Garden Cottage: Cottages at Waters Edge, Crystal Mountain Resort. Custom wall art, books by Michigan authors on the shelf, art by Michigan artists on the walls.
Hotel design tries to anticipate what the customer is looking for in an experience. Today, that experience is much more thoughtful, more local, more residential, more virtual and more customizable. The notion is being challenged that a brand formula created by a “corporate office”, rolled out in test cities, cloned throughout a continent is a guarantee to attract customers. Hospitality design is a sister to fashion design and shares the runway in announcing style to drive demand, but attitudes and expectations are changing.
The market responds to style leadership. But today, our customers have many more references and aren’t as willing to choose a hotel based on a branded style. They more likely to enjoy a space that allows them to extend their casual and online lifestyle.
No longer is the idea of staying in a place that is better than home an automatic room sale.
Thoughtful
Making charging devices easy and obvious. Not everyone wants to unpack for a night’s stay, make the whole luggage thing convenient. Make it personal, share with your guest the stories behind the decisions made.
Local
Responsible use of materials from the region. Local artwork, locally harvested or manufactured materials.
Residential
No formal casegoods, more apartment style furnishings.
Virtual
Instant access to the internet, TV’s that can be monitors to personal computers, voice activated thermostats and lighting controls.
Customizable
Within reason, allowing the room to be adapted based on need. That might mean offering stack chairs, or a easy to move sofa.
r.o.i. Design knows for a property to be successful, they have to adapt. Most guests recognize the efforts made to make their stay more personal. To win the hearts of customers, we just need to show them we understand what they need for the best possible experience. That may not be a major remodel, it may be one or two things this season and a few more the next.
The documentary, “The Chef’s Table” (A Netflix Production), features six chefs and their restaurants. Each of them considered to be one of the best 50 in the world, they were chosen for their exotic tastes, remote locale and menu, passion or untiring curiosity.
As a designer, watching the program, watching the creative chefs, watching the food, I couldn’t help but look at their choices for the interiors of the restaurants. This study recommitted my focus on five elements in restaurant design. There is no other type of space where we design for all the senses.
Lighting
Like a play, the lighting in a restaurant puts focus on the players. While in fine dining this could mean spots on table tops, with only enough other light for guests to find their way to restrooms and exits. In most restaurants, this means a variety of light levels and light sources: the table pendant, the wall wash, the ambient overall up lighting. Lighting in a restaurant imitates theater.
Seating Layouts
Depending on menu, casual to fine, the seating takes a cue. We are seeing very few deuces (two top) tables being used in restaurant planning today. Quite the reverse, we are seeing community tables and larger tables being used that enhance the sense of gathering and family. The traditional booths are being replaced by settees and wall benches which gives restaurateurs more flexibility in seating groups of all sizes. Not only do these seating trends reflect current lifestyle preferences, they are great for showing off plates and presentation.
Finishes
There are at least three categories in restaurant interior finishes:
The interior finishes that disappear – the food is main stage, 1 to 4 star
The interior finishes that have to tell a subtle story, supporting the brand of the restaurant. No star to 1 star.
The interior finishes that have to be more exciting than the food because they are delivering an average menu with good taste.
Decoration
Mirroring the levels of finish, decoration varies based on the menu.
Minimal, but fine art, commissioned art, wall finishes used as décor for the starred restaurants.
Narrative, biographical and branded interiors for the “no star” but up-and-coming environments.
Entertaining, graphic design as décor, messaging and color is the key to the $10 a plate eatery.
Table top
What the diner sees as they are seated and as they eat leaves the greatest impression, mostly subliminally. The determined chef doesn’t want to distract the diner from the scent and look of the food. Fresh flowers and candles are appropriate as long as they don’t have scent. For the lower plate price restaurant, it is an opportunity for advertising. But in all cases, it is an opportunity to help the customer understand what is important at the restaurant.
“The Chef’s Table” showed us the chef’s journey and process. They also gave us clues as to how the interior supports the goal of the menu and experience. Napkins folded and measured for accuracy? An extravagant abundance of non-smelly flowers? A display of objects from the region? A methodical hanging of historical textiles or significant signatures?
Everything is intentional, everything is about the experience.
Northern Michigan Pediatric Dentistry. A design build team- r.o.i. Design was the interior designer.
Who is the design team?
The building architect, interior designer, site engineer, landscape architect, structural engineer, civil engineer, casegood designer, furniture designer, and art consultant all make up the design team.
