Beautifying - Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India

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Sidharth Bhatia
Associate
Reardon Smith Architects,
London
A well designed hotel
attracts repeat business
beautifying design
Designer’s Perspective
July 2013 I www.fhrai.com I
50
From an architect’s point of view,
design must always serve a function. In
hospitality, it is the guest experience.
Guests are sophisticated, well travelled
and their tastes go beyond mere design novelties.
The demand is very basic that is designed and
presented thoughtfully. This makes the designing of
spaces more challenging and exciting.
Brand standards vs
liberty in design
If hospitality were a science, brands would be
the scientists. There are examples where the
conventional mould has been broken to emerge
very successful. But these are usually exceptions.
Apart from good design and a unique product, the
final aim is to make profit. This is where brands
excel. They have tried and tested their systems
over hundreds of hotels and are constantly refining
their formula. To ignore such in-depth research is
not a good idea.
hypothetically...
Ideal scenario for designers
The ideal scenario for a designer would
be working to an unlimited budget and
with no time restrictions. However, I
have to say that the best results usually
come from projects where you have a
very tight budget and a very short time
frame. We, as a breed, react very well to
pressure.
A good project brief would be
A good project brief doesn’t exist in
reality. By no means does that conclude
that a designer can do whatever he likes;
rather, the team, including the client,
should modify their brief as the process
moves forward to give flexibility. A fluid
brief, within some boundaries and goals,
can result in a truly wonderful design.