Finding the big idea… and a bigger idea
Questioning the brief is the only way to make sure you are seeing the full potential. This project started out as a study to see if a hotel could fit in a specific building and it ended up as a concept for many buildings that could employ 1,000s of people.
Finding the big idea. And
an even bigger idea
Credit Image: dezeen.com
This project’s purpose was clear. A colleague, who’d been central to a train station redevelopment in London and knew the site well, asked us ‘What types of hotel could work well in a station building?’ They wanted a simple building analysis but once we started thinking about the opportunities for the building we didn’t want to stop there so we asked more questions. First we talked about the practicalities then we discussed the possibilities.
The beginning - Could this building function as a Hotel?
The short answer is yes. We assessed guest drop-off locations, delivery and laundry routes, potential kitchen locations, security, accessibility, guestroom modules, restaurant spaces and the very important guest journey. We produced test-fits showing the number of guestrooms, size of public areas, etc and documented our findings about how the space could function. We could see the site had great potential so, even though the job was officially finished, we were intrigued to take it further and ask ourselves more questions.
What type of hotel could be good for the station and the area?
What would be good for the people who commute through here? How about tourists? What would be good for local people too? How should it relate to train travel? Should we include member facilities for the train users? Would it be responsible to put a hotel here? If so, should it be inclusive or exclusive? Many scenarios would work, so we continued.
Who would our Hotel guest be?
Nomad workers? Local parents? Commuters? etc and How and when might use the space? We mapped out the times when the different groups might visit and realised there was a rare potential to create a vibrant atmosphere all day everyday. Out-of-towners could use a place to refresh, leave bags, maybe hang out for a while and get their bearings. Locals could use another place to meet, eat and drink.
To connect the station to the local community, and give the hotel more depth and variety, we decided to target both groups, to encourage them to mix and to make real world connections. We discussed what they might all enjoy, practically and emotionally, when they come together. By creating a space about shared interests, needs and values rather than where they have just come from we could create a more dynamic and inclusive environment. However, It was clear that when these different groups arrived they would need a tailored experience, so we mapped out the requirements and the possibilities. We checked what could overlap, what needed to be seperate and discussed how security and catering requirements could be managed as a whole.
The members can then enter the local area without restriction but the locals can’t enter the members area without special permission. An out-of-towner can become a member by purchasing a day pass, by purchasing a first class train ticket or through a membership subscription if they travel regularly.
How would it work practically?
We discussed how we could arrange the flow of people and proposed 2 main entrances at opposite ends, as per the sketch. This is so the locals (the community) can enter directly from the city street and the out-of-towners (the members) can enter directly from the train concourse. This way everyone will feel the building belongs to them and has been designed with their needs in mind. Typically we’d consider 2 entrances to be complicated operationally but here it made sense. This way the out-of-towners (the members) could go straight from the train to the venue without ticket barriers for seamless hospitality and the locals (the community) wouldn’t need to see luggage drop-off and check-in facilities as they enter. Current technology makes it easier to manage 2 entrances than it has been in the past so we proceeded.
It became clear that, for security reasons, the members’ area needed to be more secluded. Also travellers might need a space to decompress when they get off the train, to recharge their devices and themselves. However, if they prefer they can simply be greeted in the members area and walk straight through to the main space. The members hub and the community hub needed to be managed by the same team for this concept to work. When this was being developed Virgin East Coast Trains were serving the station so we toured their existing Members Club before finalising the details and now that we’d addressed what separated people we could focus on what brings them together.
This wasn’t really about creating a hotel anymore, the focus had shifted. It’s a venue with a friendly welcome, food and drink and a place to grab a shower. At this venue you can also stay for the night, if you like.
It’s a place to refresh.
Working title - Tonic.
How do you create that friendly welcome for members and the local community alike?
It’s all about having the right people so we put a local concierge at the heart of the Tonic venue. Your local concierge can recommend a good place for a haircut, tell you what bands are playing nearby, tell you the fastest way to get to St Christophers Place or recommend the best place for oysters or kebabs. It’s like having a local friend greet you. They know a lot about the area and are always keen to learn more.
The concierge also knows information about the destinations up and down the train line.
We knew this whole space needed to be managed by one company, one team. If this was to be an extension of the train travel experience it made sense that we spoke to a train operator now before taking this any further.
We brought in branding specialists as we developed this further and looked at how we could pitch this to an operator. A Virgin company seemed like an ideal Tonic operator, not only did they already have Virgin Hotels with The Commons Club, but also Miss Ricky’s Cafe, Virgin Active gyms and Virgin Music brands in the portfolio and they champion start-ups, disruptors and new ventures. They also have the right values as well as relevant experience. The brand specialists highlighted that Virgin are not an elitist or hierarchical brand, “the Virgin brand’s backbone is it’s values; providing heartfelt service, being delightfully surprising, red hot and straight up while maintaining an insatiable curiosity and creating smart disruption.” “internally our culture never forces people to shrink to fit but encourages you to think individually” This “is a human culture led by our hearts and our heads. We hunt for talent that genuinely cares about people, the planet and profit. This caring is plain to see in the authentic and approachable way we relate to others” Even on the luxurious Necker Island in the Caribbean the staff are approachable, fun and genuinely relate to people from all walks of life.
