Boutique Design - May 2018 - 16

the buzz

GLOBAL GURU: ANTHONY MALLOWS
It takes an international outlook to leverage a multinational team. After joining WATG as president and ceo late last year, Mallows is drawing on his multidisciplinary
background and worldwide work experience to lead the firm's expansive network, gauge guest expectations and predict what's next for the industry.
INTERVIEW BY CHRISTINA GREEN

INTERNATIONAL INTEL
With WATG and Wimberly Interiors combined,
we have about 400 people across 11 offices. There's
an incredible level of dynamism within a global
firm. Collaboration and flexibility are key. We're
fortunate to have a strong presence in the U.S.,
Europe, Asia Pacific and China, which means we
can curate project teams based on the specific
needs of each client. We have more than 50
nationalities represented within the firm, so not
only can we find the right design talent for each
project, we have team members that intimately
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understand the cultural nuances of the countries
where our clients are based.
TALENT SCOUTING
With any firm, the biggest challenge is finding
and retaining great talent. The traditional career
approach of working for the same company for 20
years is no longer relevant.
We've done a few things to address this. In
2016, WATG became an employee trust, meaning
everyone who joins the firm and works with us fulltime for two years becomes an owner. This enables
our team to receive additional annual bonuses,
gives them voting rights for our board of directors
and a voice that contributes to the future direction
of the firm.
Secondly, we've started an annual leadership
and development offering called Fortis. Each year,
we select a group of rising stars who participate in a
year-long training program, which includes one-onone mentorship, intensive workshops delivered by
internal and external speakers, and an opportunity
to spend time working on a creative project that has
personal and professional meaning to them.
Earlier this year we launched another new
initiative, Charity Champions. We've assigned
regional representatives in our primary offices
with a budget to contribute boots-on-the-ground
support in destinations that need our help. They
lead planned initiatives to assist in developing or
redeveloping destinations impacted by natural
disasters or economic troubles.

ENVIRONMENTAL OUTLOOK
We're seeing more clients who want to explore
sustainable design and construction, particularly in
the Asia-Pacific region. These aren't necessarily fully
"green" builds, but projects that incorporate urban
techniques such as passive design to better manage
energy consumption, and landscape design methods
that protect and leverage the local environment.
Two of the biggest planning challenges today
are: how to manage the migratory flow of people
moving from rural into urban areas; and how to
protect the world's most precious environmental
resources-our forests and oceans-given the
growing population and the increase of travel and
tourism. We're starting to see some interesting
collaborations between governments and the
private sector, which is encouraging.
GOOD DESIGN VS. GREAT DESIGN
Great hospitality design needs to be timeless and
flexible. But most importantly, design must always
focus on the end user. The difference between
good and great is that good tends to be trendy and
focus purely on aesthetics. Great design is more
strategic, focusing on the psychology of the target
customer and combining those insights with an
innovative approach.
The other important factor in designing for hospitality and entertainment is operational efficiency
with a focus on the staff. It's equally critical that we
design in a way that ensures employees can do their
jobs efficiently and feel good working in the space.

C O U R T E S Y O F WAT G ( M A L L O W S , 3 D - P R I N T E D H O U S E )

THE FUTURE OF HOSPITALITY
This is an exciting period of evolution in the
hospitality sector. Innovation levels are high,
driven by consumers who are less enchanted
by fussy, intrusive service and more focused
on unique experiences. The road less traveled
remains highly aspirational and we (and others)
will find ourselves creating lodging concepts in
more remote and eco-sensitive locations.
Nostalgia and a return to journeys, as opposed to
fast-fix trips, will be other directions. For example,
we recently completed refurbishing the Venice
Simplon-Orient-Express for Belmond (featured in
The Buzz section of the November 2017 edition of
Boutique Design)-the golden age of travel revitalized
with a contemporary twist. (In addition, the firm's
futuristic concept Curve Appeal, the first freeform
3D-printed house [shown], is in the testing, research
and development phase.)

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Boutique Design - May 2018

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