Last night, over 200 guests including professionals from hospitality, investment, design, brand, and development, gathered for the 10th annual Radical Innovation Awards at the New Museum in New York City.
Two professional finalists, Driftscape and Nesting, presented their concepts to a live audience. The Radical Innovation jury and audience posed questions designed to test the concept’s feasibility for future development, and following this question and answer session, audience members voted for the idea they felt had the power to change the hotel industry. HOK’s Toronto office, the creators of Driftscape, received the grand prize of $10,000 and the chance to have their idea further developed in the marketplace. Runner-up, Paris-based MM Architects Designers & Planners received a $5,000 prize for their concept Nesting, while the student winner, Juan Orduz of the University of Nevada Las Vegas was awarded $1,500 for his concept Space View Inn.
2016 GRAND PRIZE WINNER: DRIFTSCAPE
Submitted by HOK’s Toronto office | Canada
Inspired by the fundamental human urge to wander, HOK’s Toronto office designed Driftscape as a way to provide a fully immersive, significantly heightened guest experience. Driftscape is a mobile, self-sustaining hotel that, through the use of drone-technology, allows guests to touch down in diverse locations unattainable to traditional hotels. Driftscape hotels are comprised of modular units: the “Driftcraft,” an autonomous guestroom pod, and the “Oasis,” the amenity and service base. Each Driftcraft is designed to accommodate two guests, and support untethered excursions of 2-3 days before returning to the Oasis to be refreshed with necessary amenities.
“Driftscape meets growing market demand for authentic, immersive experiences with a concept that is entirely new and original,” John Hardy, CEO of The John Hardy Group and Founder of Radical Innovation. “The audience was won over not only by the romance of the idea, but the amount of research supporting its feasibility.”
2016 PROFESSIONAL RUNNER-UP: NESTING
Submitted by MM Architects Designers & Planners | France
Nesting is a hospitality concept that reimagines how we utilize urban parks and shared green spaces by forming a partnership between private and public entities. In response to rapid worldwide growth, MM Architects Designers & Planners were inspired to create a hotel concept that would play a unique and relevant role in tomorrow’s urbanity. Nesting’s modular structure is multi-functional, compact, light, and integrated, allowing it to be placed within a wide array of urban and green spaces.
2016 STUDENT WINNER: SPACE VIEW INN
Submitted by Juan Orduz, University of Nevada Las Vegas | USA
Juan Orduz is a graduate student at the University of Nevada Las Vegas pursuing a Master of Architecture degree with a concentration in Hospitality Design. Identifying the hospitality industry as key to private space development, Orduz designed Space View Inn to address the twofold design and operational obstacles of space travel. By adapting and building on current space architecture standards, Orduz designed Space View Inn to supports leisure and hospitality activities for up to 64 guests. The concept introduces a “Space Lottery,” intended not only to secure additional funding and offset the large costs of the project, but also allows space travel to be a more inclusive experience.
The event was co-produced by The John Hardy Group with support from founding sponsor Global Allies, official partner Sleeper magazine, and media partner Architizer. Special thanks to Moderator Tara Mastrelli (President, Studio Tano) and the 2016 Radical Innovation award designer Chris Hardy.
Radical Innovation Jury:
Michael Medzigian, CEO and Director, Carey Watermark Investors
Jena Thornton, LEED AP, Managing Director, Eagle Rock Ventures
Simon Turner, President, Global Development, Starwood Hotels
James Woods, COO, The Bowls
Wing T. Chao, Founding Principal, Wing T. Chao Architect
Claude Amar, President, The John Hardy Group International
About Radical Innovation
Radical Innovation challenges the hotel industry to elevate the guest experience by calling for new ideas in design and operations. Each year, submissions are received and reviewed by a jury of hotel insiders. Select finalists present their concepts in front of industry influencers and investors during a live event where the audience votes to determine the winner. Since its founding, Radical Innovation has awarded nearly $100,000 to progressive architectural and hospitality-minded thinkers. Radical Innovation is organized by leading hospitality development services firm The John Hardy Group.
About The John Hardy Group
The John Hardy Group is a strategic, transformational development services firm for investors and brands engaged in hospitality real estate. Leveraging its international expertise, the group delivers feasibility analysis, project management, development management, and construction management, as well as project accounting for capex, renovations, redevelopment, and new development for both individual deals and entire portfolios. JHG is recognized as the leader in providing creative solutions to complex building challenges, tapping its diverse team, using proprietary project research and planning, and specialized in-house software that tracks progress and budget conformance. The firm excels as a bridge between the ambition of its clients and project realization, having managed more than $6 billion in development-related assignments encompassing 870 hospitality projects in 35 countries. Offices are located in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Honolulu.