Four Trends Designers in the Southern States, Central and South America Should Know…

… and one development they need to stay ahead of.

Trends are always an evolving process. Savvy interior designers know that no trend is formed wholesale but instead is part of an ever-evolving relationship between consumers and tastemakers. Many of the big trends we highlight here today will not be news to any creative with their finger on the pulse. However, many of these trends have taken on new life. We’ll see a tech twist applied to two of the trends that have dominated global conversation for the last half-decade, while next-gen materials bring the future ever-closer to the present. And, there’s a new development to many people’s workflow that may not have made recent ‘trends’ lists, but is impossible to ignore regardless.

Wellness

The wellness industry continues to dominate the global conversation. The global wellness economy is set to skyrocket from $5.6 trillion to $8.5 trillion by 2027 and wellness tourism is helping itself to a sizable slice. Spas are simply the starting points as ‘wellness centres’ become the new focus, with hotels and resorts dedicating increasing square footage to wellness in both newbuild and refurbishment projects. As the industry grows, the treatments menu has become hi-tech and wonderfully weird. On one hand, Six Senses has introduced longevity and biohacking retreats that tap into science, including treatments such as cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and photobiomodulation – popularly known as red light therapy. On the other, immersive art collective Meow Wolf has launched a 250,000 square foot spa called Submersive. The space is slated to feature 12 bathing rooms, immersive art, video projections and lasers.

Sustainability

Like wellness, sustainability is a repeat visitor to these trends-to-watch pieces, and that’s not likely to drop any time soon. We are now years down the line from when sustainability started cropping up in articles and conferences. Guests are now more educated, easily able to parse the fundamentals of a brand’s sustainability story. The conversations within the industry are focused on actionable changes that result in beautiful design and compelling business cases for the decision makers. Hotel brands such as IHG, Iberostar and Rosewood all have ambitious net-zero targets, with most aiming to reach carbon neutrality ahead of the Paris Agreement deadline of 2050. Tierra Hotels demonstrate a thoughtful approach to environmentally friendly construction by paying special attention to the locales they construct in. When they begun construction on Tierra Patagonia, they cultivated all the vegetation they removed in a greenhouse, to later replant it around the hotel. They also use LED lighting and solar panels on site. Over in Cabo Rio, hotel brands such as Iberostar and Hyatt are participating in a large-scale development project aimed at transforming the southern coastal region of the Dominican Republic into a hub for tourism. A seawater air cooling system (SWAC), a sustainable cooling practice, has been designed and modelled for the project.

Next-gen materials

Phase Change Materials have been circling mainstream architectural practice for several years. Currently mainly used for technical applications, such as medical applications or housing energy storage systems. Phase Change Materials are materials that shift between liquid and solid states depending on the temperature of the environment. This transformation absorbs or releases heat. Designers and architects working on hotels situated in hot climates may also be interested in the potential of these materials. Air-conditioning accounted for 32% of electricity consumption of buildings in India. One simulation of a hotel built using phase change walls in Shanghai, showed that the wall reduced the outward heat loss by 15.7% and the inward heat transfer by 26.9%. Phase Change Materials made of organic matter, such as fatty acids extracted from coconut oil, can contribute to brands’ sustainability stories. However, non-organic Phase Change materials are rarely sustainable, although they do still reduce energy consumption.

Tech-driven guest experience

The Asian hospitality market is the gold standard of tech-enabled guest experience. The continent is home to some of the top ranked hotels globally, introducing guest experiences destined to be adopted by the rest of the world. In the Capella Bangkok, rated as one of the top 5 hotels in the world, blackout blinds automatically roll up or down on the guests’ entrance and departure, while they can control their lighting via a bedside tablet. W-Sentosa Cove has reduced energy consumption and cost using their occupancy-sensing lighting system. Guests are also able to access their room’s temperature and lighting controls via voice commands. 

Robots aren’t necessarily a new edition to the hospitality market, but in hotels in locations including China and Thailand, they are transitioning from gimmick to next-gen customer service assistant. In Ji Hotel, a brand belonging to H World International, robots are deployed for delivering amenities, messages and even room service. Over at Furama Hotel Chiang Mai, in Thailand, will deploy robots for meal delivery, room service, table bussing, cleaning and back-of-house logistics.

This trend is heralding from the Asian markets but hotels around the Americas are swiftly catching up. Mexico’s Atelier Playa Mujeres has implemented a sophisticated smart-room system where guests use a dedicated app to control everything from room temperature to scheduling spa appointments and dinner reservations. At the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo, guests receive a resort-specific smart bracelet that functions as a room key, payment method, and activity tracker.

Tariffs

Not quite a design trend, but an important industry development to stay ahead of — recent trade regulations affecting tariffs across the industry. Three major tariffs have already taken effect, and it remains unclear to many observers what the final outcome of these developments will be. Interior designers, specifiers, project managers, and other industry decision-makers should keep watch of which areas of their projects will be impacted, as made-to-order metal products look set to be heavily tariffed, while fully upholstered items remain unaffected.

Trend-watch at HRDS

Interior designers working in the Southern States or central and southern America know that while global consumer trends are important, it’s crucial to have your eye on the microtrends and consumer activity in the area where your projects are based. The Hotel and Resort Design South (HRDS) conference, taking place 3 – 4 June will spotlight regional specific trends, plus discussing the value that brands can bring to the localities they are expanding into, the immense impact that wellness has had on the hospitality industry and the ways the concept is evolving, among other highly relevant industry topics. Content-led networking events will include Meet the Brands and Lunch & Learns, arranged in conjunction with HRDS Association Partners, and NEWH.