For the third consecutive year, Shaw Hospitality Group won top honours in the prestigious IIDA Hospitality Product Design Awards at Hospitality Design Expo. The Factory carpet collection for guest rooms and public spaces was named the Award of Excellence winner in the flooring/carpeting/rug category during the annual conference in Las Vegas, May 14-16.
Factory, a collection created by the Shaw Hospitality Group Design Studio led by Design Manager Pamela Rainey, is a sustainable, reclaimable collection that is third-party Cradle to Cradle Certified by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry. The collection was recognized by a panel of four industry judges as the winner because of its environmental qualities, varying pattern scales within the collection, true usability in the hospitality industry and its fun and playful nature, says Viveca Bissonnette, 2009 IIDA judge and associate with Carrier Johnson in San Diego.
“Year after year, Shaw Hospitality Group and Pamela Rainey provide the hospitality market with unique, relevant and sustainable products,” says Bissonnette. “They are forward thinking in not only design but also in manufacturing, exceeding the need of designers, owners and consumers,”
This award is the third annual win in the competition that honors innovation, function and aesthetic advancements in the hospitality industry. Shaw Hospitality Group won Best of Competition at HD 2007 for its AfterImages Collection, and Floor Architecture was named the Award of Excellence winner in the flooring category in 2008.
Rainey was first inspired to create the Factory collection after studying the 1934 Museum of Modern Art Exhibit “Machine Art,” which was organized by architect Phillip Johnson. The exhibition recognized the raw beauty of objects created without artistic intention. Intrigued by this exhibit, Rainey toured manufacturing plants and industrial buildings to uncover the artistic beauty of common machinery. She photographed and sketched the designs that caught her eye, which later transpired into the Factory collection.
Rainey worked on the collection for about six months prior to the launch of Factory at HD Expo 2009. “The conceptual story and design inspiration are just as important as the actual end product,” she says. “When you create something like this carpet collection, a part of yourself is in the designs, which is evident in any art form.”