FRIEZE NEW YORK 2013
INTERNATIONAL HOME + HOUSEWARES SHOW 2013
TOKYO DESIGN WEEK 2012
BEIJING DESIGN WEEK 2012
Posted by Dave Seliger | 6 Sep 2011
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Comments (7)
Continuum in conjunction with ai3 recently redesigned Holiday Inn's main lobby into a "social hub." Taking the best elements from cafés, bars and other social atmospheres, the new look really moves away from that Pitbull song and towards something a bit more Apple-meets-your-favorite-chic-local-restaurant. Holiday Inn is expected to outfit their hotels with the new space in 2013.
The most interesting part of the story, though, is what happened behind the scenes: Continuum took over a warehouse and used 800 foam core sheets to construct a life-sized prototype of the lobby. This is what prototyping is all about!
Image courtesy of Kristyn Hill
Comments
Although I like the idea of a giant prototype, I'm concerned about the huge waste of material.
Making some renders or a video would be faster and better for the environment.
^ couldn't agree more. what a massive waste of 800! sheets of core. correct me if i'm wrong but i never thought foam core was very eco.
@Mario and tanuki - Very good point. Are there any prototyping materials that *are* more eco friendly? I still think creating a physical prototype of an environment is a very different experience than just doing renders, though.
@Mario and tanuki, I could not agree more. 800 sheets of foam core for a hotel lobby mock-up seems insane. Does anyone know what standard practice is for interior designers? Foam core seems so so ID, but interior folks must have another (better?) solution...
Maybe they'll reuse the foam core for their next project--reusing is even better than recycling. Would be a shame if it all went in the dumpster, definitely.
Building in foam-core has a much smaller impact on the environment then building the real thing--plywood, sheetrock, tile, glass-- and throwing that away. When you are designing for something to be rolled out to over 2000 locations, you have to get it right. We used this mockup to rehearse the service scripting. It was not just about building it to see what it looks like. We needed to make sure it worked from an employee and guest point of view. We actually used this as an iterative tool as well. There were three different evolutions of the concept that we created using all of the same pieces. It saved time and resources in the long run.
Also, 90% of the foam-core is re-used for our other projects or donated to schools.
But...if anyone knows of a more eco-friendly material that is as light, easy to modify and white. We would love to find out more.
@Craig LaRosa: I can't agree more. I am an airplane interior designer and used to work in the architecture field. We used to make our mock-ups out of even more wasteful and environmentally harmful materials than foamcore. If what we design is an experience, rather than looks, then the need for a real-life space is paramount. I hate it when people think 3D renderings simply achieve the same thing. This seems like a project that deserves a real-life mock-up, if the objective is to have service rehearsals and to have franchisees come in and buy into the vision, then you're doing absolutely the right thing. @Carly, Mario, Tanuki, Foamcore is definitely an Architecture thing, those ID people stole it from us :D