How would you like to fly over the Galapagos Islands or to hover through the meadows in Scotland as you lie in the comforts of your hotel bed? No, we do not mean Virtual Reality. We are talking about the Driftscape, an off-grid, mobile hotel designed by HOK to fly the guests anywhere in the world.
The futuristic design of the hotel drew inspiration from a drone and was created by the Toronto office of HOK. The design has also been selected for the final of the Radical Innovation Award, a competition to introduce innovative ideas in hospitality.
The design of the Driftscape comprises of two modules: driftcraft and oasis.
The driftcraft is an autonomous pod bedroom of 205-square-feet that can accommodate two while Oasis is a service pod of 2500 square feet.
The transparent, egg-shaped guest pod is built with high-impact polymer and offers 360-degree views of the surroundings. The structure is quite light-weight and can even be taken for two to three-day excursions. The hovering driftcrafts promise a minimal footprint while offering an exclusively immersive experience.
HOK wants to provide a heightened guest experience with this innovative idea:
“To set off on an adventure, to leave all comforts behind and wander in pursuit of the unknown has been a fundamental urge of humankind throughout history. We thus set out in search of a way to fulfil this urge, seeking a fully ‘immersive,’ significantly heightened the guest experience and to provide a unique way to wander/drift and experience viewpoint of this amazing world we live in, from above and within.”
Three Oasis pods can join to form an Oasis Bases offering a restaurant, a courtyard, and a lounge.
HOK believes that that the drone-integrated hotel will commercially be available in the next five years. The firm believes that the technologies like the Ehang 184 and the Puffin Personal Air Vehicle will help to realise the dream of the Driftscape.
