The Toronto office of US design firm HOK has reached the final of a design competition with its idea for a hotel with detachable rooms that can fly guests on short excursions to other locations.
The architect calls the idea "Driftscape" hotels. Each building would be made up of a central "oasis", containing the lobby, reception, restaurants and bars, and between 10 and 15 "Driftcraft" – accommodation pods that are capable of flight.
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These Driftcraft are about 200 feet square and contain a mix of transparent and non-transparent walls, a queen-sized bed, bathroom and desk.
Guests would decide where they want their rooms to take them and then a flight plan would be programmed into the room. Tech Insider suggests the hotel would be suited to locations such as the fjords of Norway and the Great Wall of China.
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The idea is one of three finalists in the Radical Innovation Award for imaginative hotel designs. At present, drone technology is not developed enough to transport a Driftcraft, so the idea is there mainly to stimulate the imagination.
Last year’s winner was Zoku, a home-office hybrid that aimed to blend "the services of a hotel with the social buzz of a thriving neighbourhood". This concept was within the scope of present technology and the first Zoku – Japanese for "tribe" – has already opened in Amsterdam.
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The winner of the 2016 award will be announced in October.
Images via HOK