Searching for the next big hotel concept, the professional finalists for this year’s Radical Innovation in Hospitality Award have been unveiled. The winner will be chosen at an event at New York’s New Museum on 30 September.

Radical Innovation – which aims to discover and incubate new ideas that have the power to change the hotel industry – has announced the finalists chosen for its annual competition. Selected concepts Zoku and Snoozebox will be presented as a live pitch at the autumn event.

The New Museum is a leading destination for new art and new ideas, making it an ideal partner for a conversation about forward-thinking design and guest experience.

After being challenged by the jury that selected them out of 50 entries from 18 countries, a live audience will select just one idea with a final live vote. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 and the chance to have their idea realised.

“Every year, we challenge the hospitality industry to re-imagine the traditional hotel experience,” says John Hardy, CEO of The John Hardy Group and founder of the Radical Innovation competition. “This year’s fresh and provocative entries are ideas that could change the hotel industry within the short-term.”

The Student Winner will also be presented with their prize at the New Museum. In a new development for 2015, the selected student winner will be offered the chance to receive a two-year full scholarship to University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she will earn a Master’s Degree in Hospitality Design, valued at over $60,000.

The finalists for Radical Innovation 2015 are as follows:

Professional finalist: Snoozebox
Submitted by Ian O’Doherty, UK

A portable hotel concept that deploys 100 hotel rooms in 24 hours, Snoozebox delivers portable on-site event and festival hotel accommodation, letting guests stay close to the action. Custom trucks deliver premium rooms, which adapt internally to suit a range of customers, providing a day room and seven different en-suite sleeping configurations. Tessellation of space and form around custom folding mechanisms maximises guest space and allows rooms to compact by 50% during transportation.
www.snoozeboxhotel.co.uk

Professional finalist: Zoku
Submitted by Zoku, The Netherlands

Facilitating global living and working for the travelling professional, Zoku is a home-office hybrid, also suitable for long stays, with the services of a hotel and the social buzz of a thriving neighbourhood. Zoku will be a relaxed place to live, work and socialise with like-minded people while getting wired into the city. Currently in the final stages of development, Zoku Amsterdam is scheduled to open later in 2015.
www.livezoku.com

Student winner: Adaptive Balloons (pictured)
Submitted by Yasmin Abdelfattah Soliman, Effat University, Saudi Arabia

A disaster relief pop-up concept from Yasmin Abdelfattah Soliman, Adaptive Balloons is Radical Innovation’s student finalist. Adaptive Balloons is designed to offer a refuge for people who have been affected by natural disasters and crises around the planet. A pop-up concept that can be installed and removed as needed, the adaptive tree is prefabricated to be installed on land or in water. The main tree body is designed as a hollow skeleton used to generate energy through vertical wind turbines, and hosts inflatable ‘balloons’ made of vinyl skin on branches that extend outwards. The balloons act as living spaces for those affected.

All submissions were selected by an esteemed jury:
• Michael Medzigian, CEO & Director, Carey Watermark Investors
• Jena Thornton, Managing Director, Eagle Rock Ventures
• Simon Turner, President of Global Development, Starwood Hotels
• James Woods, COO, The Bowls
• Wing Chao, Founding Principal, Wing T. Chao Architect
• John Hardy, CEO, The John Hardy Group
• Claude Amar, Managing Director, John Hardy Group International

www.radicalinnovationaward.com