"Through adaptive reuse and innovative design, old warehouses, factories and other forgotten structures are now being repurposed into vibrant hotels, injecting energy and vitality into urban landscapes"
- Pieter van Tilburg - CityHub
Last year, it was reported that office space vacancies in the US and London reached at least 20-year highs, owing to an ongoing slowdown in the office market due to higher borrowing costs and low occupancy.
Similar trends emerge for high-street retailers, particularly where shopping habits have accelerated from ‘bricks to clicks’, leaving rows of once-occupied shops in its wake. New and innovative uses have to be found for these spaces – one such solution is an expansion on ‘hotelification’.
While the pandemic necessitated remote work, in an effort to bring workers back to the office, companies have looked to reposition the traditional office environment as a high-end workspace with hotel-like amenities. It can be taken a step further to fully transform cities and renew these vacant spaces – why stop at making these spaces like hotels, when they can be turned into hotels?
Through adaptive reuse and innovative design, old warehouses, factories and other forgotten structures are now being repurposed into vibrant hotels, injecting energy and vitality into urban landscapes. These conversions can contribute to the revitalisation of neighbourhoods, attracting visitors and stimulating economic growth.
This new type of hotel construction also holds immense potential for significantly reducing the carbon footprint associated with traditional development. Sustainability is becoming a major driver for consumers with new research from Booking.com revealing that 60% of its users would feel better about staying in a particular accommodation if they knew it had a sustainable certification or label.
48% want to filter their options for those with a sustainable certification next time they book. With this in mind, the hotel industry has been forced to adapt to evolving consumer demands, especially to a new generation of mindful travellers who seek value, comfort and a vibrant social environment – all within their budget. Taking an existing building and converting it into a hotel not only supports an ongoing demand for filling vacant spaces but results in fewer emissions and requires fewer resources in the hotel-building process.
When repurposing and ‘hotelifying’ these urban spaces, the existing square footage should be used to maximum efficiency to allow for more rooms in the space, in order to drive revenue while minimising environmental impact. Through thoughtful design and innovative solutions, space can be made to accommodate more rooms without compromising guest comfort or sustainability.
Flexible furniture arrangements and multifunctional spaces, including communal but comfortable shared bathrooms, can optimise room functionality, allowing for adaptable use according to guest needs. Embracing modular construction techniques for room interiors enables rapid assembly and customisation, reducing construction waste and environmental impact.
CityHub, as an example, can at minimum double the number of rooms in the same space compared to a standard hotel. This contributes to its capability to drive 60% more revenue per square metre as well as a radical carbon footprint reduction of 89% per guest, compared to the European average. In an increasingly competitive landscape, showing both sustainable credentials and the ability to boost revenues is a significant advantage.
With so many vacant buildings in urban centres, “The Great Hotel Conversion Trend” takes ‘hotelification’ a step further in becoming the driving force behind reimaging and repurposing buildings to create a smarter hotel offering. When it comes to travel, the demands of the consumer have evolved considerably in the last few years, namely in wanting a hotel that is affordable and promotes sustainability while not compromising on design and luxury.
The transformation of previously vacant structures has immense potential to provide exactly what these consumers are looking for, through leveraging existing space efficiently and embracing sustainable design principles. It has the potential to revitalise the hospitality industry and redesign how urban city centres are structured, forever.
