Laura Lochhead and her team at Pocketspace Interiors had a big year in 2018. The studio had the opportunity to design The Liberté Hotel, The Wairua Lodge River Retreat, ACG Colleges, Giltrap Group, a Filipino restaurant in Ponsonby as well as a barber, and a dessert bar. The team’s residential department has also been busy working with villas and apartments dotted around Auckland.
Lochhead believes most New Zealand hotels aren’t designed in a way that gets the full use out of the space. She understands that space is longer just space, and now needs to have iconic everlasting moments throughout the property.
“I really feel that hotel rooms aren’t designed right, and a lot of hotels aren’t capitalising the real estate that they have. They all have single-use furniture, making the room one dimensional. What if a table folded down from the wall, or a wardrobe fitting twisted and flexed into the space to hang garments to suit those who like to fully unpack and those who do not? You can buy less but do more with the four walls and ceiling that you have.”
Another imperfection she sees in New Zealand hotel design is something a lot of hotels and motels are guilty of, which is not regularly maintaining and updating their rooms.
“If you say, ‘those chairs have one more year in them’ think again. People are after an experience, personality and a moment of delight when they first open that door, so give it to them.”
Pocketspace is New Zealand’s only small space studio. People approach the studio wanting their space maximised and that is then matched with Pocketspace’s young aesthetic.
Another of its niches is Pocketspace’s three-day turnarounds, which on big projects has been the team’s saving grace, keeping up with site progression and communication.
“First and foremost, we always tackle every project with a list of functional objectives and a list of aesthetic outcomes. Identifying what our unique aesthetic approach is with each project comes from the client’s brand and compliments it with new innovative products and trends in the interior market."
To get in touch with Laura Lochhead and the team at Pocketspace Interiors, email laura@pocketspaceinteriors.com, phone 09 212 6820 or visit www.pocketspaceinteriors.com.
