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GROUPN publishes articles once or twice a week reviewing, postulating and forecasting trends in the world of entertainment and lifestyle design.
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How to make more money from your pokies – Design Principles for Gaming Rooms
In our recent articles, we’ve discussed many of the issues facing the Club industry and what Clubs can be doing to reinvigorate their offering. In Pubs vs Clubs 1, we touched on how pokies provided a financial windfall that helped propel Clubs to significance in the 70s, 80s and 90s and the recent competition from…
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“Breaking the Club Mould.”
In our last article Pubs vs Clubs 2 – The fight for hospitality supremacy… we discussed what members of the Club industry thought was holding them back and what they could be doing better. One of the key issues raised was the perceived stigma of going to a Club. We discussed how there is a…
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Pubs vs Clubs – Round 2. The fight for hospitality supremacy…
Back in January, we wrote an article entitled Pubs vs Clubs – why Pubs are streaking ahead and what Clubs can do to close the gap…
The article was widely discussed and circulated within the industry and became the topic of many a conversation when we’ve been doing our rounds.
The article was intended to be a bit controversial and provoke a reaction from Club Management and Boards – and that it did! -
Is your venue Insta-worthy? How Instagram and social media is shaping entertainment and lifestyle design
In our article THINK_2019 we discussed the year ahead for hospitality and entertainment design. We looked at what’s in and what’s out in 2019, and how to position yourself to be relevant without being a victim of design trend-setters. In an earlier article, Pubs vs Clubs, we looked at the recent strength of the Pub and…
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How to prevent a budget blowout Part 2 – Top 10 reasons budget blowouts occur
In our previous post, we looked at how cost plans should be used as a tool in the design process. We discussed how cost plans should be undertaken at pre-determined milestones and that if the project is over budget, affirmative action should be taken to bring the project back on budget by making changes to…
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How to prevent a budget blowout Part 1 – the use of Cost Plans as a tool, not a report
In previous articles, we’ve looked at a famous example of a flawed business case and flawed briefing processes. In this article, we’re referencing an even more famous piece of Architecture – The Sydney Opera House. Today, the Sydney Opera House is considered one of the most successful examples of civic Architecture; it is known globally;…
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Beyond beauty – Top 10 functional considerations when planning your next refurbishment
In our last post we looked at the year ahead for entertainment and lifestyle design. We led with a discussion about Instagram-ability and how it’s become a huge thing. In today’s Instagram and social media-driven world it’s easy to think that the aesthetic design decisions are the elements of a refurbishment that will have the biggest…
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THINK_2019 – the year ahead for entertainment and lifestyle design
By Becci Finn
As we exit the 4th week of January most people have returned to work. So we thought this was a good juncture to discuss the year ahead for entertainment and lifestyle design. Last week we touched on some of the broader challenges facing the Club industry when we discussed Pubs vs Clubs – why Pubs are…
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Pubs vs Clubs – why Pubs are streaking ahead and what Clubs can do to close the gap…
Prior to 1997 Clubs had a big advantage over pubs – revenue from poker machines.
Together with entertainment on a grand scale, when Clubs hosted big bands and shows in the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s, pokies provided a financial windfall that fuelled growth in the industry. -
How to avoid an ‘elephant in the room’! When good design doesn’t start with design – Part 2… why the ‘Return Brief’ is the most important part of the design process
In our previous article, we discussed business case; the importance of projects proceeding based on numbers, not gut feel; and how to avoid ending up with a white elephant. This week we discuss the designers Return Brief; why it’s the most critical part if the design process; and why the return brief is such an…
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How to avoid ‘white elephants’! When good design doesn’t start with design – Part 1… the importance of business case.
Architects and Interior Designers love designing. It’s our passion, and it’s what we’re good at. But more often than not ‘good design’ doesn’t start with design, drawings or pretty pictures! Good design is only as good as the design brief, and the design brief is only as good as the business case that has informed…
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The F-word in hospitality design… FAMILIES and the rise of the KID-ustomer!
