Hotel Design

A reprint from American Scientist the magazine of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

This reprint is provided for personal and noncommercial use. For any other use, please send a request to Permissions, American Scientist, P.O. Box 13975, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, U.S.A., or by electronic mail to [email protected]. ©Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society and other rightsholders ENGINEERING

HOTEL DESIGN

Henry Petroski

esign is ubiquitous, for everything delib- To engineers, design typically has less to do Derately made and done is necessarily de- with aesthetics and appearance and more to do signed. Sometimes the design is quite with fabrication and performance. Engineers tend overt, as when a painter composes a landscape to focus on the structure behind the façade. They according to received aesthetic principles, or a worry about how the building will be built, how poet shapes a sonnet following a strict form. Oth- it will stand, whether it will sway too much in er designs are less obviously or less explicitly the wind, whether it will survive an earthquake, thought about, as when a person adjusts water whether it will crack or leak. Engineers designing flow from a faucet to achieve the preferred tem- the structural frame of hotel buildings take into perature or when we walk along familiar streets account the strength and stiffness of ballroom to reach a destination. The word design has a floors, where large crowds will gather and rhyth- plethora of denotations and connotations, and it mic dancing will occur. Engineers are expected to is to this multiplicity of meanings that we owe at think about how a building will be heated and least in part the confusion and ambiguity that of- cooled, how air will circulate among its spaces, ten accompanies the word’s use. Even within the how energy efficient it will be. In the ideal world, relatively narrow scope of the activity of profes- the design efforts of architects and engineers com- sional designers, design means different things plement each other, resulting in a building that is in different contexts. both a joy to look at and a pleasure to use. But all Architects and engineers engage in design quite too often in practice, things do not mesh, and the explicitly, and they typically do so with distinct users of the building pay the price. objectives. Architects tend to focus on form over In most buildings, the work of the architect function, whereas engineers tend to do the oppo- masks, cloaks and hides the work of the engi- site. To many an architect, the design of a building neer. Architectural criticism typically ignores the has firstly to do with how it looks—both inside structure underlying the skin, and naturally fo- and out—and how it fits in with nearby buildings. cuses on what architects focus on. Engineering Architects are also expected to give considerable criticism is almost unheard of in public discus- thought to how the building will be used, how sions of building design, although it does some- people will move through it, how it will feel, al- times come to the fore when a building’s struc- though such considerations do not always seem to ture or machinery is exposed, as it is in the John be foremost in their minds judging by results. In- Hancock Center in Chicago or the Centre deed, if architectural criticism is taken at face val- Georges Pompidou in Paris, or when buildings ue, architects do seem to be principally concerned come undone, as in the case of collapse of the with the texture of a building’s façade, the ap- World Trade Center towers. As a rule, the engi- pearance of its public spaces, the furniture with neering aspects of buildings do not receive near- which it is filled. Architects seem to pay close ly as much attention as do those of obviously en- attention to details, even down to the nature of gineered structures like observation towers and the lighting fixtures and the hardware on doors bridges, the case for the structural criticism of and windows, but not always to how they will be which has been made so effectively by David operated or how they will fulfill their purpose. Billington of Princeton University. Nevertheless, such considerations collectively con- stitute architectural and interior design. To the Point The ability of architecture to overwhelm engineering, and the abuses of function that can be Henry Petroski is the A. S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering committed in the name of form, were brought and a professor of history at Duke University. He is also chair- man of the History and Heritage Committee of the American So- home to me on a recent trip to the United King- ciety of Civil Engineers. His latest book, Small Things Consid- dom. Our group was touring historic and modern ered: Why There Is No Perfect Design, recently published by civil engineering sites in England, Scotland and Alfred A. Knopf, deals with design in everyday life. Address: Wales, where plaques were dedicated recogniz- Box 90287, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0287 ing such international historic civil engineering

