HIX TALKS

For new perspectives

What’s next for inclusive design? How can hyperlocal hospitality positively impact local communities? What can hotels of the future learn from buildings of the past?

HIX TALKS is our two-day series of inspiring panels, interviews and discussions exploring the future of hotel design. Guided by this year’s theme ‘a room with a point of view’ 2023’s programme is all about people, perspectives and progress.

With POVs from architects, developers, operators, investors and the hotel design community’s brightest minds, HIX Talks answers the big hotel design questions with actionable advice to take into your next project.

Thursday

11:00 - 11:45

All Together Now: What’s next for inclusive design?

Hotels have traditionally operated along highly segmented and distinct lines of price point, experience and a degree of exclusivity, but the inclusive design movement wants to change this and usher in a new wave of ultra-accessible and democratised hospitality spaces. What will this mean for hotel design and industry culture at large?

Tarek Merlin

Co-founder & Director, Feix&Merlin

Lorraine Copes

CEO and Founder, Beinclusive Hospitality

Lorraine is a multi-award-winning social entrepreneur, hospitality consultant and life coach. Having spent two decades as an executive director for brands including Gordon Ramsay Restaurants and Corbin & King, Lorraine felt compelled to form Be Inclusive Hospitality CIC in 2020, due to the consistent lack of representation of people of colour in positions of influence, and the supply chain.
This social enterprise now holds the prime position of igniting the much-needed conversations, and delivering initiatives to advance change within hospitality, food, and drink sectors.
Her work has been featured in the Evening Standard, Metro, The Guardian, The Caterer and Big Hospitality.
Lorraine is a judge for Guild of Fine Foods Great Taste Awards, Bold Woman Awards UK, by Veuve Clicquot, Uber Eats Restaurant Awards, Purple Umbrella Awards and the British Guild of Beer Writers Awards.
In 2022 Lorraine was named the GQ Food & Drink Innovator of the year winner, she received a special award in the Code Hospitality 100 Most Influential Women in Hospitality list and won Entrepreneur of the Year at the Precious Awards. In 2023 Lorraine was named NatWest and Pioneers Post WISE100: Top women in social enterprise.
Be Inclusive Hospitality was recognised by NatWest’s SE100 last year, as one of the UK’s most impressive social enterprises.

Alexander Matthams

Senior Inclusive Design Consultant, Buro Happold

With over Eight years’ experience working in the built environment sector, Alexander Matthams is an inclusive design consultant and member of the National Register of Access Consultant (NRAC). He has worked across a range of projects in the built environment from residential homes to commercial offices to student residential and cultural institutions. Alexander has a wealth of experience supporting hotel developments, from supporting developments through planning to ensuring the design of the wheelchair accessible rooms and hoist rooms are usable and fit-for-purpose. He is passionate about people and creating better experiences for all within the built environment.

www.burohappold.com

Moderator - Harriet Forde

Founder, Harriet Forde Design

12:00 - 12:45

Room With a Point of View: The Umwelt Paradigm

Umwelt: The world as it is experienced by a particular organism. Everybody has a different way of seeing the world. We all inhabit our own sensory bubble, and bring our own ‘umwelt’ to each environment. But can the spaces we inhabit change us too? Do we shape them, or do they shape us? Join London studio Blacksheep as they explore the themes behind their HIX installation piece.

Toni Black

Interior Director & Partner, Blacksheep

Paul Mann

Brand & Creative Strategy Director & Partner, Blacksheep

Balkaran Bassan

Senior Design Lead, Blacksheep

Moderator - Hamish Kilburn

Editor, Hotel Designs

14:00 - 14:45

Studio Confidential: Tristan Auer x Festival of Hospitality

Go behind the scenes with one of Europe’s top design studios as acclaimed designer Tristan Auer and Managing Director Gaelle Rioualen discuss the ins and outs of running a world-leading practice. In line with the Festival of Hospitality theme ‘If:and:or:else’ exploring the power of design and operational choices, we get under the skin of what drives their decision making process and how this inspires and impacts their team, studio and projects.

Tristan Auer

Founder

Gaelle Rioualen

Managing Director, Tristan Auer

15:00 - 15:45

Room With a Point of View: Unfinished Works

Exploring their immersive HIX installation and the concepts that inspired it, MIXD looks five years into the future to ask what the future of hotel design holds. Drawing from experience, failure and success alike, founder Piotr Kalinowski addresses the changing face and values of luxury hospitality form and function.

Piotr Kalinowski

CEO & Design Director, MIXD

Moderator - Alys Bryan

Managing Editor, Design Insider

16:00 - 16:45

Keynote: Johannes Torpe

Designer. Musician. Leader. Visionary. From nightclub design and immersive dining experiences to sensory retail solutions for high-end brands, Johannes Torpe is a champion of unconventional design thinking. Hear the inside story of his design POV and how he applies this to major projects worldwide as part of this engaging keynote.

