David Kepron talks with renowned hotel designer Bill Bensley about hotel design, creating legends, art, a "Human Zoo" and "Sensible Sustainable Solutions."
David Kepron website: https://www.davidkepron.com
David Kepron Instagram: davidkepron
NXTLVL Experience Design Instagram: NXTLVL_experience_design
Twitter: @davidkepron
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/
INFO ON BILL BENSLEY:
Bensley website: https://www.bensley.com/studio/bill-bensley
Shinta Mani Wild:
Bill’s passion points are sustainability, conservation, wildlife protection and education. His Shinta Mani Wild tented camp in Cambodia is a living case study of his recently launched white paper “Sensible Sustainable Solutions.”
Another upcoming project which hits all his passion points. Each of Bill’s designs tells a story and he is also doing a new project in Antigua. Upcoming properties in Asia scheduled to open this year are the Intercon in Khai Yao, Thailand, using upcycled train carriages from the 1930’s and the Capella Hanoi in Hanoi, Vietnam.
https://www.bensley.com/media/sensible-sustainable-solutions/
Capella Hanoi
Many decades ago, before the war and all that preceded it, this was a small boutique hotel - “une petite auberge”, for those passing through Hanoi to see the Opera. With the charming opera building only steps away, it was perfect. One guest (who brought with him a new courtesan at every visit) was so enamoured with the building, he decided to buy it. With the help of his favorite operetta and lady of the night, Anna Held, it turned into a Maison Close of the highest caliber.
The investor turned panderer was not a skilled gambler, and on a night of bad luck he lost his beloved house of ill-repute to an army man. During the war it became a depot, crates of dynamite shuffling in and out while dust gathered on velvet chaise longues and crystal chandeliers. After the war, the general sold his property to a wealthy Vietnamese man - a lover of Opera.
This gentleman began a vast renovation, returning the building to its former glory as a five star -miniscule- hotel of great taste and a little madness. This little palace, Le Petit Fairmont, tells the story of the actors, opera singers, composers, stage and costume designers, and spectators who have passed through Hanoi over the last 150 years. Each suite trumpets the wonderful stories of the mischievous high society which passed through its doors. The story is told with over a thousand pieces of original memorabilia, costumes, theatre programs, photographs, set, opera spectacles, and original portraiture art by the incredible Kate Spencer. All of this fanfare on display in what was Asia’s most gay, in the traditional sense, place to frolic, to carouse, and then, just before sunrise, to put one’s head down.
*****************
Eco-Warrior Bill Bensley Re-affirms Strong Commitment to Daily Wildlife Alliance Patrols at Shinta Mani Wild Despite Temporary Closure
In line with its total commitment to the protection of the forest and wildlife in the South Cardamom National park, Bensley Collection – Shinta Mani Wild continues to fund the team of 8 Wildlife Alliance Rangers and the ranger station at the camp to support them in their important mission, despite the luxury tented camp being temporarily closed to guests.
Eco-warrior Bill Bensley and his business partner Sokoun Chanpreda, purchased the 350 hectare or 800acre piece of land at a logging auction – ironically to STOP the property being logged to build a mine, in order to protect the forest and its inhabitants. Shinta Mani Wild is a living and educational case study of the things he is deeply passionate about, conservation, sustainability, wildlife protection and unique design.
Wildlife Alliance was founded in 1996 by the amazing Suwanna Gauntlett who has dedicated her life to wildlife protection around the world. The partnership between Shinta Mani Wild and Wildlife Alliance is paramount to the camp’s ethos.
Sangjay Choegyal, the camp’s former General Manager joined the rangers as a volunteer and in a recent 4 day patrol deep inside the National Park, they confiscated 8 chainsaws, 2 mini tractors, dismantled 16 logging camps, found remains of numerous poached animals and confiscated nearly 20 cubic meters of luxury timber that was on it’s way to the black market.
Bensley and his team have worked tirelessly to support the Wildlife Alliance Rangers at Shinta Mani Wild and continue to raise funds to support their critical work at the front line. Last year Bensley created a range of trendy one-off bejewelled upcycled denim jackets which sell at USD500 each with all proceeds going to Wildlife Alliance. These pair nicely with the ‘trashion’ bracelets refashioned out of confiscated snares. He is currently working with an Australian designed jewellery designer and gemmologist who has an exquisite bespoke collection of jewellery inspired by the forest and nature at Shinta Mani Wild which will be launched soon. Bill is currently preparing for his first ever exhibition of his own artwork which will be sold with proceeds going to Wildlife Alliance to fund the rangers’ patrols.
A statistics board at the camp shows the number of various items confiscated and animals saved and is updated daily. To date it includes 1,819 snares removed, 10 fires put out, 80 chainsaws, 1,632 pieces of illegal timber and 4 guns confiscated, 298 illegal fences dismantled, 76 turtles and 7 civet cats rescued as well as several other species.
“Some of Cambodia’s, and the world’s most endangered species still call the Cardamom mountains home, including 54 animals on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. As the forest cover disappears, so does the wildlife. It will take major conservancy of the evergreen forest for these fabulous residents to thrive again, but that is the goal at Shinta Mani Wild,” said Bill. We cannot, must not and will not give up on this important work to protect the forest and wildlife,” he continued.
Media Contact
Lee Sutton
Dynamic PR & Events
Tel: +65 8323 1240
Email: lee.sutton@dynamicpr.com.sg
Web: www.dynamicpr.co
*****************
INTRODUCING EXQUISITE ‘NATURE’S TREASURY’ COLLECTION
BY AUSTRALIAN BESPOKE JEWELLER KATE MCCOY
TO RAISE MONEY FOR WILDLIFE ALLIANCE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Addendum Information to Release on Bensley Collection Shinta Mani Wild’s New Boutique
Collections/Unique Pieces:
Bamboo Collection:
Earrings: USD 26,375 - protects 100% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (843 acres) for 63 days
Pendant: USD 17,375 - protects 100% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (843 acres) for 40 days
Ring: USD 4,875 - protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 49 days
– limited edition of 5
Diamond, Tourmaline, Demantoid Garnet
18 karat white gold, 18 karat yellow gold
Bamboo collection:
was created as a homage to the sustainable nature of bamboo, a fast growing, robust material that can be used in furniture, building and crafts in place of the virgin forests that are illegally logged in the areas surrounding Shinta Mani Wild. The earrings and pendant are set in a bold and elegant geometric formation, reminiscent of an art deco style. The refined and deliberate lines work beautifully with the natural selection of colours. I was struck by all the varied shades of green in the Cambodian wilderness. Tourmaline gems evoke the fresh, energizing and revitalizing nature of the jungle. To elicit the warm sun glinting through the trees I chose a radiant cut Demantoid Garnet for its high refractive indices, a nice burst to contrast the linear baguette shapes. The 18 karat yellow gold setting of the baguettes mimic the sections you see in the way bamboo naturally grows. The diamonds add a glistening effect as in light catching the morning dew, cutting a peak to the straight form of the design. With a distinctive 18 karat yellow gold chain at 42cm, the pendant sits front and center on the décolletage.
