THINC Conference
It is essential for the architects of today to understand the needs and wants of the occupants of the environments we create. From this end point, and taking into consideration the scope and budget provided by our clients, we design spaces that cater to the occupants whose standards are high and are accustomed to expecting the extraordinary. In order for us to stay at the cutting edge of these trends, it is essential we are regularly communicating and collaborating with the major hotel groups and operators at the forefront of this process.
This is also a way for us to have the largest impact possible with our sustainable design philosophy. If we can influence these major developers and operators to consider and distinguish between the long term benefits of authentic, integrated and sustainable design features versus generic, green washing then perhaps sustainability will one day become standard.
Recently our director Charlie Hearn was invited to attend the THINC conference in Jakarta. We saw this as an opportunity to connect with the industry stakeholders and influence conversations which deliberate on the development and direction of the growing Indonesian hotel and tourism industry. Since its inception, the conference has been the platform for some of the most defining hospitality trends in this part of the world. Each year, THINC Indonesia brings together nearly 250 industry stakeholders, business leaders and key decision-makers from close to 15 nations.
Seminars and forums were attended by major operators from the hotel industry in Indonesia and internationally including; Intercontinental, Accor, Hilton and Potatohead among others. We were delighted to see a client of ours, Mr. Charles Brookfield from the Archipelago International Group received the Lifetime Achievement Award, Congrats Charles!
In summary the trends that were identified and considered worthy of cultivating were those of the hotel becoming a destination within itself, somewhere with a sense of place, where a unique and eclectic experience can occur. It was noted repeatedly that these ‘experiences’ were often required to be authentic, allowing the users experience something either cultural from the residing locality, or artistically driven from its design. This notion was further verified by representatives from the travel industry such as Booking.com etc who relayed to us that they receive requests for “experiences” over accommodation. From this endpoint we see it as the architect’s responsibility to design spaces that facilitate these experiences. It was also noted that the end-users, the hotel residents are more often equipped to distinguish between ‘greenwashing’ and real sustainability within a resort, therefore it was determined and recommended that the leaders in the industry ensure they are incorporating sustainability in the design and long term operation of the hotels. Overall, Inspiral was delighted to be facilitating and engaging in conversations that are in-line with our in-house philosophy.