The Suit Magazine

1. How has the downturn of the economy affected business, and what have been some of the challenges over the last 18 months?
The last 18 months have been a bit of a rollercoaster. Business was great in 2008, but while we finished several hotel projects in 2009 there was a significant lack of new projects coming on board. Since the end of last year though, we have once again been receiving inquiries, sending out fee proposals, and now the first projects are starting up.
The challenge is always for a company to be flexible in downturns as well as in upturns. This is especially true in the design industry, since when business is booming we cannot simply speed up production equipment - people are not machines so there is a limit to what we can do.  To plan hotels we need highly qualified and experienced designers, so it was fortunate that during the 2009 recession we were able to keep all our staff and focus everyone’s energies on entering design competitions and acquiring new projects. It was an expensive exercise, but we are happy to still have our complete team and that we could honour our efforts to keep everybody on board.

2. What drew Peter Joehnk to this particular industry?
After my studies I was, in principle, open to working on any kind of project. But since my first job was at a practice that had recently started to design hotels, I ended up becoming a “specialist”… and then just stayed in the hospitality industry! 
At JOI-Design, we strongly believe that design should reflect the brand of the hotel. It should be relevant to the location, authentic and inspire the guests. Hotel design is really a tool for creating an atmosphere which suits the overall project parameters. Clearly it is not a piece of art which only expresses the thoughts and feelings of an artist – the design must be used and accepted by the people for whom it was created!!!

3. Germany is in the forefront of the green movement, is the U.K. following Germany's lead?
Germany is a leader within the green movement – but at the moment “going green” isn’t a reality, worldwide, especially in the building industry. The most international certification system now is “LEED”, which is much more relevant than the “DGNB-Zertifikat” - especially as only Germans can spell it! Hotels constructed in the UK are increasingly following “BREEAM” guidelines for lessening their impact upon the environment. But indeed there is substantial interest in sustainability within Northern Europe that is greater, I believe, than in the rest of the world.

4. What are the some of the new innovations in green architecture and will nickel be widely used in the future architecture?
Although many technical innovations have been invented to save energy or heat and cool a house with heat exchanging devices, I think a more important observation about our industry is the growing request to emotionally create a “green” connection. To do this, JOI-Design tends to use natural, locally-sourced materials, sometimes in an “archaic” manner. We mix rough-hewn textures, native timbers, and stones from regional mountains or seashores with warm wools, soft cottons, and rich leathers crafted in neighborhood mills and tanneries – but then of course add in the “modern” contrast of smooth, shiny, hi-tech surfaces.
Although nickel is a beautiful substitute for chrome or stainless steel and has a much warmer appearance. The principle it is a good idea to sometimes substitute nickel for “poisonous” chrome but, it should not be used in large quantities.

5. What is Peter's vision on the new green age?
I strongly believe that although the “survival of the fittest” concept in human evolution explains how we (our bodies) have perfectly adapted to nature, our species has not yet had enough time to adapt to electromagnetic smog and chemistry. Of course this is very much a generalization but I cannot imagine that artificial surroundings are healthy for people. If it is at all possible, we should avoid being poisoned by our own inventions. For me it is not only a question of saving energy and being sustainable, but also a matter of creating “healthy” spaces through interior design.

6. Any major goals or projects for 2010-2011?
My personal goal is to have more time to spend with family and friends – and for our business, we would like to have more luxury and “green” hotel projects. As I mentioned earlier, the year has started very well and we have been awarded a “design hotel” in Kaiserslautern, a new Hilton property in Split, a Doubletree project in Oradea and a Starwood Luxury Collection hotel in Cologne – plus since there are some other interesting projects in the pipeline, let’s hope the new “upturn” will hold on for a while!

Our address:
JOI-Design GmbH Innenarchitekten
Medienpark [k]ampnagel
Barmbeker Str. 6a, 22303 Hamburg, Germany
Tel.: +49 40 68942110
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