Johannes Torpe

Founder, Johannes Torpe Studios

As the founder and multidisciplinary designer behind Johannes Torpe Studios, Danish designer Johannes Torpe is an unconventional creative in every way imaginable. Guided by the belief that we do our best work when we pursue things that move us, he’s an advocate for an unrestrained and intuitive approach to design and life in general.

Born in 1973, Johannes left school at the age of 12 to play the drums and is completely self-taught as a creative practitioner. His curious and fearless attitude has made him a pioneer in the world of lifestyle, design and immersive branding experiences.

For over 20 years, he has helped clients building and strengthening their brands with thought-provoking solutions that cross the fields of interior design, branding, industrial design and architecture.

Having worked in most areas of the world, Johannes’ practice has achieved a universality that speaks for itself. His diverse portfolio reveals a fearless approach to the business of design. To him, creativity has never confined to one discipline nor one industry. This mindset allows him to share unique insights into the creative industries on both a personal and a professional level.

Johannes ́s relentless search for new ways of incorporating design that tells stories into people ́s lives ensures that his speeches leave the audience invigorated by fresh, unique insights into the creative industries on both a personal and a professional level.

Friday

11:00 - 11:45

Local Heroes: How hyperlocal hospitality is shaking up the neighbourhood

As hotels come to occupy increasingly close-knit communities, designers and operators are being asked to connect big brands with small locales. How can hospitality projects positively impact the locales they serve and contribute to a more responsible form of tourism?

Henry Reeve

Director of Interior Design, Intercontinental Hotels Group

Henry is Director of Interior Design for IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group). He is responsible for creating the interior design and guest experience across IHG’s hotels in Europe, with a particular focus on the company’s boutique and luxury lifestyle portfolio. Based in Windsor, he forms part of IHG’s Interior Design team.
Since joining IHG in January 2015, Henry has worked across some of IHG’s most celebrated and award winning design projects, including the launch of the first Kimpton® hotel outside of the Americas – Kimpton® De Witt in Amsterdam. He has led the teams responsible for the design of almost the entirety of the Hotel Indigo® estate across Europe, including the recently opened Hotel Indigo® Exeter, Hotel Indigo® Bath and Hotel Indigo® The Hague. As well as designing new hotels in IHG’s pipeline, Henry has worked on countless refurbishment projects across IHG’s existing hotels.
Before joining IHG, Henry was Associate Director at forpeople, a creative agency based in London. In this role, he won a highly competitive pitch to design the Next Generation Holiday Inn Express® room and public space design which has been rolled out across IHG’s Holiday Inn Express estate in Europe.
Henry studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bristol, followed by an MA in Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins. Over the course of his career, he has been a lecturer and agency creative working in a wide variety of sectors from automotive, events, retail, and consumer goods before dedicating his time to hospitality interior design.

Veerle Donders

Director of Brand & Concept, Zoku

Veerle Donders is Concept & Brand Director at Zoku, home-office hybrid that provides a home base for travelling professionals who are living and working in a city for periods from a few days to a few months. Zoku is an award-winning and forward-thinking hospitality brand with locations in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Vienna and Paris, named “One of the 25 Coolest Hotels in the World” by Forbes.

Veerle has been Involved with Zoku’s concept development, design, guest experience, branding and community strategy from the very early stages of Zoku’s development. She now focuses on the expansion of the Zoku DNA, concept and its design throughout its international rollout. Veerle graduated from Hotelschool The Hague, where she studied hotel management and joined Zoku in 2011.

Jonathan Ashmore

Founding Principal, Anarchitect

Jonathan Ashmore is the Founding Principal at RIBA Chartered Practice ANARCHITECT based in Dubai and London. A practicing architect and an active design critic, Jonathan is a post-graduate of London’s Bartlett School of Architecture, participant of the RIBA Gulf Chapter and a British Council Cultural Excellence Fellowship Mentor.

Ashmore won an international following of aesthete clientele and industry with his notably refined, progressive approach and contemporary aesthetics. With a signature style of translating architecture across diverse scales of design with superlative craft, detail and materiality, Ashmore, together with his team, consistently deliver projects at the crux of understated luxury and contextually modern architecture, regularly published in the global design press.

