Hospitality is an ever-changing segment with an immense requirement for innovation. Each new project demands a distinguished and renewed design thinking process. In an exclusive interview, Khozema Chitalwala, Principal Partner & Chief Architect, Designers Group shares design trends in the hospitality segment.

As you are a core hospitality design firm in India for over three decades, kindly share how design for the hotel industry has evolved over the years. 

With the overall evolution in architecture trends, the hospitality sector has also followed an organic trajectory over the years. The basic purpose of hospitality is no more to cater to tourism or business today; it rather inculcates leisure. Staying in a luxury hotel used to be something that can bring about a sense of pride and honour a couple of years ago but today, as people have become well-travelled, they look for set benchmarks wherever they go. From plain rudimentary structures, architecture has now grown into being sumptuous envelopes. Designers today have been taking into account a variety of forms and shapes whilst incorporating structures inspired by palatial architecture, contemporary minimalism and numerous other styles. They are also considering the fusion of modern and vernacular styles. The overall hospitality design philosophy today is flourishing while reaching aristocratic levels by encompassing international trends.

How did you and your wife get into this business? What are the challenges and the perks of being in this space?

At the very beginning of my career in architecture, I worked at Ar. Rusi Khambatta’s town-planning firm, where I got a hang of large-scale projects. Fortunately, Ar. Rusi Khambatta and Ar. Raja Aederi shared a common space for their studio. At the time, Ar. Raja Aederi was into hospitality projects, which is from where I started to develop an interest in hospitality design.

Since inception of Designers Group, my wife Sujata Chitalwala and I have always been keen on getting into the hospitality design sector. Therefore, we kept pitching for numerous hotel projects. We envisaged the sector to be challenging as hospitality is an ever-changing segment with an immense requirement for innovation. Each new project demands a distinguished and renewed design thinking process. 

I got my first break in hospitality in 1999. Although at this point in time, we had strongly put down our roots into other sectors that included retail, residential and commercial, winning a hospitality project felt like a dream come true. For the first time in life, I got to work with Hirsch Bedner, who has always been an inspiration for me and I got a chance to start my career in Hospitality with the venerable “Taj”. After the sense of happiness and satisfaction that came finishing this project,  Designers Group as a whole, including my wife and my team took a conscious decision to focus on this particular segment of design. I can now honestly say, this is the best decision I could have ever taken.

I personally believe that in a creative process when you have a passion for what you are doing, challenges are automatically minimised. There are numerous everyday challenges in handling an architecture and interior design practice but eventually, we enjoy it all. The affinity of me and my team towards our work vouches for our name in the industry. The aim is to put in the right energy towards all our endeavours. We believe that is what gets us  remarkable outcomes.  Through years of consistent effort and persistence, we are today working with innumerable prominent national and international hospitality brands which make us stand up to the specifications of the Indian and global market.

Kindly tell us about a few of the projects that you have completed. Which top three of the same stand out for you in terms of achievement in design?

In our core-hospitality career of around 20 years, we have successfully completed around 150-200 projects which include part renovation, greenfield, brownfield and other typologies. Designers Group has been associated with a niche clientele including Taj, Marriott, Sheraton, Hilton, Pride, Holiday Inn, Mahagun, Ramada, Park Plaza, Novotel, Hometel, Radisson, Heritage, Grand Mercure, Avadh, Regenta, Orchid, Golden Tulip, Fariyas, The Fern, Choice, 7 Apple, Fortune, Wow, Best Western, Imperial, Sarovar, Blossom and more. 

Some renowned completed projects include Devi Ratn- Jaipur, Radisson Hotel- Mumbai, Radisson Blu- Alibaug, Pride Plaza- Aerocity, Bellevue Sarovar Portico- Junagadh, Vivanta by Taj- Lucknow and Four points by Sheraton- Bangalore and Lucknow, Marriott- Surat.

Picking up a favourite project has always been difficult and felt prejudiced as we try to give our best in every project we are associated with. The idea is to evolve with the completion of each venture as it stimulates design thinking and the creative learning process. As a matter of fact, we vouch for guest compliments and the experience feedback which the client receives. For us, client satisfaction and appreciation are of utmost importance. 

But of course, my first hospitality project, with Taj President is close to my heart. At that point of time this opportunity looked like the stars aligning together and a long-lasting desire coming to reality. The feeling is still inexpressible. Also, the first project is always a learning process and is always the most memorable. This project also gave me an opportunity to understand how international architecture firms function as Hirsch Bedner Associates was involved in the project.

