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Dezeen promotion: a Foster + Partners hotel in Saudi Arabia and a series of private bungalows in Mozambique that celebrate African minimalism are among the hotels celebrated in the 2021 edition of the AHEAD MEA awards. More
Architecture and design studio The DHaus Company has overhauled The Bull and Last pub in north London, adding boutique hotel rooms and a pair of Japanese-inspired duplex flats. More
HomeForest, an app that uses smart devices to bring the restorative effects of nature into the home, has been named as the winner of the inaugural Davidson Prize. More
American interior designer Kelly Wearstler has designed a virtual garage in the desert that she imagines housing basketball player LeBron James’ electric Hummer. More
The winners of the AHEAD Global hospitality awards describe how the programme has brought the industry together during the coronavirus pandemic in this video produced by Dezeen for AHEAD.The AHEAD Global awards, which celebrate striking hospitality projects from around the world, announced its winners in a livestream that was broadcast on Dezeen in December.
The event was the culmination of a two-year programme of events split into four different regions: Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia and the Americas.
Dexamenes Seaside Hotel by K-studio, winner of the AHEAD Global Ultimate Accolade
Throughout last year, the physical ceremonies that AHEAD usually hosts to announce the winners were replaced by a series of live-streamed versions broadcast on Dezeen in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s a massive wealth of diversity within the hospitality industry across the globe,” says AHEAD’s Amy Wright in the video.
“AHEAD global brings together the winners of all the regions from across two years to compete to be the best of the best,” she said.
AHEAD Global ultimate winner offers “meaningful luxury” in a converted wine factory
According to the winners, the awards programme has offered hoteliers and hotel designers a sense of community while the hospitality industry struggled in the face of the global travel restrictions put in place to combat the spread of Covid-19.
“Ahead awards brings the industry together,” said Amar Lalvani, CEO of Standard International, whose Standard Hotel in London won the Social Scene Award.
“In the year of the pandemic when people are so far apart, to bring industry people together and recognise the hard work that our teams do to bring projects to life means more now than it ever did,” he continued.
The Standard Hotel in London won the Social Scene Award
Dexamenes Seaside Hotel in Greece took home the AHEAD Global Ultimate Accolade, the most significant award of the event.
The project is a conversion of an abandoned wine factory on the Peloponnese coastline by Athens-based practice K-studio, and makes use of the industrial character of the site.
“Dexamenes is a wonderful example of the creative reuse and regeneration of a derelict building,” said Wright. “It’s a perfect example of what hoteliers can and should be doing more.”
Dexamenes Seaside Hotel by K-studio, winner of the AHEAD Global Ultimate Accolade
Amongst the other projects commended at the event was Amanyangyun, a resort hotel in Shanghai designed by Kerry Hill Architects and winner of the Regeneration Award.
Amanyangyun incorporates 10,000 Camphor trees as well as 50 historic buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties that were transported 600 kilometres from a site where they were under threat from the construction of a new dam.
“The ambition and foresight is special,” said Tanuj Goenka, director of Kerry Hill Architects. “This doesn’t happen very often.”
Amanyangyun, a resort hotel in Shanghai designed by Kerry Hill Architects, won the Regeneration Award
The Wild Coast Tented Lodge in Sri Lanka won The Gamechanger Award, an accolade given to a project that challenges established norms in the hospitality industry.
Its dome-like dwellings were designed to mimic rocky outcrops scattered across the local landscape.
“It celebrates the flora and fauna and culture of the area with minimal intrusion in the natural landscape,” said Olav Bruin, creative director at Nomadic Resorts.
The Wild Coast Tented Lodge in Sri Lanka won The Gamechanger Award
Omaanda, a boutique lodge in Namibia constructed using local building methods, took home the Rural Retreat Award.
“We have chosen to go with the concept of rounded huts with thatched roofs the way the local Owambo tribe has been building their houses for years and years” explained Arnaud Zannier, founder of Zannier Hotels.
The Omaanga lodge in Namibia by Zannier Hotels won the Rural Retreat Award
Kelly Wearstler’s design for Santa Monica Proper Hotel in the USA won the project the People’s Choice Award.
The 271-room boutique hotel makes use of natural materials, neutral colours and vintage furniture to create a sensory experience that references Santa Monica’s beachside identity.
