Marina Hotel show interior design skills
Students' work being assessed by (left) Chris Forby, Lecturer in Interior Design, and (right) Simon Flint, of interior design firm DeSalles Flint.
Image from the winning design display by student Erika Bitto.
Second-year students on the BA (Hons) Architectural Venue Design and BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology and Practice courses were challenged by Simon Flint, an international interior designer, to come up with their concepts for different parts of a hotel to be built 200 miles away.
The 225-bedroom, four star hotel at the Ocean Village Marina, Southampton, is unusual and will have water on three sides, meaning boat owners can moor right alongside it.
15 students took part in the competition and each produced display boards showing their concepts, and hand and computer drawn visuals of their ideas, for three zones of the hotel, as if they were presenting to a real client who had commissioned the work.
Chris Forby, lecturer in Interior Design said: "The students had to come up with original designs for areas such as bars, restaurants, the spa, gym, lobby and the ballroom in the hotel.
Mr Flint added: "The best building design isn't necessarily about creating the 'prettiest picture', it's the thought that goes into it. What I was looking for is whether these designs would create a memorable experience for a guest at this hotel."
"I was impressed by the professional way in which the students went about the task and the quality of their ideas."
Student Erika Bitto from Hungary, won the competition for best design which took the form of curving wave lines, on both ceiling and floor areas, which guests would follow to tour the whole building.
She added: "I found it very useful having someone like Simon Flint coming in to assess our work."