Construction managers are dealing with a variety of team types:
One Stop Shopping
Large architect and engineering firms who offer “one stop shopping”, everything in one company, linear accountability. Convenient but not always transparent. When a design team has a bundle of work with a contractor, it is easier for the GM to negotiate changes since they are funneling a quantity of work to a firm.
The Inn at Harbor Shores, r.o.i. Design was recommended by contractor as an industry specialist.
Industry Specialist
A key player (designer or architect) who offers unique experience in a construction type: charter schools, national retail chains, senior care, mid-scale hotels, higher education, specialty medical, etc. , who recommends a group of independents they or the contractor manages to fill out the roster of all the professional design requirements.
GVSU Laker Store, a customer directed design team. r.o.i. Design worked as planners and interior designers.
Customer Team
When there are pre-existing relationships that have to be managed and the contractor works with the customer to fill out the professional needs of the project with a variety of firms.
Design-Build
The “design-build” team is assembled by the contractor and the customer directs all design criteria to the contractor who then works with their choice of professionals to support planning, produce design, architecture, engineering and all it’s documentation.
So what is the ideal “design team”? It’s the one that works best for the project.
Experienced construction professionals understand that they can’t have just one process that will deliver the design on all their projects (unless the contractor only works with one building type). Experienced construction professionals know they have to have a variety of firms in their contact list and stay informed of changes in those firms, understanding their emerging strengths and successes on new projects.
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r.o.i. Design works on several teams and team types. We understand the “R’s”: rates, relationships and relevance. We see successful design companies prosper when they can collaborate and adjust to changing criteria. We also see the importance of the construction manager who realizes the need for customers to be connected to the design process and their designers, and still be sure their budget and timeline are prioritized.
Recently, r.o.i. Design was at a bid opening and after hearing the bids for Division 09, it was clear to all that something was “up”. We all are seeing a steady increase in the percentage of costs spent in finishes in projects.
r.o.i. Design has been able to balance budgets by applying specialty finishes with discretion in key areas and working with contractors on the design as a whole, before a project goes to bid. Managing customer expectations at the design phase is key in order to deliver the interior the customer requires.
Some of the areas to watch for creeping costs include:
Hard surface flooring
LVT is available in a wide selection of colors and patterns, including those that mimic wood and stone.
The old stand by – vinyl composite tile (VCT) – which is affordable at install, but adds cost
every year in maintenance, is loosing ground to other composites that don’t have that ongoing expense. There are VET (vinyl enhanced tiles) and LVT (luxury vinyl tiles) whose retail square foot costs are a minimum of $1 more than VCT.
A larger portion of the flooring in projects are receiving hard surfaces verses carpet.
The love for finished concrete isn’t necessarily a budget saver and it’s popularity has demanded more skilled trades in adapting concrete in order to be considered a finished floor.
Wall panels and specialty wall treatments
Molded cork wall coverings by Murrato
Wall covering manufacturers have been busy coming up with new materials and designs that are gaining interest. r.o.i. Design doesn’t believe we will ever see projects where 100% of the walls are covered with wall covering as was prevalent in the 90’s, but do see a percentage of the walls being given “special” treatment.
Custom wall covering and panel products are becoming more affordable allowing customers to create “branded” and proprietary looks to their interiors. Part of that customization means the finish category is fulfilling more of the signage requirements of a building.
Ceilings
Changes in technology have advanced product design and improved product performance. But the first wave of those innovations come at a higher price. The cycle of new product introduction is more robust, and increased competition will start to impact costs on trendy finishes in a positive direction.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in July total construction put in place throughout the nation rose 0.7% from June’s revised estimate. July set an annual rate of $1,083.4 billion. The revised June rate was $1,075.9 billion.
Construction during the first seven months of this year has risen at an average rate of 9.3% above the rate set during the same period last year.
The Census Bureau is scheduled to release its August 2015 data on October 1st.
September 4, 2015
As reported by Mlive.com:
Apartment construction boomed in first half of 2015
Four new sorority houses are nearing completion in the second phase of construction at Grand Village Student Housing in Allendale near Grand Valley State University. The homes, photographed on Monday, July 13, will be complete in time for the fall semester. (Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com)
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Apartment construction boomed in West Michigan during the first half of 2015, according to a housing construction publication.
Building starts for single family homes were flat in West Michigan with the exception of Ottawa County, where the number of housing starts grew by 25 percent, according to Builder Track Reports, which follows the region’s construction trends.
In Kent County, building permits were issued for 662 apartment units, most of them in Grand Rapids. That’s more than twice the 324 units started in the first half of 2014.
