DESIGN
Imagination
INCUBATORS
Co-work spaces ( from top ): CitizenM
Glasgow ; AC Hotel Miami Aventura ; The
Curtain , London ; and at Nobu
Shoreditch , London
Do inspired spaces lead to inspired thoughts ? Championing this belief are lifestyle hotels that steer clear of stuffy boardrooms by balancing the sociability of lobby co-working areas with the privacy of individual offices in creatively designed breakout areas .
The Nobu Shoreditch hotel in London offers varying degrees of intimacy according to event size and type . Sliding shoji screens printed with Japanese-influenced designs enable 12 configurations and a lounge . Nearby , The Curtain Hotel and Members Club attracts Londoners and global creative entrepreneurs who often belong to the club versus renting separate offices . The Design Studio at The Curtain , a flexible meeting room for up to 150 people , is available for members ’ private events as well as those the club organizes . Eclectic seating , coffee tables and a rotating collection of members ’ art sets the tone for new ways of thinking . Harry Harris , managing director of SUSD , the creative development consultancy behind The Curtain , explains , “ The Design Studio is an incubator of ideas , a place where unimagined people meet and collaborate to launch businesses before engaging with the wider community .”
Mixing high-tech convenience with subtle , streamlined design inspired by the brand ’ s roots in Spain , the AC Library and AC Lounge at the AC Hotel Miami Aventura eliminate distractions so globetrotting professionals and creative entrepreneurs can focus . CitizenM hotels offer quieter alternatives to its buzzing lobbies via SocietyM rooms available for rent by guests and non-guests in nearly all its Dutch , U . K . and French properties . A decade-old vanguard of private conference spaces designed to inspire creativity , the brand ’ s pipeline into China , Malaysia , Denmark , France and the United States signals the further evolution of imaginative meeting spaces is on the horizon .— A . S .
40 hotelsmag . com June 2018