Bustan details design of Hotel Business Stage
Interior Designer catches up with Merav Bustan to learn about the inspiration behind the Hotel Business Stage at the Independent Hotel Show.
The Independent Hotel Show has partnered with Merav Bustan Design to bring the Hotel Business Stage, in partnership with eviivo, to life at this year’s event. Interior Designer caught up with Founder and Creative Director Merav Bustan to learn more about the inspiration behind the design.
An architectural gateway
The stage is conceived as an architectural gateway—a series of layered forms that create depth, rhythm and a strong sense of arrival. We wanted it to feel immersive and memorable, drawing people naturally towards the conversations happening on stage while creating a distinctive visual identity within the show.
The theme for the Independent Hotel Show 2026 is “Shaping Tomorrow.” Looking at the completed concept, the design reflects the direction in which hospitality interiors are evolving. Hospitality is increasingly about creating experiences people remember, not simply beautiful spaces. For us, shaping tomorrow means combining strong storytelling and emotion with flexibility, sustainability and commercial intelligence—creating something visually impactful without losing sight of how it is built, used and reused.
This approach mirrors the philosophy seen in recent award-winning projects, such as the VIA hotel in Antwerp, which secured the ‘Best Hotel Design’ title at the Amsterdam edition of the Independent Hotel Show. Just as that project balanced emotional warmth with rigorous commercial viability, this stage aims to prove that high-end aesthetics do not require excessive complexity or waste.
Timeless geometry and cinematic qualities
When developing the concept, the team looked at the timeless geometry of Art Deco but through a much more contemporary and playful lens. There is also a cinematic quality inspired by carefully framed perspectives, repetition and colour, almost like creating a scene where architecture, lighting and people all become part of the composition.
The palette moves through deep burgundy, terracotta and soft blush tones, creating something rich and sophisticated but still warm and inviting. Layered mouldings, textured surfaces and integrated lighting add depth and shadow, allowing a relatively simple material language to feel highly considered and distinctive.
This combination of rich tones and architectural detailing aims to echo the high-impact interiors found in award-winning venues, where every element contributes to a cohesive narrative. The result is a space that feels both rooted in history and entirely relevant to modern design trends.
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Practical requirements and visibility
The Hotel Business Stage will host a busy programme of interviews, presentations and panel discussions. The practical requirements of this schedule influenced the layout and wider design. The stage needed to work first and foremost as a platform for conversation, so sightlines, screen visibility, speaker positioning and movement were considered from the beginning.
The architectural framework creates a strong visual backdrop without competing with the people on stage. It frames the activity rather than overpowering it. Lighting is very much part of the architecture rather than something added afterwards. Integrated light emphasises the depth and rhythm of the layered forms, while the bespoke lighting elements create atmosphere around the edges, keeping the central stage and speakers visually clear and focused.
Materials and partners
A key part of the brief was to create a stage that could have a life beyond a single event, with elements designed to be dismantled, transported and adapted for future shows. The design incorporates recycled materials, including a bespoke lighting installation made from recycled plastic, so sustainability becomes part of the design language.
Merav Bustan Design is working with ORAC, using pieces from their new Art Deco collection alongside their innovative flexible mouldings. These pieces allow the team to create complex-looking architectural details in a way that is efficient, achievable and cost-conscious, something that is particularly relevant to hospitality projects where design ambition always needs to work alongside budget and programme.
The team is also collaborating with Spark & Bell on the bespoke lighting installation made from recycled plastic. It is a great example of how a sustainable material can become something genuinely elegant, playful and design led.
Impact and legacy
Merav Bustan hopes the design demonstrates that memorable design does not have to come from complexity or excess. A strong idea, carefully developed through colour, proportion, light and detail, can create something with real emotional impact while still being practical, efficient and commercially considered, which, for us, is at the heart of great hospitality design.
