For Andrea Kleinloog, an interiors whiz and the cofounder of Hesse Kleinloog Studio in South Africa, designing a sustainable hotel starts with the site. At the new Molori Mashuma in Zimbabwe, the walls are made with thatch and textile cladding; the decks are built of local wood; and the couch cushions are fashioned from waste fabric and embroidered as part of a community initiative in South Africa. Sustainability, Kleinloog says, requires a holistic approach that varies by location. “There is no blanket solution.”
Kleinloog and her business partner, Megan Hesse, are part of a set of creative women who have taken the lead in defining what sustainability means for hospitality design. This includes prioritizing upcycled materials, always emphasizing the local, and doing everything in one’s power to minimize environmental impact. They are the heirs to the group of industry titans—including Kit Kemp, Kelly Wearstler, and Alexandra Champalimaud—who have brought freshness and joy to hotel design over the last few decades.
Other members of this rising class include Nicole Hollis, the force behind the seven-month-old Kona Village, a Rosewood Resort, a 150-room property set along the palm-fringed Kona Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island. The first Hawaiian hotel to receive LEED v4 Gold Certification, it has muted standalone rooms called hale with wood-paneled walls, natural fibers lampshades, and intricately carved tables. Designing with an eco-conscious approach is a priority for Hollis, whose clients have raised their expectations. “Guests are demanding accountability in regard to sustainability and the environment,” says Hollis, who says that her studio “strives to find the most sustainable ways of manufacturing—requesting less packaging and working with natural fibers such as jute, cotton, and linen.”
For many, organic integration with the environment is key. Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, who often blurs the line between art and architecture, recently completed Boca de Agua, a 26-room hotel stilted above a translucent lake in Bacalar, Mexico. Building in this vulnerable area prompted her to look to the local architecture for inspiration. “We wanted to focus and draw inspiration from the environment, letting the spaces speak for themselves and tell their story over time,” she says. For the four-month-old, 37-room Nobis Hotel Palma in Mallorca, Swedish architect Helena Toresson‘s approach repurposed a 12th-century Islamic palace, partnered with only local artisans, including Balearics-based ceramicists Miquel Segura and Paco Romero and textile artist Leela Romeo of Desanuda Fiber Lab. Meanwhile, Anomien Smith, the creative director at Johannesburg’s Luxury Frontiers, has found her low-impact, removable canvas tents, used at many Wilderness camps, exported around the world. Smith is proof that all of these women’s work can become blueprints for other hotels, in protected areas and beyond.