Shenzhen, 30 December 2017 ————– Founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP, delivered a presentation entitled “Hotel Planning Challenges” at CHAT Shenzhen held at the Ritz-Carlton Shenzhen. Organized by Horwath HTL, Schmidt’s informative case studies outlined recurring hotel design and planning challenges for an audience consisting of some of southern China’s most prominent hotel owners and developers.
Recurring design challenges were segmented into three key areas: Architectural, access and planning issues.
Site and vehicular access, guest and service access points, building envelope / design, unrealistic design proposals and guestroom design issues topped the list of architectural issues. Access issues revolved around provisions for emergency egress and vertical transportation, while planning issues included public area and back of house space planning, as well as overall facility programming issues.
Some of the key takeaways from Sepia Design’s presentation included the importance of executing market research and feasibility studies in the pre-design phase, engaging architects and consultants with hospitality experience, and involving the hotel management company and their technical services teams as early in the process as possible.
Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation.
Hong Kong, 15 November 2017 ————– Founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP, was cited in the South China Morning Post for his innovative product design entry in the inaugural Bespoke Access Awards. The UK-based awards program emphasizes inclusive and accessible hotel design. Schmidt’s entry consisted of a Bluetooth-connected wrist-mounted device which helps guests navigate through hotels. The wrist-mounted gadget quietly assists guests with a wide range of disabilities or impairments access their guestroom, and navigate throughout a hotel and its surrounding grounds.
Can technology improve the hotel experience for guests with disabilities?
After developing a friendship with an elderly gentlemen with Parkinson’s Disease, Schmidt added, “I was inspired to create something after seeing the difficulty my friend had in getting around Hong Kong on his own.” While still at the concept stage, Schmidt is currently sourcing venture capital to further develop his idea into a commercially-viable product.
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Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation.
Singapore, 15 March 2017 ————– Founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP, presented an entertaining segment entitled “Now For Something Completely Different: An Irreverent Look at the Hotel Industry” at HICAP (Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific) Update held on 15 March 2017 at the Pan Pacific Singapore.
Schmidt provided an irreverent look at the region’s hotel industry to over 300 industry leaders. His presentation included screening three satirical animated videos revolving around hotel product development, hotel acquisitions, and the industry’s quest to create the most efficient and cost-effective hotel product. Schmidt remarked, “Sometimes we need to step back and laugh at ourselves,” relative to the hotel industry’s pursuit of gaining a competitive advantage and outdoing one another.
Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation.
Manila, 29 October 2015 ————– Founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP, hosted a well-attended session on “Successful Hotel Developments in the Philippines” at the inaugural Philippines Hotel Seminar 2015. The seminar was held on 29 October 2015 at the New World Makati Manila.
Schmidt was joined by Craig Takahata, AIA, Vice President and Managing Director of WATG Honolulu in a lively design-oriented session focusing on the planning and development of successful beach resort developments in the Philippines. A wide range of topics were discussed including site selection, site planning, architectural style issues, design strategies to protect assets from natural hazards, and issues associated with successful project execution.
This invitation-only seminar was hosted by Horwath HTL in collaboration with Y&S 1847 and attracted almost one hundred business leaders from throughout the country.
Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation.
Hong Kong, 23 September 2015 ————– Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP, delivered a presentation on architectural illustration and rendering to a group of architectural graphics students at the Hong Kong campus of the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD).
Schmidt presented a number of his architectural illustrations and deconstructed each image though a step-by-step discussion of the process that went into the creation of each illustration. Illustrations ranged from in-situ architectural sketches, to hand-plotted perspectives and hybrid illustrations that incorporated hand sketching and computer modelling. Schmidt reiterated the importance of hand drawing and showing process in student portfolios — rather than relying on finished pieces — to impress prospective employers or clients.
Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation. Relative to his illustration work, Schmidt is a current member of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI) and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
Hong Kong, 22 September 2015 ————– Founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP, has been invited to speak at the upcoming Philippines Hotel Seminar 2015 to be held on 29 October 2015 at the New World Makati Manila.
Schmidt will be joined by other industry professionals in a design-oriented session which will revolve around the planning and development of successful hotel developments in the Philippines. This invitation-only seminar will be hosted by Horwath HTL in collaboration with Y&S 1847.
Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation.
Hong Kong, 08 March 2015 ————– Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP, provided a thought-provoking presentation of the potential for Space Tourism at the First Annual Hospitality Innovation Conference 2015. The conference was organized by the Hospitality Student Initiative (HSI) at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management of The Chinese University Hong Kong.
Schmidt presented his award-winning lunar research and hotel facility to a diverse audience of students, faculty and professionals. Current and future offerings of sub-orbital flights, low earth orbit hotels and lunar facilities were discussed relative to their tourism, commercial, political and legal impacts. Current activities of Boeing, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and other industry leaders were also discussed relative to providing affordable transportation systems to low earth orbit and beyond.
Schmidt noted, “Some of these guest experiences may appear as science fiction today, but once ‘cheap access to space’ is achieved, and tourism activities revolving around microgravity and low-gravity experiences become economically viable for a critical mass of travelers, this could open an entirely new industry and have a dramatic impact on the careers of students who are soon to graduate into the hospitality and tourism industry.”
Schmidt explained that with the advent of mass space tourism, there would be entirely new hospitality products and services associated with the entire sequence of guest pre-departure preparation and training, the microgravity experience itself, as well post-experience recovery and rejuvenation.
Hong Kong, 20 October 2014 ————– Hong Kong’s leading English language newspaper, South China Morning Post (SCMP), featured a prototypical multi-story recycling center conceived by founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP.
The front page article described Schmidt’s vision for a series of neighborhood-level mixed-use complexes that could serve as focal points for the collection and handling of waste throughout the city, in an effort to divert as much material as possible away from the landfills. The concept was submitted to the HKSAR Government in February 2014; the SCMP noted today that “an Environmental Bureau spokesman said that the bureau had received Schmidt’s proposal and was considering it.”
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Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation.
Conceptual building section of Hong Kong Neighborhood Recycling Center prototype
Hong Kong, 14 February 2014 ————– Founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP, unveiled a prototype for a vertically-arranged neighborhood recycling center for the dense neighborhoods of Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong based architect submitted the proposal to community leaders and the HKSAR Government. The prototype offers an alternative to the current system of refuse collection centers throughout Hong Kong, which involves direct transport of waste to the territory’s three overflowing landfills. Schmidt’s proposal creates new one-stop satellite recycling and recovery centers at the community level, in order to divert as much material as possible away from the landfills.
Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation.
Hong Kong, 15 December 2013 ————– Founder and Managing Director of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP, participated in AIA Hong Kong’s “Big Draw” — an event aimed at coaching underprivileged teens to develop their drawing skills and sense of architectural appreciation.
Joined by a dozen other AIA Hong Kong members at Hong Kong’s Central Waterfront, the group was forced to seek refuge from torrential rains in the nearby Hong Kong Maritime Museum. Nevertheless, the in-situ sketching of Hong Kong’s skyline continued as AIA Hong Kong members coached enthusiastic teens on sketching techniques, estimation of proportions in buildings and composition.
Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation.