Jewel of the Jungle:
One of a kind Cocktail ring: USD 30,625 - Protects 100% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (843 acres) for 70 days
–Natural Green Zircon, Diamond, Demantoid Garnet, 18 karat white gold, 18 karat yellow gold
Design available in other colours: Sapphire, Ruby, Tanzanite, Mandarine Garnet, Rubelite or Tourmaline on request. POA
Jewel of the Jungle
This exceptional and sizable green radiant cut ring features a large unrivaled natural green gemstone that is the oldest gemstone dated on the planet at 4.4 billion years old. Zircon is a gemstone found in Australia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Cambodia. Kate McCoy has aptly named this ring the Jewel of the Jungle for its incredible rare green tones. The famous Tiffany’s Gemologist and gem buyer George Kunz was an avid fan of Zircon and proposed to change its name to “Starlite” to counter the market perception created by the much later manmade diamond simulant - cubic zirconia. Natural Zircon is the only gemstone that has a refraction and sparkle that comes second to diamond. Natural Green Zircons with no heat treatment and with as much brilliance and blue green tones as this one are extremely rare, notably so in such sizeable specimens as secured in this classically set ring. Sided by two bright eye clean baguette diamonds and two radiant cut demantoid garnets, this is a ring that will invoke many conversations. The rich jungle green of this center stone is unrivaled by any other gem. It is a truly mesmerizing Jewel to mark the legacy of the Shinta Mani Wild Jungle.
Amaranthine Orchids: One of a kind earrings and men’s pocket or tie pin.
Earrings: USD 28,680 -Protects 100% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (843 acres) for 66 days
Tie Pin/Pendant: USD 8750 - Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 81 days
Amaranth Garnet, Diamonds -18 karat rose gold, 18 karat white gold
Design available in other colours: Sapphire, Ruby, Tanzanite, Mandarine Garnet, Rubelite or Tourmaline on request. POA
Amaranthine Orchid
Amaranthine means everlasting. These stunning earrings were inspired by my first walk from Head Quarters to my luxurious accommodation at Shinta Mani Wild. Instantly immersed in the wilderness, thick jungle vines teaming with life all around, the crunching pathway under my feet, the sound of birds and the nearby stream. No sooner was I stopped in my tracks. There she was, a fine, elegant, luminous sight to behold, radiating from the green, gracefully extending in front of me the most delightful purple orchid.
What a breathtaking flower, what a delight. In this moment I knew I must make her an immortal jewel. After searching through hundreds of gem stocks of the world’s most reputable gem dealers, at last I came across a very special and rare garnet from Mozambique, called Amaranth Garnet. No other gemstone could match the intensity and luminosity of my encounter that day. With gem rough from this source and of this quality being issued finite, these Amaranthine Orchid earrings are truly one of a kind. Designer cut kite shapes combined with trilliant cuts and marquise cuts, bring the memory of her striking beauty to an everlasting sparkle. Created with utmost precision by hand, the petals of the earrings are exquisitely pave set with fine white diamonds in 18 karat white gold while the stems and center stones are set in a 18 karat rose gold bringing femininity to the edginess of the cuts. The tie pin or Pocket pin orchid is a more masculine paired back and simple version of the more extravagant earrings, designed to be worn as a couples set for a special event.
Prang pendant: Limited edition of 5.
Pendant: USD 18,575 - Protects 100% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (843 acres) for 35 days
Black Diamond, White Diamond. 18 karat yellow gold.
Prang Pendant
This striking talisman spire like pendant design was inspired by Prang Architecture of The Khmer Empire. Set in 18 karat yellow gold are black and white diamonds in baguette, princess and round brilliant cuts. The pendant’s elongated spire like form is an elegant length with the geometric forms giving it a modern edge. This extraordinary piece hangs from a diamond cut black spinel beaded necklace. A unisex design we can see it styled elegantly for a glamourous evening or to give a rockstar edge to black jeans and a shirt on the daily.
Bensley Stripes Ring set: Limited edition of 5 sets of 5 rings.
Black Diamond, White Diamond - 18 karat yellow gold.
Bensely Stacking ring baguette stripes (top) USD 2125 Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 21 days
Bensley Stacking ring black diamond (2ndfrom top) USD 1700 Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 15 days
Bensley Stacking ring princess (3rdfrom top) USD 2450 Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 26 days
Bensley Stacing ring white diamond (2ndform bottom) USD 2125 Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 21 days
Bensley Stacing ring square stripes (bottom) USD 2125 Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 21 days
Bensley Stripes Ring set
We love Bill Bensley’s black and white stripe signature in his designs. We designed these black and white diamond and 18 karat yellow gold very fine rings as a homage to the Bensely Collection interiors. A fun and classic stacking set to be bought all together or separately. Pair them with your current rings or start your very own collection. We love them for their fine setting and simplicity.
Amaranthine Temple flowers: One of a kind ring an earring set – available in other colours on request.
Ring: USD 12,200 - Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 116 days
Earrings: USD 16,050 - Protects 100% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (843 acres) for 33 days
Amaranth Garnet, Diamonds -18 karat rose gold, 18 karat white gold
Design available in other colours: Sapphire, Ruby, Tanzanite, Mandarine Garnet, Rubelite or Tourmaline on request. POA
Amaranthine temple flowers
This set of ring and earrings are inspired by the stone carved flower motifs seen in the temple walls at Angkor Wat. The petal halo of fine diamonds in marquise and princess shapes frame a stunning rare cushion shape amaranth garnet sourced from Mozambique.
Amarantine Geometry – limited edition of 5, Ring and Bracelet
Ring: USD 8,200 -Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 78 days
Bracelet: USD 15,800 - Protects 100% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (843 acres) for 34 days
Amaranth Garnet, Diamonds - 18 karat rose gold
Design available in other colours: Sapphire, Ruby, Tanzanite, Mandarine Garnet, Rubelite or Tourmaline on request. POA
Amaranthine Geometry.
Repeating the same a geometric principle of the temple flower collection to form a beautiful pattern on the inside of this bangle and ring, this set is made from 18 karat rose gold, Amaranth garnet and diamonds. A simple yet luxurious jeweled design for everyday wear.
