Radical Innovation, the annual programme to find hospitality concepts with the power to change the industry, has revealed the finalists for its 2021 edition.
The finalists – Arno Matis Architecture, Ocean Builders and Indidesign – will now go head to head to determine the US$10,000 grand-prize winner, decided by an audience vote during a virtual event later this year.
Selected from nearly 80 entries submitted from more than 30 different countries, the finalists have been assessed by a panel of hospitality and design experts on the merits of their creative vision, design, feasibility and potential impact.
The judging panel included Claude Amar, Managing Director, The Hardy Group International; Ellen Brown, EVP, Fulcrum Hospitality; Mark Friesen, Principal, Beyer Brown & Assoc.; John Hardy, President/CEO, The Hardy Group; Michael Medzigian, Chairman & Managing Partner, Watermark Lodging Trust; Jena Thornton, Principal, Hospitality, Kinzer Partners; Simon Turner, Managing Director, Alpha Lodging Partners; and James Woods, WeWork Capital Advisors.
In addition to the professional concept finalists, Radical Innovation has named Di Lu from Southwest University of Science & Technology in China as winner in the product category; his entries include a vase-like tissue box and innovative plate that incorporates a niche for soy sauce.
In the student category, two finalists have been announced: Game Hotel by Abdullina Adelina, from Kazan State University of Architecture & Engineering in Russia, is a hospitality concept for gamers offering guests the opportunity to experience another world using virtual and augmented reality, while Innsert by Vladislav Krayushkin, also of Kazan State University of Architecture & Engineering, proposes to make use of obsolete gaps and alleyways between buildings through the creation of hospitality spaces. Both students will be invited to explain their designs alongside the professional finalists.
Since its founding in 2006, Radical Innovation has awarded nearly US$200,000 to creative talents who push the boundaries, and through its new Radical Labs division, will work with submitters to bring their ideas to reality.
Radical Innovation is produced by The Hardy Group with support from UNLV School of Architecture, the University of Illinois School of Architecture, NYU Centre of Hospitality, and media partner Sleeper.
BioFrame | Arno Matis Architecture | Canada
Conceived by Vancouver-based Arno Matis Architecture, BioFrame is described as an architectural prosthetic that upgrades existing buildings through a modular clip-on frame designed to improve sustainable performance and structural capacity. The mass-timber hybrid structure is lightweight and prefabricated allowing for quick assembly, and promotes the adaptive re-use of ageing buildings rather than demolition. BioFrame not only improves a building’s visual appearance, it also increases natural light, greenery and fresh air through extra outdoor space on every floor. The additional space could be used by hotels as balconies to guestrooms and suites or a terrace for the restaurant, thus improving the wellbeing experience for visitors.
Float With Us | Ocean Builders | Panama
Following extensive research and development, Ocean Builders have created Float With Us, an oceanfront living concept made up of SeaPods that allow people to experience living on water. Perched 7.5ft above the waves and constructed from a fibreglass shell atop a steel and concrete foundation, the pods offer 800ft2 of living space across 2.5 floors and comprise a master bedroom, spacious bathroom, kitchen, lounge and patio. Having successfully trialled the concept off the coast of Thailand – where the structures also served to restore a marine ecosystem beneath the waves – the first SeaPod community is under construction at Linton Bay Marina in northern Panama and is expected to debut later this year.
Waterlust | Indidesign| USA
Waterlust by LA-based Indidesign is a scalable, eco-sensitive resort that floats on water, with guests guided by the idea of exploration, free from the constraints and limitations of a permanent structure. The individual units feature pointed roofs for architectural interest, and each houses a hotel suite or facilities such as a dining space or spa, with interiors described as compact yet well equipped. The structures are grouped in clusters that, similar to the floating markets of Southeast Asia, are connected by buoyant platforms with additional outdoor space designed to enhance connection with the setting and re-energise mind, body and soul.