“Santa Monica Proper was really meant to introduce a looser kind of luxury to the city,” said Patrick Pahlke, commercial vice president of Proper Hospitality.
“Using Santa Monica as a muse, our designer Kelly Wearstler took most of her cues from classic Santa Monica history with a design-forward sense of luxury.”
The People’s Choice Award went to Kelly Wearstler’s Santa Monica Proper Hotel
The Urban Award was given to Rosewood Bangkok, a 159-room, 30-floor tower with an angular form based on the Thai custom of pressing one’s hands together in greeting.
“The atmosphere is very contemporary – timeless, I would say,” stated Michael Kaesemann, executive assistant manager of rooms at the hotel.
Rosewood Bangkok in Thailand won the Urban Award
The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland, a spa resort embedded amongst blue geothermal pools and moss-covered lava fields, won the Sanctuary Award.
The hotel’s designers brought the features of its otherworldly natural surroundings into the building, using lava as a building material and prioritising views of the landscape throughout.
“The key characteristic of The Retreat at Blue Lagoon is this relationship between the man-made, the building, the interior and exterior, the nature,” said Design Group Italia chief design officer Sigurdur Thorsteinsson.
“The whole project evolved around how to get the feeling of nature flowing into the building.”
The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland won the Sanctuary Award
The Beachfront Beauty Award went to Asbury Ocean Club, a seaside hotel located 70 minutes’ drive from New York on the Jersey Shore.
The hotel occupies the fourth floor of a residential tower, with rooms that look out over a garden sculpted to resemble sand dunes.
“Though it is on the fourth floor of a building, we manage to make believe that this whole place is hidden in the dunes next to the ocean,” explained its designer Anda Andrei.
Anda Andrei’s Asbury Ocean Club won the Beachfront Beauty Award
In March last year, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Asia 2020 awards, after the physical event was called off following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The winners of the AHEAD Americas 2020 awards were streamed in June 2020 as part of Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival. In November, Dezeen broadcast ceremonies announcing winners of the MEA and Europe legs of the competition.
This video was produced by Dezeen for AHEAD as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here. Images courtesy of AHEAD.
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AHEAD is announcing the best new hotel designs in Europe today, in a video ceremony broadcast by Dezeen for the hospitality awards programme.
The ceremony will be broadcast in two parts from 6:00pm UK time and can be viewed in order below. The most recent part of the ceremony is also included at the top of this story.
The event is hosted by Sleeper Magazine’s editor-at-large Guy Dittrich and will feature exclusive video content from the AHEAD nominees, as well as from the judges and sponsors of the awards programme.
AHEAD Middle East and Africa 2020 awards winners announced in video ceremony on Dezeen
The AHEAD awards celebrate striking hospitality projects from across the world and is split into four different regions: Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia and the Americas.
The 2020 Europe leg of the competition will review projects that have opened, reopened or launched in the continent between June 2019 and May this year.
Last week, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD MEA awards 2020.
Dezeen also broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Americas awards winners 2020 as part of Virtual Design Festival in June this year.
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AHEAD Europe 2020 – part one6:00pm UK time
In the first part of the ceremony, the winners will be announced for categories including Bar, Club or Lounge, Guestrooms, Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces, Renovation & Restoration, Conversion, Resort, Spa & Wellness and Lobby & Public Spaces.
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AHEAD Europe 2020 – part two7:00pm UK time
The second part of the ceremony will see the winners of the Newbuild, Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps, Restaurant, Suite, Visual Identity and New Concept categories, and the AHEAD Europe Hotel of the Year will be revealed.
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AHEAD is announcing the best new hotel designs in the Middle East and Africa region today, in a video ceremony broadcast by Dezeen for the hospitality awards programme.The ceremony will be broadcast in two parts from 2:00pm Dubai time, which is 12:00pm South Africa time and 10:00am UK time, and can be viewed in order below. The most recent part of the ceremony is also included at the top of this story.
The event is hosted by Sleeper Magazine’s editor-at-large Guy Dittrich, and will feature exclusive video content from the AHEAD nominees, as well as from the judges and sponsors of the awards programme.
The AHEAD awards celebrate striking hospitality projects from across the world and is split into four different regions: Middle East and Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.
The 2020 Middle East and Africa leg of the competition will review projects that have opened, reopened or launched in the continent between January 2019 and February of this year.
