PinkCloud's Pop-Up Hotel Turns Empty Office Spaces into Temporary Hospitality Spaces

The finalists of the 2013 Radical Innovation in Hospitality competition recently gathered during Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas to present their ideas for the next big hotel concept in front of a jury of top industry judges. After debating three shortlisted concepts, the Copenhagen-based international architecture collective PinkCloud.dk took home the $10,000 grand prize for its Pop-Up Hotel concept, which utilizes empty Class A office spaces in urban centers, turning them into temporary hospitality spaces.

“We received a record-setting 70 entries from around the world this year,” said John Hardy, CEO, The John Hardy Group and founder of The Radical Innovation in Hospitality Award. “The audience selected The Pop-Up Hotel—a feasible concept that has the potential to radically impact the hotel industry in the years to come. It reflects the type of ideas that the jury and I get excited about.”

The competition jury included John Hardy; Claude Amar, president, The John Hardy Group International; Michael Medzigian, chairman/managing partner, Watermark Capital Partners; Jena Thornton, managing director, Eagle Rock Ventures; Simon Turner, president, global development, Starwood Hotels; James Woods, president and chief operating officer, The Bowls; Wing Chao, master planner, architect and designer, founding principal, Wing T. Chao Architect.

Here is the Pop-Up Hotel concept in more detail:

Pop-Up Hotel – Grand Prize $10,000 Award
Submitted by: PinkCloud.dk
Submitters: Eric Tan, Fabian Busse, Leon Lai, Nico Schlapps
City/Country: New York, United States; Berlin, Germany; Toronto, Canada

Proposal:

Manhattan’s Midtown is in a real estate crisis.

Office vacancies are high, rents have been plummeting, and tenants are moving to New Jersey. A combination of outdated building stock, the economic recession, and a lack of amenities in the neighborhood have transformed Midtown from a vibrant business hub into an area of post-recession decline. The design of the Midtown Pop-Up Hotel focuses on the transformation of empty Class A office spaces into hospitality spaces.

The Pop-Up Hotel is designed to be a means of urban revitalization, an economic catalyst, as well as an active community partner. We strongly believe the Pop-Up Hotel to be a transformative experience for both the building and more importantly, the hotel guests.

To learn more about the Pop-Up Hotel concept, head over to PinkCloud.dk's website.