Emerald Vines – limited edition of 5, Ring and Bangle
Ring: USD 12,250 - Protects 100% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (843 acres) for 28 days
Cuff: USD 20,500 - Protects 100% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (843 acres) for 48 days
Emerald and Diamond - 18 karat yellow gold
Design available in other colours: Sapphire, Ruby, Tanzanite, Mandarine Garnet, Rubelite or Tourmaline on request. POA
Emerald vines
Set in 18 karat yellow gold are beautiful oval shape Zambian emeralds and rose cut diamonds. The inside of this luxurious yet simple bangle and ring is a stunning vine motif, a memento of Shinta Mani Wild experience. What I particularly love about the Emerald vines and Amaranthine collections is that the details that are on the inside of the jewellery are for the wearers experience only. Many memories of travels have had a profound effect on me as a designer and in this way I wanted these pieces to be something that guests can wear on the daily after their stay, and that each time they put them on, that inner experience of the jewellery design marks the impression and the memory of Shinta Mani Wild in their hearts.
Zest Collection – One of a kind Cocktail set
Ring: USD 2950 - Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 23 days
Earrings: USD 3126 - Protects 25% of Shinta Mani Wild forest and its wildlife (210 acres) for 28 days
Lime Citrine - 18 karat yellow gold
Available in other colours upon request subject to gem availability.
Zest Collection
Zest collection is a fun cocktail set that was inspired by the cocktail bar at Shinta Mani Wild.
Vintage with its eclectic furniture, leather lounges and artifacts yet ultimately fun and loud with its colour and quirk.
If you have the pleasure of enjoying one or many of the amazing cocktails at Shinta Mani Wild. This collection will evoke for you the unqiue refreshing Cambodian Sombai liqueur, fresh fragrant kaffir lime and squeeze of zesty lemon.
This collection features lemon quartz designer cut gems, set in 18 karat yellow gold with fine antique filigree detailing in the metal work of the setting.
All pieces are customised to individual wrist and ring sizes.
Insured shipped by reputed international courier. Subject to taxes based on customer location.
Available Online September 1st 2020: www.naturestreasury.com.au
Image Link for Collection : https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GHEisRHgZC5ULwu4Hf6VDpY219hypDis
For further information and reservations at Bensley Collection-Shinta Mani Wild visit www.bensleycollection.com/shintamani-wild, call tel: +855 63 969 123 or email: wild@shintamani.com.
**********
For press information or to discuss feature ideas, interview opportunities and press trips contact:
Lee Sutton, Dynamic PR & Events
Tel: +65 8323 1240
Email: lee.sutton@dynamicpr.com.sg
Website: www.dynamicpr.co
DK:
Well, good morning, you know, you entered exactly how I expected that you would with the open mouth enthusiasm, hands in the air.
And these are like the characteristics, you know, I think if you look at every Bill, Bensley, you know, well actually not, not the headshot, your PR company sent me there, you look pretty you know calm.
But that is not typically Bill Bensley that I, that I know from all your Instagram posts, you are this like ebulient character,
Bill Bensley:
A what character?
DK:
Ebulient, you know, just like,
Bill Bensley:
Ebulient, Oh, that's a new word for me now, what does that mean?
DK:
You know… gregarious
Bill Bensley:
There you go.
DK:
Uh… enthusiastic.
Bill Bensley:
Yeah.
Bill Bensley:
Yeah. Ebulient.
DK:
Now you see, you didn't know this, but this was actually also English as a second English podcast as well.
Bill Bensley:
OK.
DK:
Yeah.
Just so, just so you know, so this is not a visual medium. Well, it is between us now, but when it goes through air for our listeners, you should know that Bill is wearing a spectacular black and white polka dots top and it’s uncharacteristically a little bit devoid of color, I think, right?
Bill Bensley:
Well momentarily I will be naked. So...
DK :
Again, good that we're not a visual medium
Bill Bensley:
Momentarily. I'm going to have, I'm going to have a massage. So we're going to talk while I'm having a massage
Bill Bensley:
There you go.
DK:
2018 I was in Bangkok with a number of my colleagues at a global design summit. At the time I was working for Marriott as a vice president Global Design Strategies, and we left the Siam hotel, which I'll get to in a minute…
DK:
And we sat in a car for what was probably close to two hours. Not because our destination was 100 miles away. But if you know, Bangkok, you know traffic, and you could literally look and see your destination and know that it's going to get you think at least you an hour to get there.
But we traveled to this amazing place that we were going to have dinner. And we came down what seemed to be a back alley eventually. And we opened the car door. Then we slipped out of the van and opened the door to Bill Bensley's home.
And probably about a hundred plus people that evening had dinner in your garden.
And it was one of, you know, if you want to talk about travel experiences and things that you will always remember, I have to tell you that was one of the things that I think I now cherish as a travel memory, despite being part of a, of a global design conference that I would participate in.
It was extraordinary. And I think, all of us walked in with that sense of wonder.
It really was like that. I’ve often described this idea of my job as an architect and designer of places and things, customer experiences, and my job is to take people every day in a different way to Alice's rabbit hole.
And it felt very much like that walking into your, what your home.
Tell me about the home because, it clearly reflects your design aesthetic.
I think, some principles that are the underpinning and your garden is amazing.
One of the sheds in the very back there was a plaque that was on the wall about being a gardener. And you are Jack of all trades gardening, I suppose is one.
So the house was like, Wonderland. It really was.
Bill Bensley:
Thank you. It's a, it's a small house, but it has a, is a beautiful garden in that the garden is divided into 17, some gardens, so garden rooms and each one of them has its own has its own style has its own flavor. It has its own something special. And that, I think that that's what makes it like going down a rabbit hole. Cause it has the rabbit hole goes down and down. There's many rooms along the way as it's going down. Yes,
DK:
That's exactly right.
I think one of the really delightful things, if you had to sort of punctuates that concept, was these portals, these doors throughout the garden.
And there were all beautiful, because of the carving and the color. And they, it did seem as though, as you walked through a door, you were in yet a different part of Alice's rabbit Warren,
Bill Bensley:
The driving force behind the house is that this is a place where I can experiment. I don't, I don't give a damn what anyone thinks. So I, I try to constantly and, and, and honestly really changes all the time. There's, there's constantly people who are working on the, on the house, but I use it as a place in which I can try new things. And I've, I've had hundreds of ideas here that have migrated into the hotels that we do around the world. So it's it's a testing ground,
DK:
But that's a great place to do it too, right?
Bill Bensley:
Yeah.
Bill Bensley:
I keep all the good stuff and send the other stuff to other projects. So...