Marie Soliman-Berglund

Founder & Creative Director, Bergman Interiors

Marie Soliman, Founder and Creative Director of Bergman Design House and Njord by Bergman, and an award-winning designer with 20 years of design experience in the hospitality, commercial and residential sectors. Dubbed a “chameleon of design” by British GQ magazine, Marie’s vision stems from belief in the vital spark of adventurous souls willing to take risks and try and test new ideas in the service of creating fabulous and engaging experiences. her goal is always to bring fresh ideas to the fore, while revelling in — not fearing — the chaos of creation. A keen eye for the timeless and the well-crafted has guided me on journeys around the world to spearhead such globally recognised projects as The Other house Hotel South Kensington, The Other house Covent Garden, BXR London, NOR hotel Norway, and Eagle Lodge in Botswana, among others. Her latest projects are Scott’s, Wagumafia, GymKhana, and Sexy Fish, Galaxy, a 56m super yacht, and 130m superyacht with Ocean Co

Moderator - Eleanor Howard

Assistant Editor, Sleeper

12:00 - 12:45

Something Old, Something New: Adaptive reuse and the future of historic hospitality

With reports predicting that 90% of future developments will be conversions of existing buildings, all eyes are on the architects to balance historic form and contemporary function. Hear how some of the biggest adaptive reuse projects in the country were achieved, and discover what hospitality projects of the future can learn from buildings of the past.

Sebastian Ricard

Director, WilkinsonEyre

Sebastien has taken responsibility for various projects in the UK and internationally, including cultural, commercial, mixed-use and bridge projects. Recently he has been the director in charge of Battersea Power Station, the major restoration and repurposing of the iconic Grade II* listed Battersea Power Station. The project provides a mixture of uses, including residential, office, retail and entertainment, delivering successful placemaking and creating a campus-like quality.

Sebastien has led the design of a number of practice’s bridges, particularly in France, including the Salpetriere Bridge, Paris, a 19m wide pedestrian and cycle bridge, due for completion in 2023 and the Viaduc de la Savoureuse, completed in 2011. Sebastien’s experience in the international construction industry has led to consultancy roles on new infrastructure and cultural projects around the world.

He designed and delivered the Crystal building in London’s Royal Docks, a showcase of architectural sustainability and was designed to achieve BREEAM Outstanding and LEED Platinum. He also led the Bath Southgate transport interchange, the refurbishment of Grade II* listed Brunel building, a new bus station and a public piazza, including a series of retail units.

Ryan Butterfield

Associate Director, David Chipperfield Architects

Ryan Butterfield joined David Chipperfield Architects in 2009 after completing his architectural studies at Kingston University. He was made an Associate in 2019. Ryan has worked on several large-scale restoration and conversion projects in London including the Café Royal Hotel and the One Kensington Gardens residential development, as well as numerous competitions and studies. Ryan has a particular expertise in conservation and planning issues. He is currently project architect for the conversion of the former US Embassy building on Grosvenor Square into The Chancery Rosewood where he will oversee the project to completion.

James Twomey

Board Director, Reardonsmith

James is one of the most experienced architects currently practicing in London when it comes to the restoration and creation of luxury hotels.
He joined ReardonSmith in 1996 and after working on refurbishments of such cherished London hotels as Claridge’s and The Connaught, he assumed responsibility for many of the initial stages in the restoration of the Savoy, achieving planning and listed building consents for the design schemes. He then went on to direct the architectural team in the rebuilding of the Four Seasons Park Lane – the first time that the building had been entirely stripped back to its structure to facilitate a major upgrading of services, internal re-planning, and new extensions. Subsequently, James led the team handling interior design implementation at the Four Seasons hotel in St Petersburg, a former Imperial Palace, before returning to London to head up the project team creating The Beaumont in Mayfair. James also oversaw the design team in the restoration and multiple extension of the award-winning Adare Manor Golf Resort Hotel in Ireland.
Currently, James is principal in charge of leading the on-site conversion of the former American Embassy in London’s Grosvenor Square to into the new Chancery Rosewood Hotel, involving a huge feat of planning and engineering to realise the client’s vision and deliver the concepts of multiple world-class designers. Extensive new subterranean levels have been constructed and the existing building is to be opened up to Grosvenor Square and the surrounding streets. Anticipated to open in 2024, this hotel will set a new benchmark among the capital’s luxury hotels with its numerous event spaces, a double-height ballroom, a large spa, myriad dining destinations, retail and 139 guestrooms and suites. The ambition is to achieve BREEAM Excellent – the first time this will have been awarded in the UK to a hotel accommodated within a listed building.

Moderator - Alys Bryan

Managing Editor, Design Insider

13:00 - 13:45

Risk / Reward: Investing in hospitality innovation (Powered by The AHC)

Fortune favours the bold, but what’s the reality of bringing an innovate hospitality design to the market? This investment POV in collaboration with The Annual Hotel Conference weighs in on a slate of new concepts and asks what the smart money is on for hotel design’s next chapter.

Harry Harris

Managing Director, SUSD London

An architect by training and an entrepreneur in spirit, Harry Harris is a developer and advisor to investors active in the hospitality, co-living/coworking, senior living and residential sectors in London and further afield.

