Talking with Hotel Magazine, it’s clear that Richard Dalman cares about designing hotels.
“I enjoy the whole hotel scene,” Dalman said.
“I find the people passionate about their industry, be it the CEO or the head housekeeper, and I love the atmosphere of hotels. From a design perspective, I enjoy the challenge of how hotels and their location respond to each other and creating designs to produce an amazing guest experience.”
Richard Dalman is the managing director of Dalman Architects, who has been offering a full range of professional architectural and interior design services for over 20 years.
Behind the scenes, Dalman reads, researches, and travels to hotels around the world to stay up to date with the international hotel design, development and technology trends.
“On a recent trip to Europe, I stayed in an eco-hotel, a prefabricated hotel, a fashion hotel, a cave hotel and a ‘standard’ hotel chain property, with the deliberate intent to experience each type and broaden my hotel experience.”
Dalman takes his time to discover what is meaningful to his clients, the hotel’s location and the essence of its ‘place’, and from there he lets new ideas naturally flow.
A hotel Dalman is particularly proud of working on is Te Waonui Forest Retreat in Franz Josef – a 100 room five-star environmentally sustainable hotel built in the rainforest, which won the 2016 International Property Award for Best Asia Pacific Hotel Architecture.
By the time of publication, they will have just finished working on the Four Points by Sheraton, where Dalman Architects converted a 20-storey building into a 255-room-hotel including adding two levels on top.
Regarding interiors, some of the projects that have stood out are the Diamond Bar at Christchurch casino, Dalman Architects’ work on the George Hotel, and also the Aria Park Retirement Hotel, where the brief required them to create the feel of a five-star resort within the apartments.
Dalman has a strong passion for the hotel industry and has the expertise to blend innovative design with the practical elements essential for a successful hotel operation.
“We have probably designed or refurbished more New Zealand hotels than any other architect or interior designer across a wide variety of brands, as well as boutique independent hotels.”
This experience has taught Dalman the needs of owners, brands, and hotel styles and brings this knowledge to each of his projects.
Dalman Architects are currently working on a few projects out of their Christchurch and Auckland studios. Some of these include a new airport hotel, refurbishing the Christchurch Casino, work at Rydges Queenstown and Rotorua, as well as full refurbishment of the Amora Hotel in Wellington.
For more information call Richard Dalman on 03 3665 445 or email rd@dalman.co.nz.
