Hospitality lighting should leave a lasting impression, creating an emotional connection between a brand and a guest. As the lines between work and leisure blur in hotels – and technology unlocks new ways to enhance the guest experience – lighting design is adapting to this evolving landscape.
Our panel of industry experts gathered to discuss these shifts. Has the move toward multifunctional spaces resulted in overbearing technology and unintuitive lighting schemes ? Are we heading toward a future without reception desks, key cards, or light switches – embracing hyper-digitalisation? And is AI the inevitable future of hospitality, or will the luxury sector carve out a different path by offering a digital detox?
Blurring boundaries in hospitality design.
The demand for multipurpose spaces has added a new dimension to hospitality design.
Kathryn Hardy from Jones Lang LaSalle opened the discussion, noting how “the pandemic shifted people’s expectations around travel, putting a greater emphasis on contactless technology and a blended approach to design”.
Ricardo Moreira from XCO2 agreed, “COVID-19 accelerated trends that were already in motion, particularly the growth of global nomads. The pandemic democratised the possibilities and prompted a move to settings centred around travel, work and living that are mixed and informal”.
Glenn Huskie from The Artizan Group highlighted the impact of community-driven spaces. “People are choosing to travel for work and stay on for a few days. Lobbies are no longer just lobbies, and we’ve moved away from desks in guest rooms in favour of multitasking tables”.
Nathmya Saffarini from HKS expanded on the rise of mixed-use spaces, pointing to how the retail sector paved the way with flexible retail units that transition to cafés or nightclubs in the evening. She highlighted the role that light plays in mixed use environments. “You can’t change the furniture easily, but you can use warm or colourful lighting to turn a space into something completely different”.
The complexities of guest room lighting.
The focus on flexible spaces led the panel to consider whether hotel lighting has become overly complicated.
Is technology and multi-functionality in hotels at risk of diluting the intended experience for guests? Getaway, relaxation, home away from home…
Kathryn Hardy highlighted that we need to consider the emotions of a space and how not being able to control the lighting in a guest room is a common frustration to the hotel guest. “We need to be mindful of not over-engineering the lighting whilst retaining a clear sense of multifunctional purpose.”
Glenn Huskie echoed this point, “If a guest needs to spend 5-10 minutes turning a side light off, that isn’t a great experience. Good design is sometimes about keeping it simple and personalised. Whilst a digital lighting system allows you to control the entire experience, some people still crave an analogue reference.”
Ricardo Moreira posed that an effective solution for guest rooms could be one where everything is hard wired together, with a dimming capacity that allows guests to dictate the mood they want. “Our objective should be to make guest controls intuitive, so that guests can operate them effectively.”
Daniel Blaker Creative director at Nulty+ agreed, “Finding the sweet spot between simple user interface and something intuitive isn’t easy to get right, especially when you are trying to measure all this up against the expectations of the client – trying to redact out elements of the lighting later on when cost becomes an issue is tricky, so we need to be clear from the outset that intuitive systems need a good engine behind them.”
Oli Morgan from Blend Technology Consultants stressed that getting the lighting right at the start of a project is paramount. “Regardless of whether the system includes simplified scenes or a tablet with advanced controls, if it hasn’t been considered from end-to-end, it’s hard to get the implementation right. Especially when projects don’t have a lighting designer who is prepared to go through the details, and an MEP who understands the integration process.”
Simon Berry from Nulty questioned whether AI-generated lighting might have a role to play by reading the room and tracking the movement of people as they interact with their surroundings. “Control systems don’t have the intelligence to elevate a space yet, but this might solve the issue of unintuitive lighting in the future.”
Harnessing technology can elevate the guest experience.
The theme of AI steered the conversation to the need for brands to retain a sense of identity in an increasingly tech-driven world.
Mark Gilhawley from MGAC acknowledged that, “Whilst hotels are naturally becoming more reliant on technology, guests do still want the human interaction of the reception desk”. He suggested that there is a risk that technology and personalisation might go too far because people still need an element of human touch.
“No matter what star level the hotel is, the first thing you want when you walk through the door is to be greeted by someone and treated like a guest”, added Glenn Huskie. “Although AI and WhatsApp are moving us towards absolute personalisation, and this is an interaction of sorts, we should not forget the importance of human interaction.”
Daniel Blaker picked up the human vs technology thread. “Now everyone has the capacity to work from anywhere in the world, this has created a tension between the accessibility of technology and the desire for one-to-one interaction. If a person is sat in the lobby on a call, they are probably there because they want to be surrounded by an ambient level of humanity”.
Kathryn Hardy argued that the hospitality sector is robust because of the fact it relies on a level of human experience. “Retailers are following in the footsteps of hospitality brands, because they have demonstrated how a personal touch combined with responding to customer needs is the key to curating a successful experience.”
Nathmya Saffarini agreed, “The high street failed because it took a cookie cutter approach that failed to consider brand identity and authenticity. Hotel brands are forging a different path, bringing the local culture into their properties to create a sense of community, while prioritising social impact and ESG.”
Oli Morgan concluded that community is becoming more important to people, providing the example of how flexible spatial elements such as galleries have become a way for brands to cultivate their brand identity, and make a space feel more interesting.
The luxury of disconnecting.
The panel moved onto the theme of wellness and its influence of hotel design.
Glenn Huskie explained, “This term isn’t just about the spa or the gym and relates to the entire holistic experience – whether that be circadian lighting, biophilic design, flow, or daylight”.
Kathryn Hardy reinforced the importance of wellness and how the industry is seeing an uptake in spa and wellbeing facilities due to the fact people want to disconnect. “Travellers are seeking out moments to disconnect, switch off the phone, and have some me time – they look to the hospitality sector for that”.
Daniel Blaker predicted a backlash against digital saturation. “We are headed towards a complete over saturation of AI and social media, which could result in a need for de-consumption. The luxury segment will be the place that we go for tangible experiences to counteract a reality that feels augmented”.
Mark Gilhawley concluded, ‘The future of hospitality will be more nuanced when it comes to automated vs luxury experiences. Now that there are so many different brands out there, people can choose whatever experience they want. There will be a market for luxury hotels that offer a personalised experienced, but there will also be those hotels that go all in on tech. Ultimately, it will come down to personal choice”.
With thanks to our panellists:
Daniel Blaker, Creative Director at Nulty +, Glenn Huskie, The Artizan Group, Kathryn Hardy, JLL, Mark Gilhawley, MGAC, Nathmya Saffarini, Oli Morgan, HKS, Ricardo Moreira, XCO2 alongside Simon Berry, and Ellie Coombs for moderating the discussion.
