Sleep Set Design Winner – Loyalty: Lessons in Love

At this years Sleep event the iconic ‘Sleep Set’ competition had the 4 participants designing on the theme of Loyalty: Lessons in Love. The 4 companies in the running this year were; Stonehill Taylor, MKV Design, il Prisma & 1508 London.

For those of you who aren’t sure what the annual Sleep Set competition is, the design firms must create a pop-up hotel concept on the set theme. This years theme was a challenging one, Loyalty. This is the hotel grail of hotel design and something that any hotel should be striving to achieve.

The Four designs all had taken the theme and come up with such contrasting concepts, the panel of hospitality expert judges had a serious task on their hands deciding on the winner. On Wednesday 22nd November, Javier Hortal, Director of Technical Services for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group announced that the winner was…

Stonehill Taylor with The Irus

At Design Insider we have to agree with this decision, as the set looked stunning, enclosed behind an abstract forest of vertical wooden poles. The concept Stonehill Taylor went with was one of self-love. They chose to look at how firstly sustaining and being loyal to yourself is the ultimate lesson in love.

We thought the little circular windows that were filled with all the necessities a guest may want, the little dining area and one that was a fridge were particularly delightful. A wonderful cork wallcovering was used on the outside of the set, that highlighted the respect to the environment whilst offering a waterproof surface for the shower area. The idea for the space was that it should reflect and respect cultural differences and create a unique experience regardless of the users location. It was a beautiful success!

You can read our interview with the winner Vince Stroop, principal for Stonehill Taylor here

MKV Design 

This Sleep Set was awarded the Highly Commended award for it’s brave concept. MKV Founder & MD Maria Vafiadis, decided that their design would focus on creating a legacy for the the future. They saw a human vice in that we do struggle with loyalty and have the habit of moving on quickly to the ‘next best thing’. With this in mind, her design wanted to focus on the loyalty and love we must start to develop for our  planet and commitment to creating a healthy, sustainable future.

il Prisma

Italiam design company, il Prisma designed a set called ‘The Lovers’ – This concept was based on emotional based living and their idea was that a brand must build a relationship just as any human does with another person. Gilberto Vizzini, UK Strategy Director for il Prisma says, “Brands need to be unexpected, flexible, sociable and sexy to elicit guest loyalty”. 

1508 London

This design studio examined the how the small fragments of design can create memories and emotional connections. A dark, but luxurious space was created with flashes of light, from thin brass lighting fixtures highlighted the small details hoping to capture meaningful moments with the guest.

The Sleep Set competition had a tough brief this year but all 4 participants came up with and brought to life some wonderful concepts. Well done to Stonehill Taylor once again on their win and we look forward to see what design firms are in the running next year, at Sleep’s new destination of Olympia!