flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Robots. 70’s Retro. Biophilia. Co-Living Spaces. Two leading architectural firms single out 18 trends for hospitality this year.

Hotel Facilities

Robots. 70’s Retro. Biophilia. Co-Living Spaces. Two leading architectural firms single out 18 trends for hospitality this year.

HKS and HBA even see a demand for hotels catering to “agritourism.” 


By John Caulfield, Senior Editor | March 9, 2017

The 18-story, 350-room Hotel Indigo in downtown Los Angeles, which opens in June, will feature a grand lobby space with a playful design aesthetic that harkens back to the city's storied past, with references to a budding movie industry and the 1920s. Hirsch Bedner Associates designed the hotel. Image: Hotel Indigo 

Imagine a hotel whose design gives the extreme sports enthusiast an outlet to exercise his or her inner daredevil. Or a resort that caters to patients recovering from medical procedures. Or one whose graphics and murals aspire to be works of art.

These are some of 18 hot trends in hospitality design that two leading architectural firms—Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) and HKS Hospitality Group—have identified for 2017.

The firms divide their lists into two sections, each with nine trends. Hot architectural design trends include:

--Extreme Sports Retreats

--Gadget-free guest rooms

--Automation taking over some hotel staff work

--Greater use of LEDs to create decorative and mood effects

--Smaller guest rooms but larger gathering spaces

--Co-living spaces where groups can stay near each other

--Dual branding

--Curated leisure farming that allows guests to have greater input into what they eat and drink

--Wellness resorts where guests recoup from surgery, transfusions, and other medical treatments.

The interior design trends the firms call out include:

--Candy colors

--A return to 1970s-era kitsch

--The use of super graphics and murals

--An emphasis on wellness and biophilia

--Eclectic, playful, and youthful design

--Craft design

--Rooms within rooms that create intimacy

--A return to a midcentury aesthetic

--Live-work spaces

HBA and HKS use examples of their own recent work to illustrate some of these trends. For example, the HKS-designed Hyatt House/Hyatt Place project in San Francisco explores a hybrid model that blends extended stay with full-service. The 400-key hotel—which follows dual-branded Hyatts in Denver and Charlotte—includes two restaurants, a rooftop outdoor movie theater, and a bar-lounge that can accommodate 400 guests.

The budding “agritourist” might feel right at home at HKS’ Surf Beach Resort in Half Moon Bay near San Francisco, which is part of an existing farmland and a farm stand that will become a permanent part of the resort’s guest program.

Color and art are enlivening hotels, the firms contend. The recently opened HBA project, Aloft Guangzhou in China, features an engaging color palette filled with textured carpets and accented furniture. W Bellevue in Seattle, which opens in June, will include murals created by local street artists. And super graphics will come into play at the new Texas Live, the first hotel in Arlington, Texas, between the mammoth AT&T Stadium and the Texas Rangers’ stadium.

Biophilia and wellness are important vibes in HBA’s Four Seasons Kyoto in Japan, where guests are greeted by a bamboo forest that leads to a Japanese garden sanctuary. This hotel’s design was planned around the 800-year-old Ikeniwa Pond.

Authenticity is the key goal in the trend toward craft design. For the W Nashville residences, HKS’ design features layers of craft design as intricate, embroidered fabric pieces with sequins evoke the elaborate performance outfits of country legends like Patsy Cline, Elvis and Dolly Parton and are being used as art pieces that nod subtly to Nashville’s musical heritage. This hotel also features a range of jewel tones and an unusual mix of furniture that includes the midcentury reference and goes into ‘70s lounge with some industrial touches.

Related Stories

| Aug 11, 2010

Structure Tone, Turner among the nation's busiest reconstruction contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report

A ranking of the Top 75 Reconstruction Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants

| Aug 11, 2010

Best AEC Firms of 2011/12

Later this year, we will launch Best AEC Firms 2012. We’re looking for firms that create truly positive workplaces for their AEC professionals and support staff. Keep an eye on this page for entry information. +

| Aug 11, 2010

Call for entries: Building enclosure design awards

The Boston Society of Architects and the Boston chapter of the Building Enclosure Council (BEC-Boston) have announced a High Performance Building award that will assess building enclosure innovation through the demonstrated design, construction, and operation of the building enclosure.

| Aug 11, 2010

Portland Cement Association offers blast resistant design guide for reinforced concrete structures

Developed for designers and engineers, "Blast Resistant Design Guide for Reinforced Concrete Structures" provides a practical treatment of the design of cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures to resist the effects of blast loads.  It explains the principles of blast-resistant design, and how to determine the kind and degree of resistance a structure needs as well as how to specify the required materials and details.

| Aug 11, 2010

AIA selects three projects for National Healthcare Design Awards

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) have selected the recipients of the AIA National Healthcare Design Awards program. The AIA Healthcare Awards program showcases the best of healthcare building design and healthcare design-oriented research.  Projects exhibit conceptual strengths that solve aesthetic, civic, urban, and social concerns as well as the requisite functional and sustainability concerns of a hospital.

| Aug 11, 2010

New website highlights government tax incentives for large commercial buildings

Energy Retrofit Group (ERG), the subsidiary of 40-year-old, award-winning Adache Group Architects, Inc., has announced the creation of their new energy conservation web site: www.energy-rg.com.

| Aug 11, 2010

Gensler, HOK, HDR among the nation's leading reconstruction design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report

A ranking of the Top 100 Reconstruction Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants

| Aug 11, 2010

RSMeans/RCD forecast 14% drop in hospital construction for 2009

RSMeans forecasts a 14% drop in hospital construction in 2009 compared to 2008, with $17.1 billion in registered hospital projects as of June 30, 2009. The Reed Construction Data unit finds renovation of healthcare facilities increasing, from 36% of projects in 2008, to 40% of projects in the pipeline in the first six months of 2009.

| Aug 11, 2010

Callison strengthens retail design presence with RYA acquisition

Callison LLC on June 1 acquired RYA Design Consultancy, a Dallas-based retail architecture and design firm with offices in New York City. The new “Callison RYA Studio” will merge staff and clients into Callison ’s existing retail practice at their Dallas and New York offices.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021