Jonny Sin, board director at London-based ReardonSmith Architects, is set to attend the upcoming Hotec EMEA conference in Portugal. Hotec EMEA is presented by Questex, the parent company of Hotel Management.
Originally from New Zealand, Sin got his start in the industry when he joined his father’s architecture firm. As project lead at Sin Architects, Sin worked on several hotel projects, including Novotel and Mercure properties, developing a taste for the sector.
After about seven years working at the family firm, Sin moved to the U.K., spending a year as a designer at Kent-based A2D Architecture. The firm primarily focused on retail projects, and while Sin found the work interesting he knew it wasn’t what he ultimately wanted to do for his career. “It was very repetitive,” he said of his work at the firm, which was less about designing and more about adapting stores to fit preapproved layouts. But the position did put him in contact with a fellow designer who recommended him to ReardonSmith. “When I walked into ReardonSmith, it just felt right,” he recalled.
Rising Up
A month after interviewing to join ReardonSmith, Sin started as an associate and began working on hospitality projects. One that was particularly important to him was the Beaumont Hotel in London’s upscale Mayfair neighborhood. This was the first hospitality project that he was able to work on from concept to opening. It also gave him the chance to work with British artist Antony Gormley, who developed a semi-abstract sculpture for the hotel that functions as a guestroom. “It was kind of bridging architecture with art, which I hadn't really seen being done,” he said.
Sin was lead of this particular package in the overall project, as well as back-of-house elements. “My hand was in a lot of different aspects of the building,” he said. “By taking responsibility, you kind of lead the coordination with the consultant team.” A project like the Beaumont can have a large number of consultants, and producing the necessary documentation can take anywhere between a year to two years, Sin estimated.
While working at ReardonSmith, Sin earned his master’s degree in construction law from the University of the West of England. “I always felt that it was a missed skill set with a lot of architects,” he said, noting that while many architects have a strong understanding of design, they are less familiar with contracts than they could be. “The contractual aspect of architecture is also extremely important because when you're on site, [knowing] the contractual ins and outs … kind of separates the men from the boys.” His education led to more responsibilities at ReardonSmith, he said, which contributed to his rise up the ladder at the company over the years.
Sin is now overseeing the renovation of The Dorchester in London, the property’s first major overhaul in 30 years. As project leader, Sin is overseeing a team of 13 and working alongside interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon on the hotel entrance, the Promenade restaurant and the new guestrooms and suites. Martin Brudnizki Design Studio is updating the hotel's bar.
The project, Sin said, has been a “labor of love” that should complete its first phase later this month.
The upcoming EMEA event will be Sin’s first Hotec conference. He was intrigued by the opportunity to meet other buyers and people in the industry. “And also, you know, it's good learning as well,” he said. “If there [are] new products on the market, I'm always interested in new products and how we can adapt [or] utilize them. I've already got a couple [meetings] that I've lined up that may be relevant to a project that I'm working on.”
Hotec EMEA will be held Sept. 21-24 at the Tivoli Marina Vilamoura Algarve Resort, Portugal.