Hotel and resort design is evolving – from a temporary place to stay at, to a liveable experience that considers the land, community, culture, climate change, and a slew of other factors.
Jose Claudio Silva, design principal of Singapore-based architecture and master planning practice 10 Design, foresaw hospitality building operators, owners and designers to be increasingly “truthful to culture and unique experience within the location and its surroundings”.
“There are places with character, places that will grow beyond just spending a night, having a good sunset (view) or (enjoying) a nice and beautiful experience,” Silva said in an interview at the recent Hospitality Philippines Conference 2023. He remarked that “destinations and hotels” should have “added value for the person”, such as providing a cultural education or more during the hotel stay, for example.
“Things are changing and will change the way we perceive spaces, the way we make social spaces, common spaces; even the rooms will change so that it is a life experience right now,” he emphasised.
However, what is relevant for building planners may not be the same in the future and the principles and preferences of the millennials – the techno-holics – may not be the same in 20 years. Silva pointed out that each generation has life-marking events, like the changes wrought by the pandemic, cyber age and accelerated digitalisation, AI, items of music, smartphones, wars, climate change, and more.
He noted that all these changes will influence not only hospitality building design but transportation, infrastructure and other facets as well, hence there is no straightforward and certain response as to what to expect in the next decade. He shared that this is an issue that the community of architects, master planners and developers are discussing, with consideration on “how to react to these changes”.
For Silva, there is no recipe for designing a hospitality building as each project is unique and the process of design and creativity involves a lot of discussion with his colleagues and clients, expectations from both sides, topographic installation, orientation situation, and the client’s vision.
For example, in conceptualising the design for a project in Davao’s Samal Island, Silva and his team had to take into account the vernacular architecture as an inspiration, and explore the maximum potential based on the value that the land offers, experiences that can be provided to guests, while always aiming to be as integrated and sustainable as possible, sensitive to nature and the project’s surroundings.