DK: That's good!
These portals into different spaces, what do they tell us about your fascination with the idea of entry or arrival at you properties?
Bill Bensley:
Well, then that's a good, that's a very good point. And I'm going to refer to refer to those portals and in a new project that I'm doing in Antiga in a nutshell it's seven, 800 meters of a beachfront, 60 bungalows. Average bungalow size is 60 square meters, but the average garden site is, is about 900 square meters. This is for one key 900 square meters, but this is one thing I did today all day today was they worked on portals and I have perhaps almost a hundred of, of, of beautiful doors from Burma, from, from India, from Sri Lanka up in Chiang Mai. And I've got them all documented beautifully. And this week we've also bought a, a sandblaster to be able to, to take off some of the, the paint that I don't like and put on the paint that I do like, but it's all about this week is all about portals.
Bill Bensley:
How do we make, how do we make these portals, these, these gateways to these beautiful big gardens in Antiga. And I do that answer your question long, long, long answer to a short question is I do that because I want people to feel as though there's a beginning and ending of their property. I want people to feel as though they're on their own estate and then IGA next to each other. They own all of that land around their bungalow. And by, by these beautiful Gates is one of the, on the beach side. There's one on the inland side, there's one on the West side, one on the East side and they can all be locked and it's a, you know, don't bother me. That's what it says. It says don't bother me and, and go away. And I'm having a lay by the pool and that's, and this is a private place within a public hotel. Does that answer your question?
DK:
Yes, yes. That, and it makes sense too.
I think of this idea of these doors that open, you know, and there's that great Magritte painting of clouds in the background.
Or you know, I grew up on star Trek. And one of the episodes that I really clearly remember was they had found this place called the Library, Spock and Kirk, and they had these little round disks and you put these disks into what would be literally like a key swipe at a door.
And there was literally just an opening in this wall. And to put this little card or a little disc in and then walk through into the place that was recorded on this, this imaginary sort of silver disc.
And you had to be careful because and know where the portal was so that you could find the way back from the other side.
Do you expect when people walk through and into your worlds, and that they just don't want leave?
Bill Bensley:
That's the ultimate isn't?
DK:
Wouldn't that be, a hundred percent occupancy all the time?
That would be great.
Bill Bensley:
Yeah, for sure. That happens to me quite frequently. I mean, it happens. Yeah. A lot of things that we do. So touch wood now that's, that's the goal is to not want to have people have to have people remember, is it the world of travel today is so forgettable. Would you agree with that in general?
DK:
I think also the continuing growth of the boutique hotel, those hotels that are built on purpose, those hotels that give you more than powdered eggs and the trough in the morning where everything's exactly the same.
I think that's like the commoditization of, of hotel experience. You know, when you have the brands that are repetitive over and over and over again, and you see the same thing leave us wanting more.
That said, I think even in those brands, and I say having come from a company that had 30 brands, a large portion of which were the select service and the limited service types which drives a lot of business, right.
I mean, when you're not making beds every single day, you're, you're generating a lot more revenue because you're not spending it on housekeeping and other sort of operational costs.
Bill Bensley:
Sure.
DK:
I think even those are, are changing more now to be more bespoke, whether you're a Courtyard by Marriott, Tuscaloosa or Tai Pei or someplace else, you know, you're going to want to have something different to remember, that references back to that place.
And I think this whole idea of purpose and story that's driven out of the location, it's something that's very dear to you. So tell me more about why you think that's so important.
Why is story so important?
Bill Bensley:
I don't consider myself so much of a storyteller is about that, about, I want to create legends and by creating legends and creating fantasies and creating that rabbit hole that people will remember it.
That's the key point that it gets a key to it.
The key to financial success is that if people remember your hotel, that they'll want to go back. I think it's about creating this fantasy, creating this and that. And that's really what we do is to create a place to escape from. That's why my book was called "Escapism."
DK:
Which is interesting. As you say that, I also think of the other piece of literature that I would about you, someone referred to you as the Willy Wonka of hospitality design.
Does that, does that ring true for you?
Bill Bensley:
Well, I hope so.
DK:
I read that book, or rather that book was read to me in my sixth grade bye by Mrs. Gilmore. And I will never forget it.
And this is like, you know, 45 plus years ago sitting in my sixth grade room, listening to the story of Willy Wonka. Why is it Willy Wonka, an apt description of Bill Bensley?
Bill Bensley:
I think it's about, it's about a delightful sense of fantasy. It's a delight. It's, it's, it's going someplace that, you know, you can't go during the normal during your normal lifetime. Like when you came over to the house and you remembered that. And I, and you know, we had, you know, we had, I think that night we had a string quartet, we had classical music, we had jazz music and then to finish it all off, we had the most fabulous drag Queens in all of Bangkok.
DK:
I have to tell you for a straight guy, they were really good. They were, they were great performers. They were just fantastic.
Bill Bensley:
Right. And then, and then I thought long and hard about, you know, having all these corporate guys come over from Marriott, all these corporate people come over from Marriott, from from Marriott. And I thought, God, should we really do this? Right. Cause that's supposed to be a Mormon company.
DK: And that is true.
Bill Bensley:
And I thought, well, you know, I have a reputation to uphold, so fuck yeah, I'm going to do this.
DK:
Exactly. But that's sort of interesting because this is twice now, since we've started. And you said, I don't really care what people think.
But you know, your big idea, I think when it comes to collaboration, is really talking about the designer or the architect or the creative person needing to have the validation.
I think you were in a video talking about this idea of collaborating and how it's a compliment, compliment, compliment, compliment, compliment. And then you slide in that sort of constructive criticism.
Bill Bensley:
Of course, yeah. I think I was thinking about people that I work with on a day to day basis.
DK:
So is it, is it true then that as a creative person?
Because I think when you give people that sense of comfort that you are complimenting their efforts is also because you recognize that on some level they do give a damn, you know, that other people like what they do.
Bill Bensley:
Sure.
DK:
As a creative person, this is the challenge right?
Do you really not care what people think or do you actually deeply do care what people think? But there's some defensive structure that says, well, I don't really care what they think I'll do what I want creatively?
It seems to be a bit of a dichotomy in, in those two ideas about coaching and cajoling creative people to get what you want by playing to their sensibilities as artists and knowing that they care, that it matters to them.
