While a push towards sustainability is (thankfully) high on the agenda in many industries across the world, perhaps nowhere is it felt more strongly than in hospitality and tourism. From the local to the global, these industries thrive and survive on their ability to capitalise on, and contribute to, their environments - whether built, natural, or social.
Things are no different when it comes to the architecture and design of hospitality and tourism projects. For business owners, the stories of how their premises are built and curated often become central to identities of the businesses themselves, meaning that a strong focus towards sustainability becomes an essential part of the picture.
With that in mind, there are a few trends that are (and have been) defining sustainability in hospitality and tourism projects. The list below is by no means exhaustive, but rather looks at the macro movements we see shaping the future of the sector.
Local, local, local
From regional motels to three-hatted restaurants, locality is undoubtedly the definitive trend in hospitality and tourism for many reasons, sustainability being high on the list. It starts with services offered - local seafood on the menu, for example, and goes right through to the construction of premises with locally sourced materials. Hospitality and tourism venues are looking to showcase everything that makes their locale unique, and in doing so, are taking a massive step towards reducing the embodied carbon of their end-to-end operations. In turn, this is also creating further incentive for manufacturers to invest in the development of locally-sourced, lower carbon materials - driving the effect right through the supply chain.
Reclaimed materials
This trend is being driven in part by the sustainability agenda, and in part by the economic realities of operating a hospitality or tourism business during times of economic flux. But the use of reclaimed materials is not only cheaper and more environmentally sound, but often has the added benefit of nodding to the history of a venue - think a renovated pub that still has the original wood panelling on one of its walls. Architects and designers are now adept at identifying what can be restored and reused, or sourcing reclaimed materials from other projects, resulting in a much-extended lifecycle for a variety of materials that are currently in circulation.
Renewables and energy efficiency
Again, we arrive at the intersection of sustainability and economic reality - and again, enviro-consciousness is winning on all fronts. You’d be hard pressed to find a suitable hospitality or tourism venue that does not have rooftop solar these days. Similarly, you’d expect to find efficient fixtures like reduced-water dishwashers, efficient toilets, or modern refrigeration systems, almost everywhere you look. For the really modern developments, we’re seeing more technologically advanced systems like smart HVAC, smart shading, and efficient heat recovery systems making a concerted push into this space.
While there’s undoubtedly a strong push towards sustainability right across the architecture and design industries, the nature of hospitality and tourism businesses provide added incentive to innovate and become early adopters of sustainable options. We’re looking forward to seeing the new and exciting aspects of the above trends that will continue to evolve in the near future.
The Hospitality & Tourism category is an inaugural award to be unveiled at the 2023 Sustainability Awards. To etch your name in history, click here.
Image: TZG's reinvigoration of Bondi Pavilion, completed in 2023.