© 2004 Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Reproduction 490 American Scientist, Volume 91 with permission only. Contact [email protected]. Figure 1. 1914 façade of the Point Hotel (left) contrasts sharply with the glass-fronted Point Conference Center to its right. (Photograph courtesy of Edinburgh Contemporary Architecture, http://www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk)

sites as Thomas Telford’s Menai Strait and Conwy examples of hotel architecture and interiors from suspension bridges, both wonderful examples of all over the world.” the seamless unity that can be achieved between On first entering the hotel, after a long day’s form and function. A plaque was also placed on coach ride from Chester via Newcastle, we were Robert Stephenson’s tubular railway bridge at struck by the starkness and hardness of the place. Conwy, an excellent example of considerations of There were none of the soft-textured chairs, sofas, function overwhelming those of form. The tour carpets, tapestries or flowers commonly associat- ended in Edinburgh, and the hotel that was ed with a hotel lobby. Indeed, the only object in booked for several members of our group was the long, open, irregular space is a large cylindri- apparently chosen on the basis of cost and prox- cal column, no doubt an indispensable part of imity to the city’s famous castle. Edinburghers the building’s structure and so unremovable. The whom we asked to meet us at the hotel alerted us only decoration, if that is the proper term, con- to the fact that its location was actually in a ques- sists of brightly colored walls and exposed neon- tionable part of town, and the building was vari- tube lights. According to Andrew Doolan, the ously described as once having been a depart- hotel’s architect and owner: ment store and a cooperative market. The concept behind the hotel was simple—to The Point Hotel is so named because it is lo- provide reasonably priced bedroom accom- cated in a flatiron building that was constructed modations above a ground floor bar-restau- on a piece of property lying at the acute intersec- rant in a contemporary manner, of a standard tion of Bread Street and West Port Street, which is appropriate to a capital city. The foyer illus- a continuation of the street known as Grassmar- trates the minimal approach to interior design ket, after its historical use as a sort of farmer’s throughout the hotel, relying on sharp detail- market. The Point Hotel’s building itself dates ing, bold colours and dramatic lighting com- from 1914, and its attractive exterior fabric above bined with a general lack of clutter. the ground floor remains essentially intact. How- ever, the street level façade has been opened up Andrew Doolan Architects certainly carried out with modern glass display-window walls behind the aesthetic program outlined by its principal. which sit a bar and a restaurant flanking the ho- When the elevator opened to the floor on which tel entrance. The hotel, which opened in 1995, our rooms were located, we found ourselves was recognized the following year by Scotland’s walking out into another large, open, unadorned Royal Incorporation of Architects with a prestig- space whose triangular shape suggested the core ious Regeneration Design Award. A lobby in the of a flatiron building along whose outside walls hotel is pictured on the dust jacket of Hotel De- were guest bedrooms. The hallway leading back sign, the self-proclaimed “bible of style for archi- to our room featured the same use of color and tects, interior designers and the hotel industry,” light and little else to distinguish its space from which includes the Point among “fifty of the best that of all other public places in the hotel.

© 2004 Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Reproduction www.americanscientist.org with permission only. Contact [email protected]. 2003 November–December 491 fore the mirror and a boxy black leather sofa sat against the opposite wall. The only other furniture in the room was a king-size bed, a single glass-topped bedside table and a dark wardrobe whose severe lines allowed it to blend into the dark corner into which it was tucked. It should be needless to say that there was neither base- board nor cornice between walls and floor and high ceiling. The room was striking in its minimal approach and lack of clutter, but we paid little more attention to it as we dressed quickly for dinner. The four nights we were to spend in our room would give us ample opportunity to experience it as an object of design and as a textbook example of the constraints, choices and compro- mises that every designer must face with every design. In the end, our room would serve not only as Everyroom in Everyhotel but as Every- object of Everydesign, at least as interpreted by one engineer.

