Up until this point in the competition, a great idea could compensate for weaker execution. A designer might produce one standout moment, a memorable detail or a single inspired creative concept that carried the scheme forwards. But by the semi-final, everyone left is capable of having brilliant ideas. And this week the designers were asked to create not one hospitality box, but two. Identical spaces, completely different clients. One for a Premier League footballer and their family. The other for corporate entertaining.
And what became immediately apparent was just how difficult it was for them to hold two very different briefs in their head at the same time.
There were good ideas throughout. If not flashes of excellent design thinking. But across all three designers, the more attention they gave to one room, the more the other seemed to suffer. Which brings me to the first lesson from this episode.
One Client Is Design. Two Clients Is Professional Design.
The challenge wasn’t creating one successful room. It was creating two equally successful rooms for two entirely different users. A footballer’s family box should feel welcoming, relaxed and personal. Somewhere partners, children and friends might genuinely enjoy spending time before and after a match. A corporate box has a different purpose altogether. It’s about entertaining clients and colleagues. It needs to feel impressive, comfortable and professional without becoming stiff or overly formal.
The best designers understand that good design starts with understanding how people want to feel. This week, the real test was whether the designers could switch mindsets between one client and another without losing focus.
Lia footballer’s box felt considered and family-friendly, celebrating the family history of Jack Hinshelwood without becoming gimmicky. She’d even acknowledged the recent arrival of a baby into the clan with a dedicated soft play and feeding corner. The colour made a nod to the core club colour without copying it, her tables had real wooden tops, the bases were upgraded with a granite-spray finish, and the accompanying furnishings were good enough quality to hold the space. The problem was that her corporate box was nowhere near as resolved. And that’s an important lesson in itself. In real professional practice, you don’t get judged on your strongest project. You get judged on the weakest thing you deliver.
Confidence Is Not The Same Thing As Volume
Sophie’s schemes highlighted a different challenge. Throughout the competition she has built a reputation for creating bold, characterful interiors. When it works, it’s brilliant. But premium hospitality often requires a slightly different type of confidence. Not more decoration. More restraint.
People paying for exclusive hospitality are rarely looking for a themed experience. They’re looking for somewhere that makes them feel looked after. The strongest luxury interiors therefore don’t necessarily shout the loudest. They simply remove every possible point of friction. Comfort feels effortless. Function feels intuitive. Everything works exactly as it should. That level of simplicity is often harder to achieve than making a statement.
Premium Is Not A Paint Colour
This is something I see repeatedly throughout the competition; designers mistaking premium for a collection of visual cues. A darker palette. Metallics. Statement lighting. Panelling. Marble effects. Designer-looking furniture. But premium isn’t a style. Premium is the cumulative effect of quality, comfort, functionality and execution.
This challenge took place at the Amex Stadium, home to Brighton & Hove Albion, and one of the country’s leading hospitality venues. People pay substantial sums of money for these boxes season after season. Their expectations are understandably high. Looking at some of the rooms, what became clear was that in some cases the designers had focused on creating the appearance of luxury without always delivering the substance.
Design Every Surface
This challenge also exposed the difference between decoration and completion. Several schemes contained details that simply weren’t resolved enough for the level of hospitality being offered. A console propped up on painted blocks. MDF elements that felt temporary rather than intentional. Joinery details that looked unfinished. Design that solved a practical problem but lacked the quality the setting demanded. And yes I know our designers are working on a budget, but this is where true creativity really shines through: what can you re-purpose? How can you pay attention to edges? What needs to be thought through differently. A surface that someone will interact with can’t just be a shape cut out of a piece of plywood.
Good hospitality design works at every distance. From across the room, the overall impression should feel compelling. Up close, the detailing should reward attention rather than disappoint it. The closer you get, the better a premium interior should become because every detail should have been considered.
Architecture Matters More Than Decoration
One thing I admired about Emmely’s corporate box was that she had genuinely altered the experience of the room. She wasn’t simply decorating surfaces. She was thinking about flow, circulation and spatial planning; angling her Credenza into a corner, and at the other end of the room creating a raised bar area that looked out over the pitch, both united via their worktops.
The difficulty was that the quality of some of the furniture and detailing didn’t support the strength of the underlying concept. Using brown was a bold choice, but it would have been lifted to better effect with, for example, contrasting chairs around the table and more sophisticated table dressing to play against it. Her footballer’s box, for Danny Welbeck, in particular, felt underpowered despite the bold use of club colours. The raised table for adults that greeted visitors as they entered lacked the refinement expected at this stage of the competition. Other pieces in the kid’s area felt flat pack, not bespoke.
Good design requires both architecture and atmosphere. In other words, you need the planning to work. But you also need the execution to justify it.
Such an interesting analysis. The budgets for these projects are small, and therefore the finished results are not necessarily suitable for the end user. Is there a budget to reinstate the spaces or do the football club / hotel have to clean up afterwards?
Great analysis from someone who really knows their stuff. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and years of experience with us all. I've learnt so much from this episode alone 🙏🏼