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.
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.
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.
The winner of the 2016 award will be announced in October.
Images via HOK