Bill Bensley:
I think that, you know, to say that I don't care what anyone who says that I don't care, but what anyone thinks is is, is the wrong impression. I think I care very much what, what everyone thinks, but how to say, if I'm being guided by the normal people that run big hotel companies that are, are, they're usually safe, they want to be safe. And if I tend to piss them off in some way then I'll take that because if I, if I have a certain vision that I, I will be darn confident that that, that that's going to be having a better result than if I'm safe. I'm tired of being safe. Right? And I, instead of never wanted to be safe. And I'm always, you're always on this line, you're always on this line between, you know, trying to keep the job, but trying to push it, push everybody as far as they possibly can within their comfort zone.
DK:
I think that is true of the reason for which people hire us as architects, right?
At least they know the aesthetic, they know what they're going to get before they ever actually ink a deal with Bill Bensley, they've seen the work. And it's all brilliant.
And, I think it's our responsibility to push our our clients.
Bill Bensley:
Right. Very much so.
DK:
I think its about getting them to think outside their comfort zone, otherwise, why would they have bothered hiring us?
If you're not, you know, if you're going to come to the table and not push the envelope a little bit and get to them to stretch, then I think there's no joy, actually.
There's diminishes the sort of enthusiasm to come to the table in terms of doing the work.
Bill Bensley:
Right.
DK:
Firms will simply crank out that, you know, that box that's the repeat of the previous one. But that's not the case in your world.
Bill Bensley:
It is so complex, but he can't let little hurdles little hurdles like that. Stop your vision.
DK:
Do you occasionally feel like the UN (you win) at the designer table or at the client table between your contractors and other stakeholders, trying to navigate the path for those people to the vision?
Bill Bensley:
Well, I, we do win we win 95% of the 95% of the time. And you know what it's because of, I've got such a great team of about 150 people that work for me for the last 25 years. And we produce these drawings. I don't know if you've seen them, but they're for the Antigua project. I talked about, I did a 550 meters of drawings, and we presented that to the, to the prime minister of Antigua about a month ago. And everyone was giddy, you know, just looking at these drawings. So when you have such a weapon in your arsenal there's not much people can say most of the time.
DK:
Do you find there's a translation loss sometimes between what we represent as our work visually on the wall to the physical place is, and, or are there things that you discover that are even more wonderful physically once you get them actually built, rather than only seeing them in visual representations by the hand of the artist?
Bill Bensley:
Pretty much
The, our, our, our drawings are so complete that in the color stages, in the conceptual stages, there's pretty much ends up to be, you know, 80%, 85% like our drawing.
DK:
I'm an architect as well. So I, I know that between the drawing, the expression of the idea in a drawing or a model, a 3D computer model, sometimes then when I walk into the place, when it's finally done, there are things that you never could have imagined have being come out the way they did, because you just can't see that in two dimensional space or even the three dimensional model in many ways.
And sometimes there is, there are those sort of delightful surprise.
It's going, gosh, that worked out better than I anticipated. Or… I never expected that.
Bill Bensley:
What the hell is that?
DK:
Where did that come from?
Bill Bensley:
Yeah, absolutely. All of the above. Yeah. It's just a, it can be a roller coaster.
DK:
It can be.
Let me dig into this idea about creating, because I want to go back to the collaboration thing and that the idea of creating,.
Is it difficult, or was it ever difficult for you to take the client criticism as a, as a creative person?
Like have you walked out of meetings sometimes with your feelings hurt. “they don't get it. They just don't get it. They don't understand the vision.”
Bill Bensley:
Yeah. I've thrown crowbars across the swimming pool.
DK;
That would not be good.
Bill Bensley:
Yeah. Yeah. I I've lost it for sure. Yeah. I've and I've also in Intercontinental Danang when I came back and that they had, and I found that a D-9 had plowed through a an estuary that formed, you know, that took a million years to form was perfectly balanced. A D-9 came through and took out all of this, this microclimate, right. That, and with all of the frogs and the birds and the, you know, perfectly beautiful water because the client thought that it was dirty. I walked off the job. I just walked off the job and said, and I wrote them a scathing nine page letter. Why that they shouldn't have done that. And, and since then we've gotten six jobs, six more jobs from them and including the one that just opened last week in Hanoi.
DK:
So that's interesting… standing by your convictions, you know, having the courage to sort of say, no, this is not the right thing to do.
Bill Bensley:
Right.
DK:
Do you find yourself in those scenarios a lot, or do you think that most people simply, you know, love the Bill Bensley aesthetic and they say, okay, let's just go for it.
Or do you get battles all the time?
Bill Bensley:
They were doing now Kapinsky hotel and also Vietnam, same client. But they're saying that they want to have too many, too many too many rooms on this particular beautiful piece of property. And it's about at this point now where I'm going to tell them, you know, no, it's gotta be much less than that, or I'm not doing it. So this is the same client, but 12 years later.
DK:
They seem to not have necessarily changed. Fundamentally.
Those are challenges, right?
I think we've tried to bring new things to the market.
For example, I often end up in these discussions with developers and clients going, you know, where they'll say, ‘Hey, listen, am I going to get a $2 ADR lift in that thing you want to do?’
And often I sit across the table and I go, gosh, you know, I don't know because I'm pretty sure the spreadsheet that you're using to calculate ROI. Doesn't include things like return on innovation, return on creativity, return on emotion, return on experience, return on all these things that are based in the experience economy, that there isn't a direct metric for, but drive experience for your guests.
Which is that thing you were talking about earlier, the thing they remember, right. That sort of moment of memory retention.
Bill Bensley:
Right.
DK:
I wanted to asked a question about the art idea.
I do follow you on Instagram.
I often see you in front of a canvas holding a paintbrush and even. Where does art come into your life is a something that helps you?
Is it, if it's something that you just love doing creatively?
Is it your flow space?
Is it something that informs your design decisions?
Have you always loved drawing, painting those kinds of things?
Bill Bensley:
I have. I've always loved drawing, painting over the weekend. I spent I spent 26 hours painting over the weekend. Yeah, that's it. Six o'clock, five 45 in the morning and was out there all day. I've got a great news that I went to the new four seasons here in Bangkok. It hasn't opened yet. And they have a wonderful 4,000 square foot space. They're called the art gallery, the art and it's connects the river to their, to their lobby, fantastic hotel not open yet, but soon will be, but they, and it's run by MOCA the museum of contemporary art. And they're doing all the, the putting together the shows, but they want, they want me to be in one of their first shows,
DK:
That's fantastic! What are the artists or creative inspirations for Bill Bensley?
Who are the people who you would gravitate towards?
Bill Bensley:
Lucian Freud. I love he's an English painter Stanley Spencer Georges Bracques Matise of course, he's my favorite.
