Work in progress.....

My current brief with Holiday Inn to redesign a conceptual lobby space and check-in experience. An audience and problem must be targeted and a clear solution produced and presented digitally. This is a competition brief with D&AD with the prestigious yellow pencil award.

Audience - The individual, a business traveler

Problem - spending an hour in the space I recorded that the vast majority of people entering the space were business orientated and many were foreign travelers on business trips, the first problem that I noticed was that as soon as somebody enters the space everybody else (either in the seating area or restaurant) could see the person entering. This created an awkward and judgmental atmosphere, thus nearly on every occasion the customer felt inclined to go straight to his/her room and work alone.

Solution - My solution is to create a new branch to the company called 'HOP' - this targets the travel side of the audience offering solutions such as being able to buy tickets, plan journeys and have information on various travel links and local interests.

The customer will also be offered an office atmosphere, but somewhere they can work alone with all of the services required. They will often have spent a day in the office and a similar environment will be the last thing they want to see, this space will be fun and quirky... a kind of reward for working out of office hours.

The initial concept for the Lobby, because there are 1200 lobbys

of all shapes and sizes I will be designing each idea separately,

a sort of installation that can be slotted into the specifications of each 

building. Firstly the individual booths allowing people the freedom to 

work without going to their rooms, at this stage the shape is undecided, 

maybe a droplet or cocoon? You will 'board' them from bridges based around

the way you board a plane. The floor will be dropped to make space for

cloud installation (inspired by the ceiling of the EBAY office, next pic).

   

Looking at the plane itself and how different parts function allowed me to experiment

with the form/shape. The final outcome of this was having the rotary blades from within

an engine twisted in the same way as the center of the blade is decorated. This twisting effect

forms around the spherical booth.

A refinement of the previous idea, the blades created voids that took away the privacy aspect

of the space, one of these voids will create an abstracted doorway whereas the others will be

filled with a patchwork of rubber and leather. This idea came across from what bussinessmen/women

carry, such as wallets and breefcases. The rubber will be from the shoes as in any travel scenario

walking is still required... this will make each space bespoke (individual) and give a relate-able scent.

Iceland

Icelands electricity is carried by 'Land Of The Giants" 

I actually wouldn't mind having these in my back yard!

Zira Island

Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner of BIG, Copenhagen :

  What we propose for Zira Zero Island is an architectural landscape based on the natural landscape of Azerbaijan. This new architecture not only recreates the iconic silhouettes of the seven peaks, but more importantly creates an autonomous ecosystem where the flow of air, water, heat and energy are channeled in almost natural ways. A mountain creates biotopes and eco-niches, it channels water and stores heat, it provides viewpoints and valleys, access and shelter. The Seven Peaks of Azerbaijan are not only metaphors, but actual living models of the mountainous ecosystems of Azerbaijan.


  Each of the Seven Peaks house a residential development derived from the geometry of a famous mountain in Azerbaijan. Individually each mountain becomes a principle for mixing private and public functions. Together the mountains form an organic skyline merging with the natural topography of the island. A dense vibrant urban community connected to a series of private resort villages by a central public valley and surrounding beaches. A continuous public trekking path connects the mountains and invites visitors to scale the top of all seven peaks. In addition to the Seven Peaks the Master Plan also includes 300 private villas that take advantage of their setting with panoramic views out over the Caspian Sea.

What is really impressive about this scheme is not the aesthetics, or even the architectural design of these structures, it is the concept behind it all. Without a solid conceptual base for design ideas can go off at a tangent and veer away from the true intended spirit of the project. This project has mountains at its roots, everything from structure and form, to an ecosystem of renewables. A very well presented animation, the renders and flythroughs provide the wow-factor but the graphic simplicity of the informant sections shows complex ideas clearly. Please let this be built!

Liquipel Nano technology

Liquipel is a revolutionary technology that applies a nano-coating to electronics, making them Watersafe. inside and out. An invisible waterproof coating called Liquipel.

 

 An adaption of this technology sees vending style machines where you can place your device (ie. I-Phone) and have it returned completely waterproof without any aesthetic difference.

Sustainable Lighting

Sustainable Lighting idea used in shanty houses but could be 

easily adapted. A very useful concept as bills increase.