Accor Unveils The Winners Of The 2024 Accor Design Awards X Sofitel At The Maison&objet Fair

A creative melting pot

Accor has chosen the Maison&Objet Fair in Paris – a meeting place for business and creative interaction between global players in the world of decor, design and art de vivre – to announce, on September 5, the winners of the 2024 Accor Design Awards, held this year in partnership with Sofitel. The event is the ideal showcase for a competition that has been running since 2016 and attracts architecture and interior design students from all over the world to tackle key aspects of hotel design.

Envisioning the luxury hotel of the future

For this eighth edition and to kick off a biannual series on the theme of luxury, competitors were asked to imagine the luxury hotel of tomorrow. In honor of Sofitel’s sixtieth birthday, students worked on this iconic Group brand. The challenge they faced was to reinvent the future of luxury hospitality and liven up the guest experience through immersive, contemporary and engaged design. This innovative concept would offer guests and employees alike a unique immersive experience combining art, culture and sustainable design with a dash of French-style art de vivre.

A successful 2024 competition

Demonstrating their appeal among future global design talents, the Accor Design Awards attracted nearly 100 applications from competitors studying at some 20 schools in 8 countries across 4 continents. Now the judging panel – chaired this year by designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán, whose designs include Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo Panama, opened at the end of 2022, the rooftop restaurant at Sofitel Athens Airport, officially opened just a year ago, and the Maison Delano Paris hotel – must select the winners from among ten finalists. The 2024 edition brought together an extensive design community supported by sponsors Laufen, Roca, Flos, Led C4, Ligne Roset and JVD.

“One of the key aims is to contribute to the future of design in the hospitality sector by offering a far-sighted perspective on what guests expect when it comes to culture, sustainability and well-being. The Accor Design Awards are a unique opportunity to reimagine the future of luxury hospitality and bring to light new talents and trends through the vision of each school. Asking international students to think about Sofitel, that most French of all luxury hotel brands, has encouraged them to dream up and conceptualize cutting-edge projects that are both sophisticated and engaged,” says Elodie Noël, Global SVP Brand Design for the Sofitel Legend, MGallery and Emblems brands.

The 2024 winners will be announced at a ceremony at Maison&Objet on September 5 in the presence of the Chair of the judging panel, designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán and the patron of the 2024 Accor Design Awards, Elodie Noël.

Accor Design Awards practical information

• The 30th Maison&Objet Fair will be held in Paris from September 5 to 9, 2024.
• Accor stand (designed and produced by Emilie Roz and her team): Hall 6 K98-L99, Parc Des Expositions, Paris Nord Villepinte
• Place and time – September 5, Hall 7, “The Talks” space:
  • 16:00– “The Public Areas of Tomorrow’s Hotels”: a talk with Elodie Noël, Global SVP Brand Design for the Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, MGallery and Emblems brands, and interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán. Moderator: Roddy Clarke, design journalist specializing in the positive social and environmental impacts of design.
  • 16:45– Accor Design Awards 2024 awards ceremony, with Anne Becker-Olins, Global Chief Design & Technical Services Officer Ultra-Luxury and Luxury, Accor

The shortlisted projects

Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC, US

• Sofitel, Le Terminal: Adventure and welcome combine to create an experience freely inspired by transport. This proposal draws on the imaginative worlds of travel and France to create a legendary New York property.
• Sofitel Chinatown: this project aims to introduce travelers and visitors to the richness of Chinese culture. A Shanghai-inspired tribute to Gen Z and the Chinese-American community that gives Chinatown its unique energy. A blend of modernity and tradition.

École Camondo, France

• Sofitel Nourishing Garden: this project aims to bring together humanity and nature in an invitation to share and consume responsibly. The lobby is home to a vegetable garden… or is it the other way around? Guided by a spirit of generosity, harmony, happiness and French art de vivre, the designers have come up with a design that is environmentally sensitive without compromising the luxury hotel experience.

UNSW, Australia

• Sofitel (Re)trouvaille: this project combines the charm of French sophistication with the magnetic appeal of Australian nature and culture. With (Re)trouvaille, the students have teased out intimate connections between the two worlds to design a lobby inspired by the Little Prince that connects travelers to sustainable practices.

Pratt Institute, NYC, USA

• Sofitel, The Light Beyond: this project draws on the brand’s esthetic roots and Sofitel’s history in Shanghai. Taking joie de vivre as its creative guiding light, this team’s proposal seeks to create a memorable experience for guests and employees alike.

École de Design Nantes Atlantique, France

• Sofitel Copacabana: an exceptional setting for a space that brings together tourists and locals. The students have used food, dance, music and entertainment to create not just a venue but a must-visit cultural hub.
• Sofitel Midori Hotel: to celebrate Sofitel’s 60th birthday, this team has brought the brand to Kyoto. Drawing on a combination of unsurpassed luxury, harmony and expertise, they have reinvented the art of hospitality with a lobby that changes with the seasons.

Esail, France

• Sofitel Eclat des Bulles: the lobby of this imaginary Sofitel sparkles with bubbles of brut, white, and rosé Champagne. Furniture and materials are carefully chosen and every space is filled with art to create an environment that inspires joy in guests and staff alike.

IFAT, France

• Sofitel Célébration: as soon as you walk through the door, you enter into a singularly refined place. This team has reimagined the lobby as a transitional space in the form of a finely chiseled crystal.

Academy of Art University, SF, US

• Demantin Hotel Sofitel: drawing on the Icelandic word for diamond, this New York-based team conceives of Sofitel as a jewel among luxury hotels. For the Accor Design Awards 2024, they have designed a lobby bathed in brilliant light. What better tribute to Sofitel’s expertise, elegance and luxury?

Some 20 schools have met the brief and submitted student projects for the Accor Design Awards 2024, including: Academy of Art University, SF, US | American University of Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Baeksok University, South Korea | Berlin International University, Germany | École Camondo, France | Esail, France | Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC, US | Florida International University, Miami, US | leD Bilbao, Spain | leD Madrid, Spain | IFAT, France | École de Design Nantes Atlantique, France | Pratt Institute, NYC, US | SCAD, Savannah, US | UNSW – Australia