DK:
I think that comes out in your art. I'll have to tell you.,
Bill Bensley:
I'm, I'm, I'm very much a followers. I love color. I love figurative art. And I, I think that, you know, I'm still very much a beginner, so I want to, I want to try and still try many things. And this room that I'm sitting in now, we call the Bonnet suite and the there's about 40 different paintings in here that are all from a man of a Dutch man. You can see it now. Yeah,
DK:
Yes.
Bill Bensley:
Yeah. Even though it's the part. Yeah. Sorry.
DK:
I can see it.
Bill Bensley:
This is a room I call the Bonnet suite and it's ma it's filled with paintings by Rudolph Bonnet, who came to Bali in about 1923. And he drew balling these people. He drew them over and over and over again, men and women and old people and young people, but he was such a great draftsman. So I filled this room to inspire myself, to become, at least to become, if I can be half as good as he is, then that I'll be happy. And I don't know if, you know, I'm sure, you know, the hardest thing in art to do is figurative art.
DK: I think you're right.
Bill Bensley:
Yeah. And so that's what I'm trying to learn now in a very disciplined way. Cause I have teachers that come and help me here in Bangkok and we're trying, and I have live models that come to the studio every, every Sunday, every Saturday, and we have classes and we're trying to, and trying to learn and in a very formal way during the weekends.
DK:
Interesting. ‘Cause my mom recognized when I was probably about two or three, she said, you know, you were copying Christmas cards. When you were a kid.
Bill Bensley:
Really?
DK:
Yeah. She got me into an art class when I was nine years old.
And I had to tell you, it was, it became my safe space to be in the art class, Thursday afternoons, still to me have magic because it was when I went to my art class and I'd get out of high school and would literally would run to the studio about, you know, a quarter, a mile away from where my high school was.
And, I would sit and paint for three or four hours. And it was wonderful.
Figurative art is difficult because I think we are so finely tuned to understanding scale and proportion, those kinds of things that when something's off, like if one eye is a little bit low, you know, something is, you know so I'm doing a series now actually musicians, famous musicians.
I started out with jazz musicians and I'm shifting there's some more contemporary musicians and they're even more complex because we know who the person is and there's these very fine tuned attention to details that you recognize right away.
If something is off, if you're drawing Prince and you don't have like the mustache or the hair quite right, or, you know, the decorative things on the epaulettes, you know, and I think that makes it more difficult, but the details are everything in those paintings.
So talking about detail, I want to use that as a segue into this idea of building detail.
We visited the Siam hotel in 2018, when we were there, it was a remarkable property, full of details and full of detail like your house is full of elements of design.
What is your fascination? It seems to be, what is it that you have one, what is your fascination with the idea of detail and that, and do you believe that people really can tune into those things that you're selecting as a design professional in the properties that you do?
Bill Bensley:
You know what David is? That is that some do some don't. And if you design a hotel for everybody designed it for nobody. So I, I design hotels for what I think is beautiful. Basically my, my sense of aesthetics. And I love, and you can see by the room that I'm sitting in, I love layers and layers of interest because I spend a lot of time in here and I'm, I'm looking at these things all the time. And I, and I know that that there is a, market because you know, the Siam, as you say, has done very, very well because it has the layers of interest that I love in every corner of that hotel. So I know that there's a market for it. So does everyone like it? No, but I don't care.
DK:
But what I think makes it remarkable, is this idea of the unfolding and probably also that you could go there a number of times and on the second or the third or the fifth or the hundredth visit, you go, gosh, you know what? I hadn't seen that before!
Bill Bensley:
If you, if you can understand everything in the Siam hotel in five visits, I'd be very surprised. First hotel ever, where every room is different in Bangkok. And now that's what I, that's what I hang my hat on David is that I, the, all of these, all of these small hotels the Rosewood and long for bond, this one in Antigua, it's all about making a special place for you, individual, as you come into the hotel. So every room is special. And this new one that talking about that I talked about Antigua is that every single key is devoted towards an Antiguan. So every single key has the story, has a special story, about a very special person, an artist that Olympic bicyclist, for example, a Chinese immigrant, a, you know, a drummer on Le Chic they all have their stories. And, and so we will find the things that are very near and dear, sometimes it's just ephemera, but things that are very dear and near to these people and go to their families and then bring that back into it, to personalize each one of these suites. It's a hell of a lot of work.
DK:
Well, I was going to say, yeah, more than most people who don't do this work would imagine.
Bill Bensley:
That's what I love.
DK:
But that idea of story is really critical, I think, and I know you said you’re not a storyteller, but I, I don't know. I think that your hotels, spas, other things, they do tell stories.
And I'm curious about whether or not you think that a, how important is that and does the guest get it, or does it become sort of just background context for them and that you spend a lot of time on it if every room is different.
It does the hotel guests get it?
Bill Bensley:
Some do some don't. And I think every single guest that goes to the cm hotel, you know, that hotel, every guest gets it that, and that's not a brand new hotel, they get that right. They get that, that there's something historical and something very Ty about that hotel, then that pleases me to no end, because I think every single guest that comes in that door feels as though they're going back in time, whether they get every detail or not. No, but, and I, and I, I am asked all the time, how long did it take you to renovate that building? And that pleases me to no end, because it's a brand new building is absolutely brand spanking mill. So I think there's different levels of, of interest. Some people want to see every single room. Some people want to see every corner, every cabinet, they want me to open up and we do that.
And some people come in for three or four days, sit by the pool, drink gin and tonics, and don't give a shit about it. So, so, but if but I think the key is that that's what I like. And that's the type of hotels that I gravitate to that have a great layering of interest in some place where this is, this is a key point where I can learn something as long as I can learn something. If I can learn something in a new hotel, in a new place, I am going to remember it,
DK:
Is that the idea of purpose that that idea of a hotel should be resonant, long range should have something else other than great, you know, linens?
Bill Bensley:
When it was at the grocery store, you can teach somebody, then they have, have a purpose of, in case of the cm, the purpose of, of taking back people back to the turn of the century, what the cm was like, the turn of the century during Rama four period. Yes. Yeah. It should have a purpose, but the hotels should be like the churches of the past places. People come and learn something because we, as hoteliers, we've got the ability to, to capture their, their, their attention for two days, three days, four days, whatever, but they should have, we should have a purpose to teach them something. And also about something about social, even if it's about adopting the nursery next door or, or, or doing something for conservation or, or adopting something to have some way to make the world a better place rather than just heads on beds. Does that make sense?