Group Review The talk at dinner began, not surprisingly, with an early review of the unusual rooms in which our party resided. Those occupying front rooms overlooking Bread Street complained immediately of how hot they were and how the only window,

Catherine Petroski which could be opened no more than about four Figure 2. Rooms in the Point Hotel are long and narrow, with a mini- inches, had to be covered with the closed drapes malist approach to furnishing and decoration. to achieve any privacy, thus blocking any breeze that might bring relief. Such complaints had noth- The raison d’etre of a hotel is its rooms, of ing to do with Americans travelling abroad—they course, and it is in the rooms that a hotel suc- had everything to do with the frustrations people ceeds or fails as far as tired travelers are con- everywhere experience with designs everywhere. cerned. Our travel companions were assigned The windows could only be opened so far, be- rooms overlooking Bread Street, which we as- cause of safety regulations, according to discreet sumed provided them a view of Edinburgh street signs their frames bore. Perhaps the restriction life, if not the castle. We felt a bit of disappoint- was put in force to prevent children from falling or ment when we located our room, which over- large objects from being thrown out the window. looked the backs of apartment buildings and a In any case, we had found some relief in our room long narrow parking lot. However, it was late, it by opening the window to its maximum, leaving was hot, and we were due down in the restau- the drapes open, and allowing the air to be pulled rant in 15 minutes, so we resigned ourselves to through the room and into the bathroom, where staying for four days in the room we were given. there was an exhaust vent with a strong draw. To Our schedule in Edinburgh promised that we achieve some degree of comfort, we had to sacri- would spend little time in the room anyway. fice some degree of privacy. After noting its location, we looked more In the meantime, the drinks we had ordered closely at the room itself and found its appear- had arrived. Those of us drinking native single- ance to be wholly consistent with the lobby, foyer malt Scotch whiskey were very pleased with our and hallway through which we had passed. The choice, but those who had ordered a martini, that room was a very long and narrow rectangle, distinctively American drink, were not pleased which I later paced off to be almost 35 feet long with theirs. Liquor and cocktails are, of course, by 10 feet wide, out of which was carved a 7- products of design that are highly culture-depen- foot-square bathroom. As with most hotel rooms, dent. They also show dramatically how much the bathroom was walled off in one corner, be- variation there can be in things that go under the side the entry door, leaving a narrow passage same name. There were dozens of different single into the bedroom/sitting area. The longest wall malts lined up behind the bar, and, like wine, each in the room bore the most color, comprising as it of them has its own distinctive aroma, flavor, tex- did overlapping rectangles of blue Plexiglas—no ture, taste, and bite. Part of the pleasure in drink- doubt designed to double as protection for the ing any one of them—in Scotland or anywhere wall from banging luggage—and of painted yel- else—is in its distinctiveness. Martinis also come low, and a tall, silvery mirror over a long and in a wide variety of designs, from dry to very dry, narrow desk/dresser. A minimalist chair sat be- with or without olives or onions, and shaken or

492 American Scientist, Volume 91 © 2004 Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Reproduction with permission only. Contact [email protected]. stirred. But martini drinkers expect a predictable basket under the sink, covered by a lid operated taste. Unfortunately, a dry martini means different by a foot pedal. Unfortunately, when I reached things to different bartenders, and one is ordered under the sink with my foot to push down on outside of a familiar setting with a certain degree the pedal, the whole wastebasket slid on the floor of risk. Whatever our experiences with the drinks, into the corner, clanking to a stop against it and everyone agreed that dinner was excellent, and then clanking again when the top flipped up and we rushed off to the after-dinner wine-and-short- hit against the tile and tub. To throw refuse into bread reception welcoming us to Edinburgh. the can was an exercise in contortion, and I My wife and I slept well that night, on mat- missed as many baskets as I made. tress and pillows whose designs were well The commode itself proved to be poorly posi- matched to our tired bodies and heads and in a tioned, for its space was encroached on by the al- room that was remarkably quiet for being in a ways-on heated towel rack, making it necessary major city. On awaking refreshed the next morn- to sit slightly askew or risk having one’s leg ing, however, the design deficiencies specific to burned. Furthermore, since the bathroom door our room in the Point, and at the same time rep- opened against the towel rack, there was a resentative of those in so many hotels we have doorstop fastened to the floor to prevent them stayed in over the years, began to present them- coming into contact. Unfortunately, the stop was selves. And the more things we noticed, the more located where one would normally place a foot that seemed to present themselves. (In contrast, when using the commode, thus further requir- our fellow travelers, whom we would join at ing the user to be further askew to the fixture. breakfast, spoke little about their rooms other The toilet paper holder was thoughtfully placed than to note how the loud noise from the bars beneath them in the hotel and across the street kept them awake most of the night.) My review of our hotel room began immediately that morning. The bathroom was not im- possibly small, but neither was it large. My first impression of it was that the design of the room—the arrangement of its fixtures—repre- sented an admirable solution to fitting the requi- site elements into the confined space. The location of the tub/shower relative to the doorway is usually a no-brainer, and so it was in this bathroom, seeming to be just where it should be— along the wall to the right of the door. There was a showerhead fixed high on the wall, a welcome

