Zoku launches space-saving loft design for urban hotels

With square footage in cities at an all-time premium, there has never been a greater demand for developers and owners to create smart, multi-purpose spaces that are petite in scale yet grand in functionality. Offering a fitting solution to this mounting need, Zoku, the Amsterdam-based pioneer of the home/office philosophy, has launched a new modular loft design consisting of standardised elements compatible with various layouts, grid sizes and reduced ceiling heights.

Developed in close collaboration with design agency Concrete, the concept can be implemented in both new and existing hotels, transforming the kitchen, bathroom, bed and storage spaces into building blocks that create more value and flexibility while using fewer square meters. 

“Across Europe, we are seeing an increased market pressure for greater efficiency,” says co-founder Hans Meyer. “At Zoku, we sacredly believe in mixed-use development. By combining work, living and socialising, buildings become more than bricks and walls – rather place makers and ecosystems for collaboration. 

“We already have a great track record in creating communities, so we wanted to use those insights to help real estate investors turn existing properties into desired placemaking hubs. By hacking our own design, we can help extend the lifecycle of buildings by turning it into a standalone or mixed-use development and optimise its efficiency by doing more with less.”

The news follows the development of Zoku Copenhagen and Zoku Vienna – both opening at the end of 2020 – and translates the brand’s learnings into an evolved product, as co-founder Marc Jongerius explains: “Our new offering underlines our ambition to create a vast network of Zoku sites in European gateway cities. We have been perfecting our offering in Amsterdam since 2016 and feel confident that Zoku’s philosophy and design can help transform existing real estate to become more agile and future-proof.

“Next to our ambition to be a frontrunner for our target audience is our goal to be a forward-thinking partner to both developers and investors; the new design enables us to do the latter more strongly. It allows us to plug into both newbuild as well as existing property and help real estate owners find long-term tenants, create a steady cash flow and extend the life cycle of buildings.”