DK:
Yes. I get that. One of the hotels in my previous portfolio of brands that I was connected to while at Marriott was design hotels. All right. And, you know, design hotels, Klaus Sendlinger, and now Peter Cole was CEO. Their whole drive is towards purpose-built environments. It's gotta be more than just the design. You know, and I, I think your idea is really curious about teaching people work, or rather than learning that you learned something you didn't know, a new hotelier in, in the States. Damon Lawrence is a guest on your podcast as well. And he has a company called Homage Hospitality African American hotelier. And his whole idea is , his ideas put hotels in places like Baltimore, Oakland, new Orleans, and design that hotel around the story of African American culture and telling the story that's not told.
Bill Bensley:
Yes. Good, good for him.
DK:
Yeah. So my question to you is how does architecture do that?
Bill Bensley:
Yeah, it changed that changed subjects a little bit is that I recently finished the Rosewood and the Rosewood in long combined, which is a beautiful little town in, in in Laos. And it's an UNESCO site and we inherited an oldest state and we built, we ended up building about 22 rooms, but I built these 22 rooms based on the, the main characters of Laotian history and researched, Oh, for gosh, 18 months, we researched. And we ended up buying and putting into the hotel, something like 2000 individual unique items, which were all [inaudible] and French, of course based. So anybody that has two eyes cannot go into that hotel and come out without an understanding of at least a fundamental understanding of what the history of Laos is all about, which is fantastic.
DK:
And do you do that because I think you're compulsively curious as a person that you want people to be as excited about these things that you find remarkable as well?
Bill Bensley:
Absolutely go right back to go back to what I've been saying is that I do hotels because those are the, I do hotels the way I do, because those that's what interests me. It's, it's a, it's very much a, it's a very much personal you know, travel and leisure, number one hotel in Asia.
DK:
And if you look at anything, the Absinthe - you know, the restaurants some of the amazing the ‘living room’ of the Park Hyatt the Bensley bar you know, these places have remarkable ceilings. Ceilings are probably the largest surface area that we see, but very seldom actually attended to in a really compelling way. Is that, is that just happens by consequence? Or do you actually say ‘now, that that is a serious piece of canvas for me to play on,’ the ceiling?
Bill Bensley:
The enemy is our downlights
DK:
Okay. I'll buy that.
Bill Bensley:
I, I hate that. I hate, I hate that. Making Swiss cheese out of, out of, of, of ceilings. I think it's, it's very, ceilings are very underrated. Along with bathrooms, bathrooms are greatly important. Now bathrooms are so important. I, I, every, every nice hotel I do, I put so much effort into the toilets because I want people to come back from a, taking a pee and says, did you go to the bathroom yet? You can see the bathroom. It's got 450 bowls stuck on the wall. Why did they do no one? See it. I remember
DK:
I remember going to the Royalton in New York years and years and years ago, when I first showed up there hand Philippe Stark had done the urinal in the men's bathroom, and it was just a stainless steel wall and had a laser, had a laser beam.
And you sort of walked up to the steel wall and you’d cut the laser beam and the water began to cascade down surface of those wall.
And you just stood there trying not to look at the next guy.
And you, you know, what, you, you did, when you left there and you walked out, was that you’d say to your friends, you have to go and see the bathroom, it's the coolest thing ever - try not to look at the next guy beside you, that's wrong.
Bill Bensley:
Yes.
DK:
Yeah. But it was, it was ironically such an enjoyable moment and memorable and that was like 1986 or something, you know?
Bill Bensley:
Yeah. That was, that was a really neat space.
DK:
Yeah, it was well done. I mean, that was the beginning. I think of the world that we now call this boutique hotel space, but let me ask you about the the human zoo, because I think it was called, you know, one of the insane hotels of the ideas of the year. Not so insane. Actually. I think it's really built on some really, really it's like turning that flipping literally the paradigm on its head. So tell us about, about that project.
Bill Bensley:
You know, I, I'm man, I don't know if you know, but I have a a large portion of this part of the national forest in in Southern Southern Cambodia and it property they're called Shinta Mani wild, where we built 15 tenths and they're very opulent tents and so forth. But the reason for doing that was to drive enough money to pay for part of wildlife Alliance, which is 115 men army men with AK 47 is protecting this forest from deforestation, from and, and illegal poaching of wildlife. So by saying, by telling you this, I'm telling you that I put my money where my mouth is, as far as my love and concern for conservation and trying to do, trying to make a better world. A lot of the poaching for wildlife goes to Vietnam, goes to the wildlife, goes, ends up on the Ridge tables of the, of the Chinese and a year ago when my clients very good clients in China said, mr. Bill, we want to build a zoo and you build a zoo for us. I said, you know, you guys, I really don't like
Yeah, sort of things out, click, click, click, let's figure it out. I went to go and see 15 different zoos around China. You can imagine most of them were absolutely horrible. I came back to the client and said, well, let's take your 2000 hectors, which is a lot of land. And let's propose something different where we take the zoo animals rather than collecting new zoo animals from, from outside, from Africa, et cetera, let's take the animals that are in the existing zoos now, which are overcrowded and horrible. And then let's bring them and let them loose on this very large piece of property, of course, and tried to emulate their natural, their natural habitat. I'm, I'm simplifying this story very much for you, but but with the ability to be able to teach the Chinese and everyone else that comes to visit by way of a train that runs around this huge park stops, you know, like a Broadway theater that say that perhaps it's not the best thing to do is to eat to eat bat, to eat pangolin, because that's going to cause the next COVID scare or the next, the next COVID pandemic.
And it will so is that opportunity for me to educate something like 10 million Chinese per year? That's, that's the volume that we're talking about? You know, Marriott's joined us, Hilton's joined us a Waldorf Astoria. There'll be a Shinta Mani there. And so we've created something like 2300 rooms around this part which all work to look to this senseless, huge defenseless area within the, within the 2000 square meters, 2000 square or hectors that without that's the key.
DK:
And, and so this is not like a Jurassic park, you know, it has that kind of overtone, right? Come see the animals.
Bill Bensley:
Yeah. Come see the animals, but in a different, in a different way. So the one I really pissed me off about the most of the properties in most of the zoos in China was that tigers are reduced to jumping through hoops, et cetera, et cetera. And then that's, we want to, I've hired a, an English zoologist for the last year. Now, now I understand what is top shelf zoology. So we're going to do this part that's and it's been approved by 55 of top officials in China. And so now I go, the Chinese want to change. They want to do they want to do something, right? So it all comes back to my personal. What I think is right about my personal conservation projects in Cambodia. And that's how this is developed. Does that make sense?
