The advent of the so-called ‘boutique’ hotel has reinvigorated the colour palette somewhat; wiped away the cobwebs of blandness and (the good ones) have boldly shaken the colour spectrum, and no doubt brushed a few kicking and screaming hoteliers with shades of pink, gold, lime green and a host of bold patterns to boot. Now the big boys are following suit as the retinas of the next set of Gen-this and Gen-thats need alternative stimuli when they look up from their Playstations and X-boxes in order to relax, work, sleep or even just stare at the walls.

 

There are some of us, myself amongst them, who have never had an X-box and were probably old enough to have had an A-box beta version, so the ‘retro’ trend in design is a welcome addition. Flock is back with new treatments and textures. Oversized patterns create excellent twists on traditional patterns especially when combined with colours that rebel against the traditional pairings, allowing walls to make statements rather than divide spaces. Alternative materials to paper and ink also produce stunning effects with the use of natural and handcrafted commodities such as wood, shell and fibre plus metals, glass and minerals. Man-made synthetic treatments and products are also adding new dimensions and vistas to what was once mere functionality. Brand loyalty is still an extremely strong factor in choosing a wallcovering, but environmentally minded companies that can create a wide range of styles are quickly gaining popularity.

 

Bart Minne of Euro Design Asia notes this growing trend of moving towards greener more environmentally sustainable products such as non-woven products rather than PVC. He says that colours are more subdued; “A great concept that we bring to the market is the full spectrum colour collection from Jacobsen and Balla.” Full spectrum colours come from paint that has been mixed using every colour in the light spectrum, but in exact and often minute amounts. The result should be that colours look extremely natural and appear to glow from within because of the complete absence of black­ imitating the way colours appear in nature.

Minne says that owners are spending less to get more: meaning they are spending less money on bulk products (corridors and guestrooms) and spend more on eye catching areas (ballroom, F&B outlets, lobbies). They are looking for striking and original designs for these areas.

 

J Lee Rofkind, creative director of BUZ Design, loves all the Maya Romanoff wallcoverings sold by Hong Kong distributor Altfield Interiors.  “Their new lines of vinyls suit our hospitality projects: the snakeskins are slinky, and the handmade prints are rich and wonderful.  They're also doing some amazing things with crystals that will certainly turn up on our casino projects.” Designers are also looking toward hi-tech surfaces especially those that can enhance the pattern and create ambience with light and colour. Rofkind agrees, “If we could only find a wallcovering with programmable LED lighting to change colours and flash messages, we would be set!” Perhaps, we are not yet ready for messages such as, “The fish is off.” Designers Ingo Maurer and Jonas Samson however are pushing boundaries and are at the forefront of this light-emitting wallpaper revolution.

 

With Jonas Samson's high-tech light-emitting wallpaper, it's possible to use a two-dimensional flat surface as a light source instead of a 3D object. As long as the wallpaper is turned ‘off’, it is indistinguishable as a source of light. Instead, it is just what it appears to be: wallpaper. Ingo Maurer has produced wall lighting that replicates wallpaper using LEDs, but the acclaimed lighting designer is now focussing on producing lamps that use OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes), extremely energy efficient mediums being researched by the General Electric Co (GE).

 

Walls themselves could become our light source in the very near future. As OLED sheets could also make light sources out of everyday things, GE imagines putting OLEDs on the inside of window blinds -- pull them down, light them up, and you have light streaming from the window, even at night. You could even make OLED wallpaper, since the material is flexible. But pricing will be an issue for some time until manufacturing processes are established for mass production. The future is bright but for now we may have to be inventive with what we have.