Harry had tremendous success as the developer of The Curtain Hotel in London’s Shoreditch. A new-build hotel, it was conceived as a response to contemporary lifestyles. The Curtain comprised hotel, restaurants, members club, coworking spaces and a rooftop bar and pool together with a strong focus on live performance and music curated to attract the neighbourhood artists and creatives. In 2018, just 18 months after The Curtain launched, Harry successfully sold the hotel to a company controlled by Reuben Brothers since when it has become the Mondrian Shoreditch.
Currently, Harry and his SUSD team are working with Cale Street Partners on the redevelopment of The Park Tower Hotel, Knightsbridge and The BoTree Marylebone, a luxury 220-guestroom hotel which will be opening this autumn. He has completed several co-living ventures with Cheyne Capital/The Collective and the latest development, in Maida Vale, is now on-site. In Fulham, another project completed by the SUSD team, luxury retirement apartments Riverstone Living, a Cheyne Capital/Goldman Sachs backed scheme, is receiving its first residents, and Harry and team have most recently been appointed on the Lazari Investments backed mixed-use redevelopment of Fenwicks of Bond Street.

Raphael Bihler

Senior Vice President, KSL Capital Partners

Raphael joined KSL in 2015, a global Travel & Leisure investment firm, and is a member of the firms international Private Equity team based in London. He has been involved in investments such as Beaumier, Zien Group, Third Space or Sereno Hotels.

Previously, Raphael was a member of Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking division in Frankfurt/London across various industries. Raphael holds an MBA from INSEAD in France/Singapore.

Maria Vafiadis

Founder & Managing Director, MKV Design

Maria is an established thought leader within the hospitality design world, admired for her roll call of exceptional and award-winning projects and respected for the value she brings to all her work. She is as confident in imagining large, imposing spaces as she is in creating cosy niches; whether designing the boldly contemporary or within the classical genre, she draws on location and cultural context to create something unique. An architect by training and an interior designer by choice, she combines visionary use of space with design that reaches out beyond trends, creating purposeful hotels and very special guest experiences.

Maria established MKV Design in London in 2000. Since then, she has cultivated a business which has worked in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Recent projects include: W Costa Navarino; Bürgenstock Resort; Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Budapest; and Athens Capital Centre Hotel – MGallery Collection, as well as a number of award-winning spas.

Lily Wecker

Development Director, EMEA, Mandarin Oriental

Lily is a Development Director responsible for new hotel and branded residence projects in Europe on behalf of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Previously, Lily was a VP of Investment and Hotel Realisation at Zetland Capital Partners, leading acquisitions and in charge of the management of 22+ hotels across Europe. Prior to Zetland, Lily was an Engagement Manager in the Real Estate and Private Equity practice at McKinsey & Company in London. Lily holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School.

Moderator - Joe Stather

Vice President & Market Leader, Operational Real Estate, Questex

14:00 - 14:45

Nomadland: How can hotels prepare for the future of work?

Following major shifts in work culture, hotels are looking to capitalise on a new wave of remote, freelance and nomadic workers with facilities that combine hospitality and office elements. What will this hybridised environment mean for the guest experience, and is a new design typology required to properly serve the next generation of workers?

Paul Dare

Head of Design - London, Morgan Lovell

Michelle Guss

Vice President, Hospitality, Crestron Electronics

Michelle Guss has been a part of Crestron since 2007, and currently serves as the global Vice President of Hospitality. Her role involves collaborating closely with Hoteliers, Hospitality design experts, Integrators, and esteemed Hotel brands. Working globally on some of the most prestigious hotel properties her ability to seamlessly connect experiences, people, properties, and technology is a major attribute. Michelle and her team deliver the most comprehensive technology solutions for hospitality projects around the world.

Notably, Michelle Guss is a distinguished Women in Consumer Technology Legacy Award honoree, recognized for her exceptional contributions to the field. She is also an esteemed board member of the International Luxury Hotel Association.

Minna Hurme

Head of Design, VALO Hotel & Work

Minna is Head of Design at VALO Hotel & Work. She has been developing Valo’s hybrid concept, brand and interior design for 5 years. She has also been responsible for designing and developing Valo’s unique convertible furniture.

VALO Hotel & Work is an innovative, multi-use space and digital service concept which enables true sustainable growth for real estate owners and operators, and also offers sustainable options for customers. Today, she is part of the development team which is currently searching for new locations for Valo in Finland and Europe.

Minna is a Master of Arts from Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, and she is passionate about creating new concepts related to sustainability and spaces with genuine feeling and experience.

Moderator - Kristofer Thomas

Head of Content, HIX

HIX TALKS

Thursday

11:00 - 11:45

12:00 - 12:45

14:00 - 14:45

15:00 - 15:45

16:00 - 16:45

Friday

11:00 - 11:45

12:00 - 12:45

13:00 - 13:45

14:00 - 14:45

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