May_1971 — Page 17

London

JEGG

aim being to see to what extent the operation of an hotel could reduce its dependency on a labour force. In the restaurant of this project, for example, no service was provided. This kind of impersonal hotel is certainly not ac- ceptable at the moment and my belief is that even by 1991 it will not be so. Although we can reduce staff needs to a fraction of the present norm, and the operator can offer correspondingly low prices, the real competition now and in the future is in the realm of personalised service.

This is a unique industry. Designing an hotel is unlike designing any other comparable major project, for its viability as a building is governed by extremely dynamic circumstances.

The architect has to work closely with the owner, operator and manage- ment. Each new project gains from the last, which was completed possibly only a year before. The design team returns to study the hotel at work, talking to management at all levels, discovering perhaps that the kitchens are too large, the means of stacking cutlery are unsuitable, and other operational difficulties caused by changing techniques.

This corpus of knowledge is de- veloping fast, of course, but the most likely changes in the next two decades will probably be less fundamental than one might suppose. Already one im- portant change is well defined - the movement away from banqueting faci- lities towards conference facilities. The real problem here is a planning one, for planning authorities seem to be taking an exactly opposing view to that of the hotel professionals.

It is held by planners that con- ference centres create traffic diffi- culties, whereas the hoteliers reason- ably believe that hotel-based con- ferences limit traffic movement. More and more business will be done at hotel-based meetings or conferences in the future, and this will become one of the more valuable features provided by the hotels of tomorrow. Yet today, be- cause of planning authority opposi- tion, large numbers are being built without this facility.

Facilities generally are being re- duced rather than increased. This trend will continue. Dining rooms will become smaller and there will be only one in each hotel. The coffee-shop has proved a most successful American im- port in many countries, and will be widely adopted. Other public rooms

Far East BUILDER, May 1971

27-storey hotel for Cromwell Road, West London

Holiday Inns project at George Street, London

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