In June this year, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Americas awards winners 2020 as part of Virtual Design Festival.
Dezeen also broadcast a ceremony in March announcing the winners of the Asia leg of the competition.
[embedded content]
AHEAD MEA 2020 – part one2:00pm Dubai time / 12:00pm South Africa time / 10:00am UK time
In the first part of the ceremony, the winners will be announced for categories including Bar, Club or Lounge, Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces, Renovation, Restoration & Conversion, Spa & Wellness, Guestrooms, Lobby & Public Spaces, Hotel Newbuild and Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps.
[embedded content]
AHEAD MEA 2020 – part two3:00pm Dubai time / 1:00pm South Africa time / 11:00am UK time
The second part of the ceremony will see the winners of the Resort, Suite, Restaurant, New Concept and Visual Identity categories, and the AHEAD MEA Hotel of the Year will be revealed.
Read more: More
American designer Kelly Wearstler describes how she worked with local artisans and artists on the Santa Monica Proper Hotel in this video produced by Dezeen for the AHEAD Awards.Wearstler is the designer of Santa Monica Proper Hotel, a 271-room boutique hotel seven blocks away from the beach in Santa Monica, California.
American interior designer Kelly Wearstler designed the Santa Monica Proper Hotel
The project was named Hotel of the Year at the 2020 AHEAD Americas hospitality awards, as well as winner of the Guestrooms and Lobby & Public Spaces categories.
The Californian interior designer, who has appeared as a judge on the Bravo reality show Top Design and designed homes for celebrities including Cameron Diaz and Gwen Stefani, described the hotel as “fiercely local” in an exclusive interview filmed by Dezeen.
Santa Monica Proper Hotel was named Hotel of the Year at the AHEAD Americas awards 2020
“We wanted to design a hotel where it felt like you’re in Santa Monica,” she said. “The inspiration came from everything that surrounds the hotel, the palm trees, the organic nature of the architecture, everything that you would find at the beach.”
Natural and heavily textured materials, neutral colours and vintage furniture are used throughout the hotel to create a sensory experience that references Santa Monica’s beachside identity.
Kelly Wearstler designs relaxed and beachy Santa Monica Proper hotel
“There is a connection of materiality that speaks to the location” said Wearstler. “Organic materials, neutral colour stories, everything has a texture.”
“There’s a patina, there’s a hand, there’s something that feels very warm.”
The hotel also won in the Guestrooms and Lobby & Public Spaces categories
Santa Monica Proper Hotel is filled with artworks and furniture pieces created specifically for the property by local artists and artisans.
“Everything’s connected to somebody that is local in the city,” Wearstler said. “We’re so lucky to be in Los Angeles, the talent pool here is extraordinary.”
The site comprises an historic 1920s building and a new curvilinear extension
The site consists of the 1920s Santa Monica Professional Building, to which an extension by local firm Howard Laks Architects was added.
“There’s an historic building that was built in 1928, in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, and then there’s a new contemporary building,” explained Wearstler. “We had to connect these two buildings with one voice.”
Kelly Wearstler furnishes San Francisco Proper hotel with vintage European design
“The atmosphere is something that’s just very relaxed,” the designer asserted. “When you come to California, it’s just super relaxed and it’s friendly, and there is a sense of style – it’s just cool. We can connect you to that coming to Santa Monica Proper.”
The hotel is the latest in the Proper brand, which was founded by Wearstler’s developer husband Brad Korzen alongside hotelier Brian De Lowe, following the San Francisco Proper which Wearstler also designed.
Wearstler collaborated with local artists and artisans to furnish Santa Monica Proper Hotel
Previous hospitality collaborations from Wearstler and Korzen include the Tides hotel in South Beach, Florida, the Avalon and Maison 140 hotels in Beverly Hills, and hotels for the Viceroy brand in Miami, Palm Springs and Santa Monica.
This year’s AHEAD Americas awards were shown in a video ceremony as part of Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival after the event was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic. Previous winners of the Hotel of the Year award include the opulent Siren Hotel in Detroit and the Calistoga Motor Lodge and Spa, a renovated motel in California.
Natural materials and neutral colours reference the hotel’s beachside location
This video was produced by Dezeen for AHEAD. Photography is by The Ingalls and Matthieu Salvaing.
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