HIX THINX: What’s in a theme?
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Each year, we select a central theme to guide every element of the HIX programme; from our signature installations and the topics up for debate on the talks stage, to the soundtracks and canapés served up at our HIX Social sessions.
With Europe’s leading hotel design event returning to Islington’s Business Design Centre on 26 & 27 November 2025, we’re getting ready to reveal the big idea at the heart of this year’s event, but before we do, take a look back at the themes that have defined the previous four editions of HIX, and how each found their way into the HIX experience.
2021 // All Together Now
When planning for HIX #1 was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was unclear whether trade shows as we know them would survive such a colossal shift. With the hotel market in free-fall and travel all but prohibited, it was certainly a dark time for the industry. But through a combination of hard work, good luck, and the amazing support of the HIX community, HIX 21 brought Europe’s Hotel design community together (a year later than planned) under the only theme that made sense: All Together Now.
Celebrating some of the design innovations made in hotel workspace design during the pandemic, our Work From Hotel installation was created by Conran & Partners, Stroop Design and Areen to explore the closer relationship between these spaces driven by shifting office habits, while keynote sessions from Tom Dixon and Dex Hunter-Torricke (Ex-Meta / Google) addressed the new cultural norms to emerge from such sweeping change.
2022 // Great Things will grow
One year later, with the demand for travel and hospitality not only on the rise but set to break records, our focus shifted from challenge to opportunity. Great Things Will Grow was our prediction that, having risen from the ashes, the hotel experience would be redefined for a brave new world.
This mantra was adopted quite literally by our installation partners, with Antwerp-based studio WeWantMore, organic material artist Côme Di Meglio, and creative consultants La Succulente Studio joining forces to create the world’s first mycelium bar. Grown entirely from the living fungus material months in advance, The Mush Room wowed guests and went on to make headlines and win several industry awards.
Elsewhere, our Talks stage welcomed legendary British architect Nigel Coates for his polemic keynote ‘F*** the algorith, it’s empathy that counts’, addressing the rise of AI and the need for designers to retain their humanity; we celebrated the next wave of design leaders with our Next Gen & Tonic mixer; and, along with ReardonSmith Architects and MKV Design, we launched the inaugural edition of Kindling – a competition and mentoring platform to promote the work of Ukrainian design students affected by the war.
2023 // A Room With a Point of View
HIX 2023 was all about people, perspectives, and progress. Championing the wide diversity of viewpoints that power hotel design culture, ‘A Room With a Point of View’ looked to the emerging voices set to define the next era of hotel design, and the powerful potential of unique visions that buck the norm. Upping the ante with two installation sets, Blacksheep’s The Umwelt Paradigm showcased an experimental and organic deconstruction of familiar hotel spaces, while MIXD’s Unfinished Works wove together technology and tactility for a space dedicated to fluid, multifunctional hybridity.
Reflecting this wide assortment of perspectives, HIX Talks 2023 welcomed an equally diverse cast of designers, architects, operators and thinkers to discuss POVs surrounding topics from adaptive re-use to inclusive design, while a headline interview with acclaimed designer Tristan Auer and a keynote from creative powerhouse Johannes Torpe rounded out the MainStage.
2024 // A Sense of Place
Our most recent theme, 2024’s A Sense of Place, tapped into the growing focus on hyperlocality, highlighting the unique connections that exist between a hotel and the destination it serves.
Created in collaboration with heritage consultants Historic Productions, our Sense of Place installation saw four design partners interpret a deep-dive historical report on Islington’s Grade II listed Business Design Studio – formerly The Royal Agricultural Hall and current home of HIX – as a new hotel concept, resulting in a series of boundary-pushing visions presented within an immersive multimedia gallery.
This theme continued on our talks stage with a keynote from Mark Davy, Founder and CEO of Futurecity, the UK’s leading placemaker, as well as a headline interview with Dubai-based designer Kristina Zanic, who knows a sense of place better than most having lived in five countries, worked in 20 and travelled to over 70. Some of our exhibitors were in on the action too; ‘a sense of place’ was the inspiration for Furniture Fusion’s ‘Our Place’ listening bar stand, the Japanese teahouse experience by Toto, and so too Lauren’s Colour Archeology project which analysed over 10,000 ancient artefacts to generate a stunningly immersive stand journey.
Stay tuned for the announcement of our HIX 2025 theme next week, and follow the HIX socials for updates on this year’s expo, parties, talks and much more.