Design Hotels has co-designed a modular lobby concept that aims to bridge the connection between hotels and their neighbours. Robbie Hodges reports

For many hospitality players, local communities remain an underutilised resource. Embracing those who live locally isn’t just an altruistic act for international brands looking to make good on their social footprint.

Joining forces with local makers, creatives and business owners can enhance a sense of place and provide travellers with that elusive feeling of ‘authentic’ connection, something Design Hotels knows only too well.

The company’s "spaces between" prototype is a 16-piece modular system that can be rearranged in countless different iterations with a view to creating an agora where people feel comfortable to express themselves or relax at leisure. Blocks can be stacked or set out in such a way that invites connection between strangers or that encourages moments of mindfulness; repositioning the hotel lobby as a "space between" or "third place". 

The concept of third places has gained significant traction since the pandemic, typically referring to public spaces that are separate from home and work, where people can connect IRL.

With the blurring of the home and office, and the IRL-to-URL migration of everything from fitness to shopping to workplaces, these mediating spaces have become fewer and fewer leading many to correlate their erasure with growing levels of loneliness across the globe. 

While only a concept at time of writing, this initiative from Design Hotels identifies how properties can plug this gap in public infrastructure – leveraging their physical assets to become pillars of the local community that bring people out of their screens and back into civic life. The prototype design was created in partnership with Universal Design Studio, an architecture and design practice based in London and New York that examines the role of design in creating environments that encourage dialogue and discourse. 

The concept is the culmination of research by Design Hotels into the evolving role of community within hospitality, and by Universal Design Studio on the art of hosting. 

It debuts at Milan Design Week (taking place April 8 to 13), the annual global showcase for design innovation, and will be on display at the STRAF hotel.