We know the workplace now looks more like a home or a bar, but can a hotel look more like a workplace?

The word’s out and the word is AUTHENTIC – creating genuine experiences rooted in the everyday. We’ve seen this in the workplace where, in the quest for collaborative creativity, the workspace has become a cross between domestic and hospitality settings such as bars and cafes. The line between work and life is now blurred in many ways. The workplace is becoming less corporate and more personal as it offers a host of different ways of working.

But the new Ovolo Hotel in Sydney’s Woolloomooloo shows another trend – hotels borrowing from the workplace. Hassell’s design of the public areas could certainly pass for a contemporary workplace with its cluster of different work and meeting settings, but it’s the thinking that’s really interesting. The designers found that guests weren’t using the public area because it didn’t serve their needs. Whether it’s doing some private work, meeting clients or simply catching up with friends, the corporate hotel doesn’t pass muster. So, it is the new boutique hotels who are addressing customer needs and, not surprisingly, out-competing the corporate brands.

Ovolo is a brave and cheeky marriage of the heritage finger wharf and modern amenity tuned to the needs of the contemporary traveller – and the local community.

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