By Becci Finn
Recently, on a popular national radio show the comedian host shared the story of having visited a local café with his children for breakfast. Upon receiving their meals they requested tomato sauce only to be told that the café didn’t offer ‘sauces like that’. The hot topic threw open a range of discussion themes –…
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Limited budget? How to achieve big results from small changes with intelligent design
By Becci Finn
Big changes for small change… Putting in place a long term Strategic Development Plan (or Masterplan) is critical to steer any business toward ongoing success. However, grand visions can take time to execute and budgetary limitations often mean that they’re rolled out over a period of years or sometimes decades. Whilst it’s easy to get…
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The extra dimension of ‘Layering’ in hospitality design that will keep customers coming back to your venue
By Becci Finn
Have you recently completed renovations to your venue and have a sense it is missing something? Or perhaps have the feeling that your spaces are not as warm and inviting as they could be? Fourteen seasons of the reality television show ‘The Block’ have ticked by (where does the time go?!) and it is safe…
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The use of ‘zoning’ in hospitality design: what is it and why do you need to do it
By Becci Finn
Today, going out to socialise is about more than just the food; the drinks; the entertainment; or even the company. It’s also about the experience and how it makes people feel. Customers expect great food and drinks, but they also expect to be ‘wowed’ by an inspiring venue whilst feeling comfortable and at ease. One…
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Where to start to make your venue the next ‘hot-spot’
By Becci Finn
The journey to making your venue the next ‘hot-spot’ can be long and arduous. We’re often asked… “where do we start?” Our response is usually to recommend hitting the road and doing a venue tour to see what others are doing well to create a frame of reference. Venue or research tours can range in…
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5 Key Features of Stress Free Projects
By Becci Finn
Clarity and certainty are the keys to success for any project. When guided by these principals the results set the scene for lasting design partnerships. If your venue is currently undertaking or contemplating development or refurbishment, this may be a good junction to review your formula for building an optimum design partnership. Most hospitality venues…
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Rethinking Retirement – Designing for the Third Age
By Marc Nicholas Our ability to live longer than in any other time in history is fuelling a re-think in the design and construction of architecture for aging. Those aged over 55, a period now known as the Third Age, have higher expectations than previous generations in terms of innovative design and features in senior…
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Connectivity and Flexibility in Retirement – the Rise of the Vertical Village
Connectivity and flexibility have historically had little to do with retirement living, but vertical villages are slowly changing this model. The emerging niche – medium or high rise apartment buildings specifically designed for urban retirees – is fast rising within the $28 million aged care sector, and we’re starting to see developments appear by major…
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Family Friendly Dining – Restaurant Design for the Cool Kids
Nothing brings more joy to any family than shared fun filled and exciting experiences. No matter whether it’s primarily for the benefit of the children or the family as a unit, it’s the shared lifestyle experience and joint participation that counts, that brings growth and happiness. Contemporary families have expectations of restaurants and hospitality providers…
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Hospitality & the Booming Baby Boomers
“What you are is where you were….when you were being value programmed” was a video that accompanied Dr. Morris Massey’s book ‘The People Puzzle’ published in 1979. It identified generations according to age and ‘Baby Boomers’ became the phrase to identify children now middle aged. The life values of this post-war group are quite specific:…
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How Multi-generational Housing is Changing the Ideal of the Great Australian Dream
How can designers of the next generation of housing meet competing and changing needs? Australians have long been emphatic about each generation acquiring a ‘home of our own’. Parents remained in the family home as long as they are able and children leave to study, travel, work, and finally to have a family and get…
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Adaptable Learning Spaces
Adaptable spaces are surely necessary for the variety of forms that these encounters manifest in. Contemporary humans change careers with consummate ease, which brings to the fore the challenge of designing spaces which promote lateral thinking and instil in children a conviction of unhindered potential. A child whose surroundings engender an association of learning with…
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The Architecture of Catholic Sacred Space: Telos
Reflecting on the manner in which we procure architectural projects and the associated finished product reveals a dichotomy between the abstract and the practical. That is, the conceptual thought that through development becomes the built reality. In many respects this process, and more particularly the basis of first principle design theory, reminds me of a…
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Design for Holistic Learning
Over the past few decades, the experience of childhood in Australia and elsewhere has been drastically reshaped by technology. The information age has reset the terms by which children learn, play, relate and communicate, whether it be institutionally or otherwise: more than anything else, the internet remains the greatest influence on modern education. Very soon,…
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The Homes of Retiring Baby Boomers
There are more opportunities than ever to embrace the growing market that is Seniors Housing, and even more opportunities as Architects to respond to the new generation of Baby Boomers who are moving into retirement living. The current thinking about Seniors Living is to provide the opportunity to “Age in Place”. Although there will always…
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