Interiors wins Sleep Hotel 2012 best room design

A collaboration between Willmott Dixon Interiors and Scott Brownrigg to create a hotel room with a timeless design at this year’s Sleep Event walked away with the Sleep Hotel 2012 Best Room Design award. The team constructed a 23 sq m, five star, city centre hotel room concept to show a glimpse of a hotel room of the future, combining imagination and innovation with flair to beat off strong competition from Bisset Adams and 8build, Shaun Clarkson ID, Yasmine Mahmoudieh, Nous Design and Overbury. Judges, Javier Hortal, Project Leader EMEA at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Khirstie Gunn-Myles, Head of Design and Engineering at IHG and Conrad Smith, Managing Director at ReardonSmith Architects commented that the “intelligent layout”, “use of space” and the “timeless design” of Shaded White, the concept room's name, together with its “functionality and customer focus” helped to secure its win. Una Barac, Director at Scott Brownrigg said: “We are absolutely delighted to be the Winner of the Sleep Hotel 2012. It was a challenging brief, yet we were determined to ensure our design was well thought out and would provide guests with a special and memorable experience. Carefully considered planning of the room enhances the wonderful view, whilst the refined tonal and textural palette creates a timeless design. Incorporation of state–of-the-art technology provides modern edge for the savvy travellers. However, the room is not solely dependent on the technology and traditional interface is also provided to appeal to all users.

"This tremendous result has been achieved through the collaboration with Willmott Dixon Interiors and the support of all our suppliers."

Graham Shaw, director of operations at Willmott Dixon Interiors said: “We are proud to have delivered this fantastic example of a 5 star luxury hotel room built under very tight constraints. We carefully considered every detail required to deliver the design intent and create a fully functional hotel room complete with the integrated technology. Together with our supply chain partners we have delivered a stunning room with high quality finishes and exceptional quality workmanship throughout!”

The aim of Shaded White was to create a timeless room that would transcend future trends for years to come, with the team focused on a minimalist design approach with a restrained colour palette.

A mountainous city view provides the focal point and inspiration for the room’s arrangement, with a raised bed orientated to ensure guests experience the view uninterrupted. The location of the desk and the window seat provide further opportunity for guests to relax and appreciate the scenery.

Fitting a luxury room into 23 sq m was a challenging task, so the focus was on intelligent forms of storage, which would de-clutter the room. This has been achieved through the elevation of both the bed and the window seat to provide storage underneath. Shaded White offers state–of-the-art technology in an unusual and inclusive manner. Inbuilt and freestanding iPads allow the technology-savvy guest to communicate with reception, control lighting levels, blinds and the entertainment system from any part of the room. In addition a simple, user-friendly control pad offers the same service in a more conventional and traditional manner. This system is beneficial for the operations and management team by supporting sustainability and limiting electricity use to times when the room is occupied.