sight to two tall Americans in a foreign hotel, Catherine Petroski with the flow controlled by a familiar device— Figure 3. Sofa, although rigid in appearance, proved quite comfortable. another very welcome sight. The hot water came up quickly, and it was easy to regulate—a won- where it could be seen and was in easy reach of derful way to start the day. the user. However, it was mounted on a thin After showering, however, the design defi- plasterboard wall that magnified the sound of ciencies of the room began to present themselves the paper tube’s rotation like a gong responding in torrents. The only towel rack was across the to the roll of a hammer. room from the tub, and the robe hook on the Each of these little annoyances could have back of the door was barely large enough to hold been avoided or at least mitigated by different a washcloth. The towel rack was of the heated design decisions, but different choices may have kind, and so it was fully occupied drying laun- merely resulted in different frustrations and dis- dry we had done the night before. (There was no appointments—for the user or the owner or the retractable clothesline over the tub.) Because of designer. For example, the door could have been the arrangement, I had put my folded bath towel fitted to open to the other side of the room. This on the wash basin next to the tub, from where it would have eliminated the need to put the was easily reached. Standing before the wash doorstop in the awkward position, but it would basin, I admired the large well-lighted mirror, but also have made entering the small bathroom as I began to shave I noticed that the right side of more difficult. Several spotlights could have been my face was in shadow. Looking up, I saw that installed instead of just a single one, but this the only light source in the bathroom was a small would have created added expense for the own- spotlight centered above the mirror. It made for a er of the hotel and interfered with the designer’s striking design when viewed from the doorway, achieving his goal of “minimal approach to inte- but being directed as it was to the small space rior design.” The pursuit of perfection in any de- between the sink and the commode, it did not sign is an elusive quest, indeed. make for a fully useful shaving or reading light. When I finished in the bathroom, I realized that There was a small but handsome chrome waste- I had used the only set of towels that had been www.americanscientist.org © 2004 Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Reproduction 2003 November–December 493 with permission only. Contact [email protected]. placed in there. My wife was calling down to the the bed, so that we could lie down without turn- front desk for a second set when I discovered that ing our necks to their maximum sideways angle to there was one in the wardrobe, hardly the place watch CNN, something we did surprisingly little we expected to find extra towels. While she was of anyway during our stay. in the shower, I began to dress and was reminded On our last evening in Edinburgh, we finally of how frustrating I find hotel hangers that are had some time to sit on the couch and relax a bit designed to discourage their adoption as sou- before packing for our return to the U.S. We had venirs. Rather than having the conventional hook bought some Scottish smoked salmon, cheese, fruit that we have learned to hang on a closet pole and wine to enjoy quietly in the room after a week without looking, many hotels have hangers with- of restaurant meals and of receptions, lunches and out hooks. Instead, their shafts end in a nail head dinners hosted by local engineering groups. The designed to be fit into a slot that seldom seems to couch proved to be surprisingly comfortable, in be in the right place or of the right width. When spite of its rigid-looking box-like shape. Since there we eventually do get them in place, the hangers was no coffee table on which to place our food and often fall out because the plastic or metal hanging drink, I relocated to the floor the telephone and bands have been damaged—perhaps by guests whatever else was on the single bedside table and frustrated in their attempts to hang up a shirt or a carried it over to set before the couch. pair of pants. And the hookless hangers are use- Though