What’s hot in hotel construction?
Smart technology and savvy consumers are changing the way hotels are designed and built. Hotels need to be adaptable and flexible – and so do the teams constructing them, says Probuild.
Australia’s strong accommodation sector reflects both increased demand from domestic and international visitors, and historically low levels of new supply.
With such rosy fundamentals, it’s little wonder that 214 projects – and a total of 39,116 rooms – are in the pipeline until 2024. The majority of these are concentrated in capital cities. According to Deloitte, Melbourne has active hotel projects underway this year alone.
Meanwhile, international brands are making their first forays into the Australian market, with Ritz Carlton, W and Mandarin Oriental all making their debut appearances soon.
Matt Beveridge, Probuild’s construction director, works closely with clients and contractors to deliver hotels that are “optimised” to meet the demands of rapidly-evolving technology and consumer preferences.
“Adaptability and flexibility have never been more important principles in hotel construction – and that flexibility is central in every decision, right down to the rooms,” he says.
“Rooms need to be flexible enough to support the most up-to-date technology to remain relevant to consumers.”
Smart systems are increasingly important in hotel design, operations and the guest experience, and Beveridge points to a range of technologies – from network convergence to the Internet of Things – that will soon be business as usual.
“As IoT emerges we are likely to see further technological integration into the everyday, such as smart bathroom mirrors which can present information, like weather and traffic, as guests get ready for the day.
“As technology becomes smaller and flatter, dedicated nooks, recesses and joinery are becoming less relevant. Some hotels are encumbered by large built-in joinery elements that once housed DVD players or wall recesses that are too small for today’s TVs.
“Media is increasingly being consumed through handheld devices, so providing a comfortable and interesting place to sit and relax is starting to supplant TV-centric room arrangements.”
It’s not just interiors that are having to adapt. Beveridge says a hotel’s façade, once the property’s defining feature, is less important today to a hotel’s marketability and identity in an era where personalisation is the preference.
“The trend in hotel design is less focus on heroic building exteriors through big, gestural façades. Instead, the focus is to provide guests with a natural, tactile and human-centric sense of place within the interiors,” Beveridge says.
“While façade design needs to address the aesthetic and performance parameters of the building, it’s one of the areas that we look to challenge and rationale costs.”
Probuild is one of Australia’s most active hotel builders, with near 1,200 premium hotel rooms currently under construction.
Since completing its first hotel more than a decade ago, Probuild has delivered for some of the world’s biggest brands.
“Having worked with some of largest and best recognised hotel brands in the world, we know what is required to achieve the right level of amenity, while investing in more robust finishes to improve the longevity of the asset,” Beveridge concludes.
Learn more about Probuild and its capabilities in the hotel sector.