Sustainability in any project starts right at the beginning from the design brief, which aspects are being considered in the design element to ensure sustainability of resources such as light, electricity and energy?

Energy conservation is a major revenue bustler for a hospitality project. It is supposed to be an essential part of all typologies of projects. We try to give the best energy solutions in terms of light, electricity and HVAC with the help of their respective consultants. We need to understand that every product we plan to create will cause carbon footprints and it is our responsibility to balance out the same. We are currently working on many solar efficiency driven projects where quantums of solar energy is generated and consumed at the same time by the hotel property. The notion is to give guests an extraordinary experience while balancing out energy consumption.

How do you balance the owners expectations and creative freedom in design?

Over the years, with experience, we have learned how to balance the owner's expectations and creative freedom in design. In fact, it is not only the owner’s expectations, but it is also a concoction of expectations, our design satisfaction within the brand guidelines and most importantly, the budget that we need to work with. Everything is challengeable in this particular segment. A lot of projects are rebudgeted and resized, and the scope of work may change several times from the commencement of the project to finish. The crucial part is being creative enough to ensure that the brand value is not compromised while fulfilling the client’s brief. It is a process that we have learned over a period of ‘two’ decades. 

Kindly share few future trends in architecture and design of hotels that are coming up globally.

Experiential hospitality is going to be a significant future trend in the hospitality sector. Future trends will also definitely include all the ongoing trends like sustainability and energy conservation. In fact, these are likely to become more essential with the passage of time. We also envisage a travel section for hotels which will be called the 'business leisure' segment. This segment will cater to the patrons that travel for business and look for an extended stay for leisure. The idea is to deliver a space that feels like a home away from home for these guests. The whole concept will revolve around warmth and tranquillity. A congenial design scheme will be outlined for luxury/presidential suites so that the guest can savour upon a more luxurious and stylish yet homey spirit. 

Wellness is another attribute which will play a key role in the hospitality segment in the years to come. Guests tend to look at clinical hygiene when it comes to their safety today, which will be a major requirement in the future as well.             

Looking at the current pandemic situation, we envisage a work from home environment in the hotel rooms/suites as well. Technology will play a vital role where we plan on incorporating not only strong Wi-Fi networks but also other accessories and more advanced solutions for video conferencing and virtual meetings. 

The upcoming years might be more about designing timeless yet quirky and minimalistic functional spaces where the final design output is straightforward and easy to navigate.

Over the past two decades, we have gained tremendous experience while being associated with numerous hotel projects from resorts to business hotels to mid-segment brands. I strongly feel that there is significant potential in the market for the growth of Indian hotel brands to create a better identity for themselves.

What challenges has the pandemic and Coivid-19 enforced on the design fraternity?

The pandemic has definitely altered the way architecture and interior design is perceived. Apart from the slow down of projects, major alterations are being incorporated in design trends, where architects and interior designers have to follow the latest SOP’s enforced by the government. Technological advancements and user-interactive designs play a prominent role in refining design sensibilities.  From virtual meetings to remote working, the design process and operations have gone under conspicuous transformation due to the pandemic.

On the bright side, COVID-19 has made us realise the importance of human interface and we are learning to adopt a more collaborative as well as a digitalised way of working. I personally feel that the virus is here to stay. Our notion as a part of the fraternity today is to mitigate the challenge while flattening the curve As we cannot directly help terminate the pandemic, we should find solutions to the problems in order to curb this global menace and help the industry to retain at a better pace. 

How do you keep your team motivated and how has the work from home experience been for you?

Over a period of time, the DNA of Designers Group has been perforated into my team members and they have started enjoying hospitality projects just as I do. I feel my team leaders motivate their respective teams very well. Honestly,  I don't have to put in much effort in that area. 

Work from home has been a crucial process for us. Design is a segment where face to face human interaction is of utmost significance. As this interaction was eliminated from our operating system, we definitely faced major challenges. Fortunately, in the current scenario where technology has taken a lead in our lives, we were always connected through electronic mails and other cross-platform instant messaging applications like WhatsApp, Google meet and Zoom which aided in providing the ease of un-intervened communication. The most crucial challenge was the monitoring process where we could not scrutinize the efficiency of employees and comprehend the deliverables that were achieved.    But we have overcome much and adapted well over time.