WATG's Mosaic Wins Grand Prize in Competition for Radical Innovation in Hospitality
Destination villages configured to accommodate adventure travel, voluntourism and disaster relief
Destination design firm WATG won first place in the Radical Innovation in Hospitality competition for their entry, Mosaic. The award, which was founded by The John Hardy Group and co-sponsored by Hospitality Design, recognizes ingenuity in built or unbuilt hospitality concepts. Thirty projects from eight countries were submitted by hospitality brands, design and consulting professionals, and students.
Destination design firm WATG won first place in the Radical Innovation in Hospitality competition for their entry, Mosaic. The award, which was founded by The John Hardy Group and co-sponsored by Hospitality Design, recognizes ingenuity in built or unbuilt hospitality concepts. Thirty projects from eight countries were submitted by hospitality brands, design and consulting professionals, and students.
The Mosaic PATHWAY (Portable Adaptable Temporary Hotel With Alternative You-ses) allows governments, developers, entrepreneurs, hoteliers, private organizations, and charitable aid societies the opportunity to create, design, develop and implement amazing new hospitality, vacation, housing, emergency shelter and support structures that are functional, beautiful, simple and adaptable to numerous situations in almost any geography. The organic, geometric-shaped Prisms of the PATHWAY system are collapsible for ease in transportation, are pre-fitted with built-in fixtures and furnishings, and come with self-contained energy, plumbing and lighting systems and self-leveling foundations.
"The Mosaic Hotel submitted by WATG captured the Grand Prize for several good reasons, said John Hardy, CEO of The John Hardy Group. "Through their internal office-wide collaborative efforts they were able to tap into a wide spectrum of ideas that went beyond pure design and were able to reflect the effects of the Great Recession on the values and priorities of hospitality thinking today. It was a unique submission that not only offered a new approach to hospitality development, but also provided a useful solution for temporary housing needs for special events and disaster situations. The concept was well thought out and was a good balance between radically innovative thought and feasible implementation potential. All in all, the voting audience got the winner right for the fourth straight year."
Michelle Finn, Vice President of the HD Group, concurred, saying, "The genius of WATG's submission is the combination of creativity and fluid solutions to long standing hospitality challenges. They successfully created an architectural vocabulary that provides limitless possibilities for an authentic guest experience and return on investment potential."
An outgrowth of a temporary relief shelter, the global Mosaic brand defines and delivers affordable, pop-up hospitality—prefabricated and portable to virtually anywhere. WATG invented Mosaic as entirely flexible, comprised of individually configured, modular prisms, outfitted as needed as spas, salons, guestrooms, mini-homes (multiple prisms such as a kitchenette and bedrooms), or tented villas (an addition to a luxury resort at peak season). Grouped together, Mosaic prisms are attached organically to Mosaic hubs that comprise and contain lobbies, restaurants, bars, lounges, and other amenities.
WATG's pop-up concept allows for discovery and adventure in new locations, and provides modular and flexible guest accommodations at existing properties to capture additional peak-season business. For adventure travel and "voluntourism," hybrid vacation and volunteer work experience/disaster relief, Mosaic hubs and prisms accommodate volunteers and then remain as housing for local communities.
"The Radical Innovation competition is a unique opportunity for great designers to explore the future of hospitality," said Mike Seyle, CEO of WATG. "We asked some of our bright young minds to create a design that addresses hospitality beyond the standard hotel, something that would respond to all that is going on in the world today, and they certainly delivered."
The grand prize was awarded on 19 May 2010 at the Hospitality Design Expo, where several hundred audience members voted for the winner following presentations by the three finalists. WATG received a $10,000 cash prize and will use that money to build an actual prototype of the project.
This is the fourth year in a row that WATG has been a finalist in the Radical Innovation in Hospitality competition. The WATG design team behind Mosaic was Jerod Costner, Karen Mitri and Krystal Solorzano.
The judges were: Claude Amar, of the John Hardy Group, Michael Medzigan of Watermark Capital Partners, Jena Thorton of Kennedy Associates Real Estate, Simon Turner of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and James Woods of Keen Partners.