NEWH: A NEW YEAR – TIME FOR REFLECTION AND LOOKING AHEAD

Posted in Business on 12 February, 2018

After a strong and positive 2017, have a look back at some of the key events of the past year, while keep abreast of what’s to come this year…

Out with the old

After a very positive year for NEWH, the UK chapter board members enjoyed a Christmas Dinner at Aster, Victoria where they looked back on the recent events.

Clarke & Clarke, hosted a drinks reception for fellow NEWH members and friends at the annual Sleep Event at the Business Design Centre.   

The second hotel tour for the year was the much-anticipated ‘The Ned’, by Soho House. Led through the soaring heights of the open plan layout (which houses no less than seven restaurants), members got to visit the public and function areas as well as comparing the traditional and contemporary suites before being treated to live music by a series of up and coming artists.

In with the new 

To celebrate the three 2018 UK Top ID winners announced in issue 5|17 of SPACE, an awards event will take place on Thursday 22 February, generously sponsored by Roca and hosted at the Roca London Gallery, designed by Zaha Hadid.   

AD Associates, RPW Design and Woods Bagot will each give a company presentation to showcase their winning project and give members and guests an insight into the ethos of their company and what inspires them.

To RSVP to the Top ID event, please contact Kelly at:

KHopper@benjaminwestlondon.com

With education remaining at the forefront of NEWH’s core values, the 2018 calendar promises a colourful and exciting array of activities and events. Members will have the opportunity to hone their photography skills at an evening class, set their creativity free at a graffiti event and tee off at a golfing day out. 

Continuing to explore the latest openings in the London hotel industry, there will be a hotel tour in April, a number of socials and a BRE event that will focus on sustainability for the built environment.

The Annual Fundraiser takes place in June (date and location TBC) where the 2018 student scholarship winners will be announced and presented with their awards. This year sees the introduction of a round-table discussion, hosting a variety of industry experts to offer their opinions and advice on a range of hospitality related topics.

Q&A with Jed Maiden, 2016 Scholarship Winner  

The ultimate aim of NEWH events is to raise money to provide scholarships for students pursuing a career in the hospitality industry. For a number of years, Ravensbourne College have been the participating institution and in 2016, Jed Maiden was one of the scholarship recipients. He discusses how winning the award has boosted his career, and gave him a helping hand in the industry…..

What has winning the award meant to you?

It was a great confidence boost that propelled the ambition of my final year projects. The people I’ve met along the way have been fantastic and supportive, helping to open many doors for me.

Since then, you have gone on to achieve great things, including being part of the winning design team for the new playground at Robert Owen Nursery School. Some might say NEWH have an eye for spotting talent early on! Talk us through what you’ve been up to since then.

Robert Owen was a fun project I worked on with a collective of friends from university, which hopefully should come to fruition in the new year if the right funds are reached. Before this we have produced a live build cafe interior for Coffee Ethic and a stage for Boom Town music festival. In university, I was nominated for the RIBA Bronze medal, after which I received a permanent designer roll at Eight Inc design studio.

What inspires your work the most?

My university work focused around the relevance of public space in the 21st century, leading me to study various historical examples and how behaviours changes between people and technology. In terms of inspiration, I enjoy the work of various architects who blend innovative experimental design with meaningful social agendas, like Bernard Tshumi and Cedric Price.

If you hadn’t chosen design as a career, what other path might you have taken?

Oddly, I had work experience in a pharmacy having acquired science related A Levels. I very nearly went down that route…

Now a young professional within the hospitality design industry, what advice would you give to students today?

Don’t worry that you don’t know exactly what you want to do. I never studied art academically until my university foundation year. I studied large-scale architecture but I now have work in an interior architecture firm. If you take opportunities, it figures itself out.