James Young – a fourth-year student studying for a Masters in Architecture at the Canterbury School of Architecture – was selected as the winner of the 2013 Sleep ReardonSmith Student Award at the European Hotel Design Awards last month. For the second year running, ReardonSmith Architects joined forces with Sleep to create the competition, which set the brief to masterplan a new luxury hotel and residential marina development on the Southern Adriatic coast.
Patrick Reardon, executive chairman at ReardonSmith, says: “Our aim is to inspire today’s budding talent to think seriously about the design of hotels and resorts, which is an economically and culturally significant sector, while having fun.
“James’ submission stood out for its sensitive interpretation of the brief and also for its regard toward the surrounding landscape, cleverly merging the development into the topography of the land.”
James adds: “Winning the Sleep ReardonSmith student award, as well as being a great honour, has also reassured me that movement outside of my comfort zone is a great way to discover my own abilities.
“Hotel design is a field within architecture of increasing interest to me as a student, due to its dynamic nature and parallels between social and economic development. The most exciting realised, conceptual and thought-provoking designs often derive from hotel schemes.”
