LOS ANGELES and BETHESDA, Md.
Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Steelcase—the workplace furniture and experience design firm—and IDEO, a design consultancy, have announced a collaboration to design, create and test innovative concepts and solutions for the future of work and meetings in hotels.
Leveraging insights from IDEO and Steelcase, Marriott aspires to revolutionize hosted work environments in hotels, while opening a dialogue around the evolving needs, desires and mindset of the Gen X and Gen Y global business traveler.
The hotelier’s general managers are trying out ten prototypes that create new technology, space, and service experiences for meetings and work and will report back to the partnership to aid in final product development.
"By 2013, almost 35 percent of the global workforce will work without an office. We are designing hotels for a new generation that is used to working how, where and often times whenever they want," said Paul Cahill, senior vice president of brand management at Marriott. "We are excited to collaborate on the Future of Work, a working innovation lab designed to create solutions that innovate, elevate and evolve the hotel work experience."
