Last month, ABDA Design brought its entire organisation together for a truly inspiring company day. These regular events are a key part of our calendar as we strive to have a strong and creative team who are constantly developing their knowledge. It’s all about focusing on our team’s development without the day-to-day pressure of projects. The event took place at newly renovated Vulcan Works on Guildhall Road in Northampton and this stylish , spacious building was the perfect backdrop for such an important day of learning.

Learning through comedy

The morning was full of humour as we brought in Dave Keeling from Laughology to run two inspiring and hilarious sessions focusing on FLIP IT Thinking and Boosting your Oomph. The Laughology model of learning and development improves performance and builds happy and effective organisations across business and education sectors. These light-hearted and energetic sessions had the team up on their feet and working creatively and collaboratively with practical techniques for changing mindset and boosting creativity.

Creative thinking

Following a healthy lunch and networking break to help improve our minds, it was back down to business as our director, Claire updated the team on how well the business is doing and gave everyone the chance to input on ways of working. It was then down to the marketing team to share their updates on PR, social media and overall marketing activity with lots of ideas on how the designers could input into this.

The team were encouraged to book their creativity days which every member of staff is entitled to. These are additional days off which allow everyone to enjoy a day that helps them to enhance creativeness. This could be doing anything from visiting a tourist attraction, spending a day with nature or learning a new skill; basically, it’s down to each team member to choose something that helps their own wellbeing and creativity.

Time for some competition

Whilst most of the day was about the whole team working together, we had an hour of company competitiveness. The organisation was split into two teams, and they went on a scavenger hunt around Northampton town centre. Cryptic clues were provided around particular destinations and both teams had to take a team photo outside each venue. This created some friendly rivalry as teams raced around the town visiting shops, museums, cheesemongers, florists and even a local brewery. Both teams did get some strange looks from members of the public as they were witnessed literally sprinting between venues.

After an action-packed day, it was time to unwind with some wine tasting at the V&B Bar with antipasti nibbles. Our thanks go to the whole team for their input into the day as these events are so valuable in improving the ways we work together and drive ABDA Design forward. Our next creativity event will be later in the year in Leeds so keep an eye on our social media channels to see what we get up to.

Due to an increase in workload, the ABDA Design team is delighted to welcome Tansin Blankley to its team. Working as an interior designer, Tansin, brings a wealth of enthusiasm, experience, knowledge and creativity to the team and we can’t wait to share some of her design work with you over the coming months.

As it’s her first few weeks in the role, we wanted to find out a little more about her.

What attracted to you working with the ABDA Design team?

ABDA has always interested me due to the teams’ creativity, their passion for the hospitality industry and their professionalism. I have always loved keeping up to date with the vast range of high-end projects portrayed on the website and social media. The team gets out and about a lot to help inform their creativity and this is something I can’t wait to get involved in!

Where did you study?

After school, I studied at De Montfort University completing a Foundation course in Art & Design before going to Nottingham Trent University to complete a BA Hons in Interior Architecture & Design. This was a four-year sandwich course with a placement year which helped me gain valuable experience in the industry.

What is your favourite type of hospitality venue to design?

I love designing a venue that requires a complete change of use; seeing the space transform into something completely different is great! One of my favourite parts of the design process is gaining an understanding of the tribe/demographic and creating a design narrative suitable for the space.

Describe your dream project.

I love getting involved with a project right from concept to completion. There’s nothing better than seeing your ideas come to life. I would love to design a space that is a go to destination that everyone wants to visit!

Tell us about something that’s happened in your career that you are particularly proud of.

Achieving a First-Class degree at university is something I’m very proud of. I’m also proud to be a working mum. The way the ABDA team have given me flexibility in my job has allowed me to maintain a great work-life balance.

Tell us your most effective ways of boosting your creativity.

I love to keep up-to-date with design exhibitions and events, but I also believe that design inspiration can be found in the most unusual places, and especially when you least expect it!

If you weren’t a designer, what other career options could you see yourself doing?

I’ve always been fascinated by psychology, and seeing how it sits in with design is really interesting. I often use psychology to inform my design process. Another career option would be a primary school teacher – I love setting up ‘tuff’ tray activities for my little boys.

Tell us about your favourite place to dine out.

In my opinion, you can’t beat a great Sunday lunch!

When you aren’t designing hospitality venues, how do you like to spend your spare time?

