The year 2022 will be remembered by many, for a wide variety of reasons. But for us, we’ll remember it as a year of growth, dynamic new projects, and some fabulous internal developments too!

Here’s a roundup of some of our best and brightest moments from this year – it’s made us rather excited for what 2023 might hold for all of us at Bell & Swift.

We completed a project with an iconic brand in our home city

We’ve completed a number of projects for Hilton before, but it hits a bit differently when it’s in your home city. This year marked the end of our project with Hilton, Glasgow. A sizeable refurbishment that ran across three years, continued through Covid, while the hotel remained in operation, and brought about a spectacular transformation of an iconic part of the Glasgow skyline.

Given the complexities of the project and the fact it was ongoing during such difficult times for everyone, it proved to be a challenge for everyone involved. We collaborated with the team to ensure we were up to speed on any change of strategy due to the circumstances and even drove the project forward ourselves when required to keep it moving and on track. We have strengthened our relationship with Hilton and built fantastic new connections that we hope to maintain contact with in the future.

The best part of this project was the narrative; a design concept that told the story of Glasgow’s rich artistic heritage. The narrative is a modern take that draws inspiration from the “Glasgow Style” made famous by world renowned designer and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his contemporaries.  We fed this into all parts of the hotel; both hard and soft refurbishments; public areas and guestrooms.

Seeing the whole project come to its grand and sophisticated end was definitely one of our biggest highlights this year. You can read more about the project, the results, and the feedback from the client here.

We moved into our new office

The turmoil of Covid and the years preceding 2022 got everyone thinking about what’s important. With ways of working and the routines of everyday life thrown to the wind – an assessment of our needs, both working and personal, across our team, was very much required.

We very much believe in the importance of work life balance. We work hard at Bell & Swift but also recognise that we all have a life out with the studio.

The result was a decision to move out of Glasgow City Centre; away from the hustle and bustle to our new collaborative, open-plan creative space at the East Kilbride Collective. What it’s meant for us? Easier commutes, a better equipped space for us to collaborate in, more social and wellbeing areas to ensure the team look after themselves, and overall improved productivity! Craig our Co-founder summed it up nicely:

“It’s great! The commute is a lot shorter which is ideal and it makes a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the busy city but of course Glasgow city centre is only a short distance away if we ever want a change in scenery. We’ve really tried to make our new office a home away from home and a nice, inviting working space for the team. I think we’ve achieved that in this new space.”

We welcomed some brilliant new clients

Our expertise is in the hotel industry, but this doesn’t mean that we can’t and don’t branch out to other similarly social spaces. This year we won some exceptional new work, both within the hotel world and some that were a little different.

We started work on the ambient Marriott, Bournemouth – a coastal retreat that has been a joy to work with so far and we look forward to completing the remaining bedrooms early next year. In the new year we’ll begin the on-site work for both Four Points and Hotel Edinburgh.

We love a chance to be challenged and the opportunity to branch out. Two of our ongoing projects provided such opportunities.

Escapade Silverstone is a thrilling trackside experience; a residential destination that’s entirely tailored to motorsport enthusiasts. A place where those who live and breathe motorsports can train, relax, socialise, and enjoy the luxuries presented by the place with other likeminded guests. We were appointed for this project thanks to our experience in hospitality, and boy has it been a delight to work on. We’ll have the full results available when the project completes in time for the Grand Prix, Summer 2023.

Eastworks was another example. A Clyde Gateway development, this disused Victorian building is undergoing a transformation into a coworking space for Glasgow’s businesses. Our job is to take our experience in hospitality and create an equally as dynamic, social, collaborative, and engaging space – albeit one for work. Our proposed design narrative draws on industrial influences to represent the building’s legacy, in combination with a vibrant setting and modern influences to create a contemporary, collaborative place in which business can be done and people thrive.

We also have some fantastic new projects that will kick off in the new year. A small boutique hotel that will give us the opportunity to push the design without any constraints as well and a few other exciting hotel projects throughout the UK including a large-scale hotel refurbishment that has just come on board – watch this space!

Continued work with amazing partners and clients

We’re fortunate enough to work with a number of the same partners and clients, year in and year out. And to them, as well as our new collaborators from the past year, we say thank you. Thank you for the business. Thank you for the challenges, the constructive conversations, and the collaboration. We hope your Christmas is a celebration, a restful time, and we look forward to all that 2023 has in store for you, as well as all of us at Bell & Swift!