Snoozebox announces comp winner
A team of three international architects from OHØYstudio in Norway; Eva Taucar, Klaus Madseen and Vincenzo Grosso, has been announced as the winner of a competition organised in a unique collaboration between portable hotel pioneers, Snoozebox, and Sleep, the hotel design event that can always be counted on to push the boundaries of innovative ideas.
The competition was conceived with the aim of discovering innovative new ways to utilise the Snoozebox format to create amazing bedrooms and living spaces for guests, and the winning design will be built and showcased at the Sleep event this November in London. Contestants were required to use desk, wall and floor surface products from Egger as well as switches, controls and electrical installation technology from ABB, show exhibitors that are sponsors of the Snoozebox competition.
“I was impressed with all of the entries, but there had to be a winner,” says Lorcán Ó Murchú, CEO of Snoozebox. “Well done Eva, Klaus and Vincenzo at OHØYstudio – simple, thoughtful and flexible, I look forward to bringing the concept to life.”
Entitled STAGEzzz, OHØYstudio’s winning entry will be developed and built using the Snoozebox format, with the result revealed at Sleep in November. The team’s concept was chosen as the winner due to its elegant yet uncomplicated solution that offers Snoozebox the ability to quickly reconfigure the space. The judges were struck by the subtlety and adaptability of its core design solution and praised the entry for its ability to combine pioneering spatial inventiveness with an innate practical simplicity that captures emerging design trends within the wider hotel market.
The Stagezzz submission explores just how many things can be done inside a box by taking away the usual elements and introducing a single piece of “super furniture” which functions as a stage that can host a variety of activities while, inside, storing folding furniture, linen, mattresses and luggage.
The opportunity to explore the farther reaches of adaptability in hotel room design and modern living caught the imaginations of architects and designers around the world. The judges were so impressed by a number of the submission that three entries were selected as runners-up. They are James Bishop, Ben Rumer and Lucia Bergamo of MR Partnership in London; Jakub Jan Surówka, Michał Matejczyk, Beata Mazur and Iza Tolko of the Kracow-based SUMA Architektów; and Filipino architect, Onginev T. Jiminez.
Onginev T. Jimenez’s solution centres on three movable walls to create seven spaces in his Transformer Hotel. The walls themselves can become a bed or a desk, they open to reveal furniture and storage, and they can create intimate living and dining areas. More than just a hotel concept, this is a space for temporary living.
SUMA Architektów’s proposal takes guest choice a step further. By means of an app, guests will be able to customise their room before they have even arrived. Play and Stay will mean that they can select options such as workspace or family space as well as the number of beds required. A simple system of connectors and versatile elements together with perforated internal walls will enable numerous permutations and make it quick and easy for Snoozebox staff to add the final personal touches.
Community is at the heart of MR Partnership’s Cinebox. This visionary entry takes Snoozebox into a new realm, part hotel accommodation, part cinema, by way of a huge flat screen TV that is housed internally within a media storage wall and which can be rotated to face outdoors. Conceived as either an individual component or in multiple storeys, Cinebox opens up the potential of balmy family summer evenings gathered outside around a favourite movie or a public gathering of people to watch screened events or maybe enjoy a film fest.
“I was inspired by how the entrants thought about how we might live in the future, optimising the use of space, technology and created some innovative room designs,” says Lorcán Ó Murchú. “As we expand into other sectors, I look forward to exploring some of these ideas with those who took part in the competition.”
Sleep will take place on Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. OHØYstudio’s winning Snoozebox entry will be sited in the forecourt, just outside the main entrance. Second placed concepts will be displayed and explored in a separate space within the structure.
Register now for your free ticket to Sleep 2015.
