The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By Natalie Mortimer, N/A

May 19, 2015 | 2 min read

A new hotel brand named Zoku opened its doors this week with ambitions to mark "the end of the hotel room as we know it" as it shifts the focus from the bed to living and work space.

Created in response to a need for more flexible, international living and working, Zoku, which is Japanese for family, has been designed in collaboration with interior design and architecture agency Concrete.

The result is the Zoku Loft, a room with customisable interiors with the central feature on a four-person table that can be used to work, dine and entertain, or just hang out.

The Loft also features a fully-equipped kitchen, cleverly designed storage space, an alcove desk with office supplies, and an elevated, loft-style sleeping space, which can be accessed by a retractable staircase, and screened off .

Zoku guests can also customise their loft by choosing their own art, making the space more personal.

Meanwhile Amsterdam-based creative agency We Are Pi created Zoku’s visual identity and brand film using a simple, graphic, black-and-white concept based on connecting dots to lines, representing the potential of a stay at Zoku.

The first Zoku will open in Amsterdam in Autumn 2015, with a fast international rollout planned for cities including Paris, London and Berlin. All Zokus will have open-plan communal living and co-working spaces, to facilitate social interaction and more formal meetings.

Hans Meyer, co-founder and managing director of Zoku, said that the advance of technology has changed the boundaries between personal and professional life.

“At Zoku we realise that your well-being is vital to get the most out of your travel experience" he said. "It’s easy for global nomads, whose work forms an essential part of their lives, to feel ungrounded and disconnected from what inspires them. Zoku is going to change that. The Zoku Lofts offer an efficient work space without losing the comfortable, flexible vibe of home, while the Zoku community provides a social structure.”

The concept behind Zoku is the result of extensive crowdsourcing and research efforts by Zoku and futures consultancy The Future Laboratory.

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