I spend the majority of my spare time with my two little boys who are aged one and four – they keep me very busy. My partner and I have also completely renovated our 1930’s house…six years later and we still like to re-design spaces when we get time. I also love to cook!

What’s your foodie guilty pleasure?

It has to be 90% dark chocolate!

You can learn more about ABDA Design and see the projects Tansin and the rest of the team work on by following our social media channels.

Over the last few months, it’s been inspiring to be back working on hotel designs and our team have been showcasing their creativity as we’ve focused on some exciting new client projects and pitches. Hotel design is something we love to create as you get to concentrate on different areas of hospitality from restaurants to receptions and bedrooms to banqueting space.

One of the key things to bear in mind when creating a hotel design is that people want an experience, something different to what they have at home. However, it does need to feel like somewhere they can relax and feel at ease, so we look at creating warm and inviting areas. When creating a full hotel design, a good food offering or bar area is important to drive additional sales for our clients. We want to ensure people choose to eat and drink within the hotel environment rather than go elsewhere to spend their money; a strong design can help with this.

 

Creating wow moments

With personal finances still being a challenge for many people, consumers are much more cautious about parting with their hard-earned money, so they are looking for that wow-factor and a memorable experience. Thinking about how we create those memorable first impressions is so important when we are looking at designing receptions, restaurants, bars and bedrooms.

When it comes to inspiration for a design, senior designer, Rachel Sheldon said: “At ABDA we like to take inspiration from the location or something that is significant to that area such as its history. The customer has selected this location or a particular hotel as their chosen destination for a reason and it’s good to take inspiration from the local surroundings, a meaningful story or the heritage of the venue and incorporate this into the design. I find that if the design has a story or identity behind it then it makes the whole scheme easier to develop as you work through each element of the hotel.”

In hotels either all bedrooms follow the same design, or you have bespoke or themed rooms which are all different. Both can work effectively and it needs to be specific to each hotel’s needs. Independent or boutique hotels tend to opt for rooms having their own design, but larger hotels or chains prefer consistency, so every customer knows what to expect and it’s easier for ongoing upkeep or maintenance.

 

There are five key things we consider with every hotel bedroom design:

• Sleep experience. We’ll explore how we can ensure that the guest will have a comfortable and quality night of sleep. Here we take into consideration things like lighting, noise, warmth, and location of the bed in relation to other furniture.
• Flexibility for different users. The room must function for all users whether it’s a single occupancy for a business trip or a family experience.
• Enough power supplies in practical locations. This is about the attention to detail such as the ability to charge phones from the bed, electrical supplies near mirrors for hair dryers and tea and coffee making equipment ready to use.
• Best use of space. To make the room feel as big as possible we try to retain as much flow space as we can but also ensure the room works ergonomically.
• Good wardrobe and storage space. This is particularly important for those people who are staying for longer visits and want to be able to unpack. Some designers don’t think about this practically and the space isn’t maximised.

 

The battle between functionality and aesthetics

A question we’ve been asked in the past is whether functionality or aesthetics is more important when designing a hotel bedroom. For the majority of people, aesthetics is the main driver of booking the room as you choose purely based on what you have seen online or in a brochure. However, as designers it’s key that we ensure the room design achieves both. Rachel added “We want to give the customer the best experience so the room should flow easily to each section but also work in a logical way. You still see so many hotel bedroom mirrors with no spare power sockets nearby. The majority of people need some form of appliance when getting ready for work or going out for the evening.”

To maintain a consistent design through all elements of a hotel we have to consider the big picture; from reception to restaurant and bar to bedrooms. You don’t want to create a grand entrance and then as you flow through the hotel the experience dissolves and by the time the user reaches the bedroom, it’s become quite underwhelming. We want to create impactful corridors and bedrooms to ensure the whole hotel is memorable.

 

Designing for trends?

Trends change so quickly, and people’s expectations adapt over time so ensuring a design has longevity isn’t easy. However, by creating something which has a story and links to the local area will help with lifespan of the design; this tends to be more important than a particular colour or material. We need to consider other factors such as the target demographic as this helps us to decide what finishes and colours are incorporated.

If you would like to learn more about our work on hotel design or see some of the designs we have created, please contact us via sales@abdadesign.co.uk or complete our enquiry form. You will also find inspiration on our Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/abdadesign/.