Building Brand Loyalty Through Design
Stonehill Taylor, a hospitality-focused architecture and interior design practice, recently unveiled a dramatic new pop-up hotel concept, dubbed The IRUS. The award-winning project, which took home the grand prize at London’s iconic Sleep Set Competition, explores the relationship between design and brand loyalty, with an emphasis on creating one-of-a-kind guest experiences.
Rather than crafting an overly designed interior, the architects chose to create a “tool kit,” which is able to adapt to different lifestyles and cultures, allowing each guest to shape their own stay. It’s the perfect concept for a modular hotel room, which, once put into full production, could be readily deployed anywhere in the world. Even the name, IRUS, speaks to the project’s multi-cultural aspirations. “The concept derives its name from an abstraction of the word ‘IRIS,’ the part of the anatomy that gives our eyes color, and the notion of all of ‘US’ within the global community,” explained Vince Stroop, Principal of Stonehill Taylor.
Guests enter The IRUS through a wooden privacy screen, which resembles an abstract forest, and they emerge from this dense thicket into a world of their own. In contrast to the dark exterior, the interior is wide open and invites exploration. It is organized by only two fixed partitions: a curved wall of cork paneling and another screen element, made of metal drums suspended by crisscrossing black straps.
The drums are lined with colorful artwork by London-based graphic designers and serve a variety of diverse uses. They incorporate ample space for storage and the display of personal effects, as well as a built-in refrigerator, wine racks, and a wooden folding desk that doubles as a dining room table. Ingeniously, the strap system enables drums to be added, removed or reorganized as desired. This allows long-term guests to customize their space and ensures short-term guests never experience the same configuration twice.
The furnishings have also been designed with personalization in mind. Comfy leather poufs provide seating for up to four guests simultaneously and can be combined with rounded metal trays to form end tables and nightstands. In the center of the room is a Pangea-like bed, consisting of three large cushions held together by black straps, which can be rearranged to accommodate a wide array of sleeping positions and body types. The space is illuminated overhead by bulbous LED light fixtures, which can be suspended from a number of different ceiling hooks, thanks to their extra-long, exposed power cords.
At the perimeter of the space, a velvet curtain flows down from the ceiling like a waterfall, offering flexible degrees of privacy. When not in use, this curtain can be tucked away neatly into a pocket in the cork-paneled wall. Though not as bold as the wall of metal drums, the cork wall also serves multiple functions, softening the acoustics of the small space and providing a neutral backdrop for guest experiences.
The cork wall also conceals a cleverly deconstructed bathroom. The curvature of the wall opens up the corner of the hotel room to make space for a wall-less shower, situated under a ceiling-mounted rain head fixture. The sink, which is carved from a solid block of white marble, occupies a vanity niche built into the rear of the wall. Finally, inside the wall is a water closet equipped with minimalist Kohler fixtures. Here, the muted color scheme gives way to bold blue wall tiles which bring to mind the ocean.
“The IRUS reflects and draws from a multi-cultural wealth of inspiration that is meant to honor the environment, embrace globalization, respect cultural differences and create a unique experience regardless of user or location,” said Stroop, “And, to underscore the approach of building an engaged world community, The IRUS has been designed in New York, was hand crafted in Istanbul and debuted in London.”
Project Specifications: Artwork: Double Decker London and Newmor Wallcoverings; Bathroom fixtures: Kohler; Casework and furnishings: Yapiarti, Cork paneling: To Market; Leather upholstery: Tiger Leather; LED Lighting: LEDS-C4; Porcelain floor tiles: Kale Company; Textiles: Loloey and The ROMO Group