Our colleague had good contacts at Virgin Trains East Coast so he approached them, set up a meeting and we pitched the idea. We needed to see if they were interested in the concept and to see if this was something they could operate and provide funds to build. Alternatively, maybe they could partner with another Virgin company so we demonstrated how many guestrooms they could get in this building and how many meeting areas, restaurant seats, etc. to give an indication of potential revenue and we explained the Tonic concept. An amazing members club/venue at this London station for the Virgin customers and one that also invites the local community to be part of the space so that within minutes of arriving at the station you can feel greeted by a friend, you can refresh and you can know you’ve arrived in ‘real London’. As soon as you enter the doors you cease to be an out of towner and the experience is anchored in Virgin hospitality. The local concierge is at the heart of the space with a social hub all around. The arrivals area is slightly secluded but then all the guests share places to eat, socialise and think and members and guests can hire out rooms to meet or sleep or work.
Tonic is a
friendly
welcome, a place
to refresh.
It offers a local
concierge, a
place to eat and
a place to sit,
shower and
shave.
It can also be
a place to
sleep.
Depending on real estate leases and finance we explained how this could be a scalable concept, if they preferred an incremental investment we could start by creating a great Virgin destination for the Local Concierge, a local Cafe and an Arrivals Lounge that included a shower, lockers, etc. Then later we could expand the Cafe or add a Bar or Restaurant, add some Guestrooms, or Co-working space, add some Meeting Rooms, etc.
Towards the end of the pitch we also mentioned an idea we’d been fleshing out for a few weeks. Although we had created the Tonic concept specifically for a London venue, when we’d been discussing where the experience should start we’d had another idea that could be added on.
Travel is about the journey and the destination. So how could we create a bigger hospitality experience that connects them both?
We’d been having conversations in the background for a while, asking where should the hospitality start? (For now, we focussed only on physical spaces and ignored the on-line experience). Hospitality on the trains currently starts when you leave the station and the experience ends as soon as the train pulls into the station. People use the members’ lounges before they leave a city but it’s often just self-service. The sense of hospitality at times can be disjointed and inconsistent.
Wouldn’t it be good if before any train journey, as soon as you arrive at your local station, you know you will be taken care of. You could get there early and have a coffee, go to the gym, have a meeting or work for a few hours before your train leaves, you could pre-order your food for the journey, have your shoes polished, print documents or leave a pushchair to be stowed on the train - Depart Delighted.
Then when you get to your destination you can have a drink, leave your bags, grab a nap, enjoy fluffy towels and great water pressure in the showers, have your hair styled, collect a parcel and have someone organise a taxi or invite colleagues to meet in your members area - Arrive Feeling Alive.
There could be a Tonic at every station where you can drop our guard, relax and feel part of a community.
This was the even bigger idea.
We were proposing to consistently extend the Virgin experience beyond the train journey. All the stations would no longer be places to just pass through or navigate, but spaces where you are welcomed and feel at home. There could be hosted events or classes, games for children, local retailers and great changing facilities. It can be tailored to people’s needs. Just the Tonic.
Adjust to each station and city
Some stations on the train line had existing buildings that could house a Tonic venue and at other stations there was room to build them or create pop-ups. The idea was scaleable. Not every city would need the same amenities so they could be created to suit the local area.
Every venue needed to have the local concierge, a small cafe and an arrivals lounge that included a shower, lockers, etc. Everything else would be decided based on local requirements. One city might benefit from having a gym at the station, another might find a retail market would be better to support local businesses. The London one proposed guestrooms but other cities may not need them. The diagrams below show how the offering could change.
In order to develop this and to pitch the idea we needed clear strategic thinking so we spent more time with the brand strategists so we could understand the Virgin portfolio better and to confirm the Tonic values, develop the brand and the tone of voice. They created a presentation to succinctly pitch the concept alongside our more detailed report.
I really advocate collaborating with brand strategists, the good ones can cut through multiple ideas, pull out the best ones and explain succinctly why they are strong and exactly how they will resonate with people.
This is a brief snapshot of the idea pitched.
Credit images: All graphic images c/o Gensler
Travel and hospitality are fully intertwined in this concept. Both the journey and the train station become the destination rather than a means to an end. When people picture travel and hospitality combined they usually think of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express or hiring a private yacht which are both exclusive and expensive, however this inclusive proposition is more like a fantastic bus tour that will pick you up from your home, take you around the world and bring you back again. It offers a sense of ease and community.
Maximum engagement, maximum enjoyment. Refreshingly different. Just the Tonic
This process included a lot of bubble diagrams and overlapping discussions because we were influenced by many things. Some of the ideas echo services provided in air travel, they respond to changes in remote working, they are influenced by hotels that attract the local community, by contemporary members clubs, by the increased engagement with market spaces and the blurred boundaries of lifestyle spaces in retail and other areas. By keeping our eyes and ears open to developing trends we can develop spaces that are relevant and useful. We were also influenced by disruptive attitudes towards business models, a sustainable and social focus on creating local employment and we were able to rethink some established practices due to developments in technology and the shift to smart tickets for travel. With so many influences it was important to keep asking ourselves what makes this relevant? What makes this different? What makes it compelling?
This was developed with a group of interior designers, architects and brand strategists, not entrepreneurs, investors or developers. We had the capability to understand how the buildings could work from an operational and experiential point of view and we had the experience of profiling guests, understanding their needs and looking for gaps in the market so we just got on with it. As always, we designed with the guests in mind to make sure our designs resonate with people and then we shared our ideas with a potential operator to turn this idea for Tonic into physical spaces that people could enjoy. Next we would’ve needed to work through all the details and our assumptions with the operator.
The original brief may have been to just test-fit one building to see if it could function as a Hotel but part of being creative is always asking questions, it’s a practice that keeps our minds flexible and open.
Collaborators were Hiro Aso, Nicola Law, Tony Wilks, Angel Sanchez, Khue Thuy Tran, Tim Hedley-Jones