it may sound like our stay at the Point less for drying laundry, since they cannot be hung Hotel consisted only of frustrations and disap- from anything in the bathroom. pointments, it did not. Our room without a view When I finally did get my clothes properly was quiet and really quite comfortable even during arranged on hangers, I found myself trapped by some pretty hot days for Edinburgh. The location the wardrobe. As long as the room was, the bed of the hotel made it easy to walk to a shop when I was crowded toward its near end, leaving little ran out of shaving cream and when I needed some room between it and the wardrobe when it was Band-Aids. It was also an easy walk to a small food closed. When the wardrobe was open, its right store, and the bar downstairs served good whiskey door blocked all entry or exit from the space. The and was even capable of making a reasonable dry bed could not be relocated toward the emptier martini under the proper direction. Breakfasts part of the room because it had to be centered were good and plentiful, and the main tourist at- beneath the reading lamps installed on the wall tractions of Edinburgh were within walking dis- above it and between the switches that controlled tance, if enough time were available. The Point Ho- them. This situation also offered an explanation tel, as easy as it is to criticize, does effectively and for why there was no table on my side of the admirably meet a “minimal approach” design ide- bed—something I noticed the night before when al, albeit an architecture/interior-design (and pos- I had to set my alarm clock and eyeglasses down sibly economic)-oriented one that emphasizes form on the floor. Had there been a table there, the left- over function, façade over frame, fashion over fa- hand door of the wardrobe could not have been miliarity, frugality over flamboyance. opened unless the wardrobe was relocated away Pointing out the failings of something does not from the corner, a position that in turn would necessarily diminish the accomplishment of the have made it more difficult to get into and out of design, as all design is always difficult. To expect bed and probably would have interfered with the everything to be completely right in all respects uncluttered aesthetic. all of the time is unrealistic. It is like expecting to Redesigning the room with the wardrobe far- find a good martini in a country where whiskey is ther from the corner was also impeded by a ther- prized. The necessity of designers to limit their fo- mostat-like device set into the wall. What this cus, to choose among constraints and ultimately to “Luma Stat” device actually controlled or how it compromise in everything that they do virtually was operated never became clear to me. There guarantees that no matter how perfect any prod- were two small bulbs on the device, a red one la- uct of design might at first seem, there will always beled “Heating” and a yellow one labeled be details, aspects, parts to criticize. The best criti- “Boost,” which were always illuminated. We cism is constructive, in the sense that it points out could find no operating instructions in the room. how the next hotel, chair, corkscrew or any other In fact, perhaps in keeping with the minimalist object can be made better—closer to the ideal. But aesthetic (or marketing of minimal overhead?) neither architects nor engineers can ever expect to there was no guide to guest services or any hotel execute the perfect design. Even if they avoid fo- stationery anywhere to be found. We ignored the cusing too much on form or too much on func- wall device, since in spite of the lights being on, it tion—each necessarily at some expense to the oth- did not seem to be controlling anything, and I er—they always face choices among constraints placed my suitcase beneath it—on the room’s only that force them in the end to compromise. luggage caddy. My wife’s side of the room had no place to put her suitcase, and so she first used the Bibliography couch and later the top of the dresser/desk. She Billington, David P. 1983. The Tower and the Bridge: The New had made room for her bag by moving the televi- Art of Structural Engineering. New York: Basic Books. sion from the far end of the desk to the end nearer Riewoldt, Otto. 1998. Hotel Design. London: Laurence King.