Hospitality Design - October 2015 - 50

perspectives

sketchbook

tempo dulu
> Originally built as a private residence in 1823, Portland, Maine's
Danforth Inn was acquired last year by Dutch owners Raymond
Brunyanszki and Oscar Verest, who also own the Relais & Chateaux
Camden Harbour Inn up the coast in Camden. "We always had
difficulties recommending a similar experience in the [Portland]
market to share with our guests," Brunyanszki says. When the Danforth
became available, we knew we had to opportunity to offer our guests a
unique experience in Portland."
In renovating the property, the owners-who handled the design-
added Southeast Asian-style fine dining restaurant Tempo Dulu. To
create the rooms reminiscent of the countries that inspire its cuisine
while still respecting the historical aspects of the building, Brunyanszki
retained the original dark-stained wood floors and juxtaposed them
with crisp white walls and specially made velvet couches and taupe
leather seats from the Netherlands. "The combination of modern Asian
art and some of the light fixtures gives the restaurant an Asian feel,
similar to what you would find in a modern lounge in Singapore or
Bangkok," Brunyanszki explains.
For the bar and lounge, "we wanted to keep the feeling of someone's

house, so the bar needed to be a furniture piece," Brunyanszki says.
Inspired by the bar at the Hermes store in Shanghai, this one was
crafted by a Maine boat builder and spray painted silver with BMW car
paint. Above the bar hang light fixtures with koi fish and Asian-style
flowers, while in the lounge, a large pendant is covered in Norwegian
moss and is kept alive thanks to the natural humidity in the air.

rollick hotels
> For Shawn Bouley, founder and CEO of
Rollick Hotels, coming up with the portable
boutique hotel concept was a no-brainer. "I
was inspired by an article I read a few years
ago about a similar concept in Europe, in a
much smaller and more limited market than
the U.S., and that's when the light bulb went
on," explains Bouley, an events industry
veteran. "When you have SXSW, which
is short 6,000 hotel rooms, or the closest
hotel room to Coachella being 10 miles from
the event site, or Super Bowl rooms being
$650 per night 45 miles from the stadium,
or players' families at the Little League
World Series having to stay an hour away
from Williamsport [Pennsylvania], industry
conventions in San Francisco renting cruise
ships to dock in Oakland, or transportation
companies that have to house 150 bus drivers
to support an event but can't afford room rates,
the puzzle fits together very quickly."
Forget RVs and tents. Rollick suites-
depending on the event, the number can
range from a few to 500-can be set up in
just a few hours on almost any surface, from
a parking lot to a field or a beach. Built in a
20-by-8-foot upcycled shipping container, each

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October 2015 hospitalitydesign.com

suite contains a full bathroom, mini-kitchen,
queen-sized bed, floor-to-ceiling windows, and
a fold down covered deck for an additional
425 square feet of living room space. Designed
by G-pod International, it's retrofitted with
sustainable and organic materials and
finishes. "These attributes, coupled with its
super efficient and highly flexible planning
use options and ability to be easily relocated,

means a minimal footprint-both physically
and environmentally," says Bouley, who is in
talks with different event and hotel companies
and investors to roll out his concept. "Shipping
container architecture is not new, especially
in Europe," he says, "but such a clean, crisp,
snappy boutique-type living space is unique,
especially so as a portable option."
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