Hotel Spec speaks to managing director of ReardonSmith Architects, Conrad Smith, about the firm’s work on the newly renovated hotel, The Savoy London, and finds out his thoughts on a range of issues, from the recession to his dream project. 
The Savoy has re-opened, following what was said to be the largest ever hotel restoration in London; a £220 million project that has re-affirmed the extraordinary heritage of an iconic hotel. ReardonSmith Architects led the design team in a programme that included the restoration, rebuilding or redesign of all guestrooms and public areas, the introduction of a new services infrastructure, and the structural stabilisation of the listed riverfront façade. This significant feat of engineering was also the opportunity to rationalise space within the riverside guestrooms, removing some of the internal structure so that bathrooms could be re-organised and more space released into the bedrooms.
Pierre-Yves Rochon created the new interior design schemes; ReardonSmith was responsible for its design development and implementation on-site. Throughout, there is now a new level of glamour and sense of luxury, echoing the very finest of 1920s Art Deco combined with an Edwardian–inspired, classic English style, both synonymous with The Savoy. The riverfront restaurant has been transformed and the lavishly theatrical Beaufort Bar introduced, complete with The Savoy’s refurbished 1930s stage. The legendary American Bar has been stripped out for new services and re-built to appear almost as before, while natural light has been returned to the heart of the building by way of a magnificent stained glass dome over the Thames Lounge. The authentic Art Deco guestrooms have been faithfully restored and others have been totally refurbished in a style highly sympathetic to the spirit of the original.
What are your influences and how do you get inspiration when starting a new project?
“Location is everything. It is essential that you understand the environment of a proposed building. Whether you choose to adopt or reject the local influences you must proceed on an educated basis. In addition, the client brief is of course vital to appreciating what you are being commissioned to design. Once both location and the client’s instructions are thoroughly studied, it is then invariably healthy to challenge the brief to see if it stands up to scrutiny and whether or not it needs to be modified to achieve the maximum result for the client, both aesthetically and operationally.”
When broaching the renovation of such an iconic building as The Savoy London, how have you maintained the building’s heritage, whilst updating and modernising the hotel?
“Education and knowledge is vital when undertaking a hotel restoration or renovation. Architects must immerse themselves in the building and understand its history and reasoning. Why was it constructed? How was it constructed? Why was it extended in such a manner? What were the contemporary influences? Once, and only once, they understand the building should architects assume the authority to make interventions and even then, minimum intervention for maximum effect should always be the maxim.
In parallel with this, we must also understand the current and likely future needs of the hotel operator and, finally, it is important never to assume anything when restoring an old building, so my advice is always to check and visit every part of the building. And, most importantly, we should never be too proud to revise a detail or design if new information is unearthed during the course of renovation.”
Do you feel that the recession has had a negative impact on hotel design?
“No, I don’t believe so; if anything true design gets better during a recession, because when budgets are tightened so are designs. Maybe fashions become less indulgent and designs less introspective, so that well-mannered design can come to the fore. Expensive design does not necessarily mean good design.”
What has been your most ambitious and memorable project to date?
“Our most ambitious project to date has been Porto Montenegro, where we have had the opportunity to master plan and design an entire small town and marina development, the first part of which opened this summer. The plan includes not just hotels, apartments and a world-class marina, but also retail, restaurants, bars and cafes, museums and a variety of leisure components – a new destination on the Adriatic Sea.
I think that the most memorable project is always your first major project. For me, this was the North British Hotel (now The Balmoral) in Edinburgh. I spent four years of my life restoring and renovating this majestic hotel, and one of the proudest moments of my life was hoisting the flag on top of her world famous clock tower.”
Which factors do you think will influence hotel design over the next five to 10 years?
“What will influence hotel design is the same as it has been since time immemorial – hospitality. When I first began my career in hotel design, there were still hoteliers in charge of almost all hotels and this meant that hotels were run with a fundamental appreciation of what the hotel guest really wants. Individual hoteliers have now been replaced in large part by corporate operators with strategies to differentiate themselves and brands to satisfy. This may be understandable but unfortunately, in design terms, it has resulted in a fixation with turning hotels into showrooms rather than concentrating on the key issues of making guests feel welcome and comfortable. I believe that there will be a reaction against this over the next decade and a return to a focus on providing a good night’s sleep and a good meal, doing away with some of the expensive nonsense that has crept into hotel design. An end to fancy dimming systems, perhaps, which many guests struggle to operate, when a good and relatively inexpensive blackout blind will give you the best night’s sleep.”
What would be your dream project?
“I am very lucky, I don’t mean to sound smug but all our projects are my dream project. They are all different, with varying demands, but all with great teams on board. The Savoy is a star, but then our recently opened new Travelodge in Waterloo was a very successful and smooth-running project. Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove in the Seychelles was a dream as our first exotic resort project, and I remember very fondly the excitement of working in Riga more than 10 years ago, designing the city’s first luxury boutique hotel at a time when Latvia was still emerging from the Soviet yoke. Next on the horizon is St Petersburg and Sardinia. It doesn’t get much better than this.”
What plans do ReardonSmith Architects have for the future?
“Plans include a serious focus on regions of the world in which we have not worked before, in addition to all the geographies in which we are accustomed to working. In fact, this is happening already. Two years ago I had no idea we would be constructing two hotels and an 
apartment building in Baku, Azerbaijan or a new Hyatt in Vilnius, Lithuania. However, until recently, we followed where our clients invited us to go. Now, as a larger practice with highly skilled and talented people from all over the globe, we are intending to become even more proactive in seeking out what we love to do – designing and renovating world class hotels and resorts of every kind.”