DK:
Hundred percent let's go right there because I think this is among other things that we've talked about today is something that is a key passion drives a lot of you in work, and it is doing sustainable projects. The hotel industry, and I think hotel and architecture in general, right? One of the largest contributor to greenhouse gases in terms of buildings. In terms of building waste. I think there was some statistic that the chief engineer Terry Smith, that Marriott said when he wanted to adopt to the ban, the bottle campaign, which was to get water filtration into hotels and get rid of all the plastic bottles, he said something like 15 million plastic water bottles is the number that Marriott pumps into landfill every year. I've always joked that there's close to that many in my house and they're all only half or three quarters, you know, drank. It's a staggering problem that we have contributed to in the hospitality, retail, building architecture space, it's a signature, I think, to the things you're trying to do.
DK:
So tell me about the idea of a Sustainable or Sensible Sustainable Solutions and what that's all about.
Bill Bensley:
Then the idea came to me about, about this time last year, and that as you know, I've designed something like 250 hotels around the world, every single hotel company, basically. And as you know, too, that as an architect, we're all, we're all differently design standard from hotel. And I went back and read all of them and I, and for the vast majority of them, I saw very little that had anything to do with things sustainable, anything to do about social sustainability or sustainability.
And I thought, well, this is dumb. And so I sat down and wrote, it took me about three months to write and to distill I had something like a hundred pages and I just deal with the 22 pages because I wanted to keep it really simple, the main ideas about, again, what I practice in my own hotels and what I think it's important to share with other architects with other hotel owners and with other hotels is in a very simplistic form in a, in a free format. And so that's been picked up by a lot of hotels, hotel companies around the world, and certainly a lot of owners and architects has been translated to Chinese as of two weeks ago. That's great. And now it's circulating around the world and it's, it's nothing, it's nothing but common sense, David, and that's it.
DK:
Yeah. I am a LEED certified architect, So I understand that clearly and, I think one of the things you, you argued against was this idea that unless it's going to show some return for me as an owner, it's too expensive to be, you know how do you battle that mentality?
Bill Bensley:
With common sense? I mean, that, that like you were just talking about Bo bottling plants and plastic bottles and so forth. I know for a fact that, you know, a bottling plant can have a, a one and a half year, one and a half year payback, it's expensive at the front end, but it has a one and a half year payback. And doesn't matter if it's a brand new hotel or if it's an old existing hotel, if hotels had a one and a half year payback, everybody would be doing it. Right. So, but what's the, what's the hiccup about, you know, doing a bottling plant, a payback for bottling plant because it's environmentally. Correct. So that means that it's stupid thing to do, right?
DK:
If you're thinking about what you're doing and you truly want to be a good steward of, our environment, I agree with you. I think it's, it's our responsibility
To do these things that don't diminish the quality of our world. I an tell you that my 18 to 20 year old son are very concerned about what, you know, the previous generations are doing to this planet. So Bravo to you who puts that first and foremost in a lot of the work that you're doing.
I have two questions left. If I may.
One is your world in the sustainability place, in these incredibly rich texture, natural environments that draw on the culture of the places. They're very tactile. They're very experiential. And they seem to be very counter the world that we live in - the world that is driven by digital technologies. I'm fascinated with digital technology and immersive digital experiences. VR, AR all these things, that it seems like there's this train rolling that a lot of the world is on and that your property seem to be a counterpoint to those things. Do you see a way that these two worlds collide in a constructive way where a Bill Bensley property could find experience that's built digitally rather than physically experientially that way? Or how do those, how does this world of technology and that, you know, lumbering train, that's only gaining speed fit into the world that you are so profoundly an advocate for?.
Bill Bensley:
It's a really good question. It's a deep question.
DK:
Um we can take another hour if you want it.
Bill Bensley:
Uh I think that, again, you know, the design of hotels are deeply personal. We've established that this evening. And if I compromise my, my very specific beliefs about what's, what's really important to me. And, and clearly the digital world is something that I hate that I don't allow anybody in our office to use a hand phone. I don't, when people come to me, I, and, and apply for a job, I don't look at their, their, their, anything that's computer generated. I ask them to sit down and draw that tea cup, where the pencil plays on. Fantastic. Because if he can't draw that teacup or the pencil, you can't design a high, high rise, dumb period. I know that for sure. You know that for, so if you're asking me, David, is there a point in which my work is going to take onboard this train of, of, of high-tech in a way yes.
In a way, as far as I create spaces that are highly Instagrammable, right. In a way, right, right. In a way. Yes. But I'm also an advocate of screenless environments in hotels, especially like propel. Uber is a screenless environment. I think that's really important. And I belong to the Chelsea arts club in London. Maybe I'll never get there again, but it's, it's a club in which nobody is allowed to use a handful. And I love that because people can talk to each other. Right. And here a Bangkok, when I go out with my friends, everybody's got a freaking telephone and they're sitting on the, on the table and they're, you know, and no one's talking to each other. And I find that so darn frustrating. And it's such a waste of time. I'd rather go home and read. So does that answer your question?
DK:
Yes. And this has been a great conversation. So I'm, I'm glad, and I've had my phone nearby, but I can tell you, I haven't looked at it to tell you, you know, I've only got, I ticker on my screen here, which will tell me that we are out of time, but I would like to ask one more question. In an interview, you said, look in the end, I'm paraphrasing here, designers want to contribute something. They want to have a sense that what they're doing is a value to that contributes to that, making up the thing or the place, or the remaking of a culture, street, corner, whatever. What does bill Bensley want to contribute?
Bill Bensley:
What I want to contribute?
I don't know. I don't know. I haven't found it yet. And I think that there's eventually something that's going to pop up and it's going to be really good. I just have to keep experimenting. I don't know what I want to contribute, but I know that I have to follow my heart in order to make a breakthrough in hospitality. I know if I got to follow my heart in an ad, you have to do my, like my mum says, you have to do the right thing,
DK:
Do the right thing.
Well, you have contributed in an extraordinary way for this podcast. And I want to thank you for taking the time. I know your time is extremely valuable. Your bright light and they a world that is highly technofied. And I think some of the things that you do in terms of creating spaces that are truly experiential and not because they have a digital screen, because they're, they're, they're rich in texture, they're rich and experience of story and, and detail. And I think the detail is often lost in a lot of what we think you see in contemporary architecture. You are a master at weilding that brush. So with that,
Bill Bensley:
I said, thank you very much.
DK:
Oh, you're very welcome. It's been an honor and a, I hope to come and have dinner in your garden again.
Bill Bensley:
Okay.
DK:
When we are through with this Pandemic, us and the dogs will sit down for, you know, a little something.
Bill Bensley:
That'll be great in the garden. I would love, love to love to have you back again.
DK:
Bill, it's been an extremely rewarding discussion with you.
Bill Bensley:
You're more than welcome. Goodnight, you guys. 'Sawadi Ka'.
DK:
Sawadi ka.