding of sustainability?” before urging delegates to “be part of the solution instead of adding to the problem”.

Bergkvist presented his approach stating that architectural and physical design, as well as operational design, need to be considered. Illustrated by case studies from hotel groups Scandic and Six Senses – both well known for their sustainable approach – Bergkvist went some way to dispel the myth that a certified green building would cost up to 300% more, whereas “in reality it is only 5-10% more”.

A panel discussion between four leading designers – Yasmine Mahmoudieh, Owner / Managing Director, Mahmoudieh Design; Lorenzo Bellini, Owner / President Lorenzo Bellini Associates; Josep Juanpere, Chairman / Founding Partner GCA Arquitectos Associados; and Garrett Robbins, Senior Designer, Rockwell Europe – explored “Room for Change in Hospitality Design”.  Mahmoudieh talked about the challenges she sets herself in creating a modern interpretation of historic design, whilst Bellini believed that responding to the needs of the guest was of utmost importance. Robbins and Juanpere added that their focus was on creating an experience and bringing the locale into the hotel.

For many, the highlight of the event was an exclusive appearance by eminent designer Karim Rashid under the heading ‘Changing Human Nature in Hospitality’. Dressed in his trademark colours, Rashid presented a fascinating talk on his own “organic” style of design and the digital patterns, or “digi-pop” that run through much of his work. He calls this the “ornamentation” of today, comparing it to the use of herringbone in the 14th century. “Do we keep repeating patterns which have nothing to do with the time in which we live now?” he questioned. “Digitisation is important to all of us. This is how we shop... how we live.”

Rashid concluded by giving his opinions on the future of the industry: “In a matter of time this industry will be using voice command. The technology is there, but someone has to have the audacity to do it first.”

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