Gimme shelter

Photo provided to China Daily

"While one cannot ignore functionality and operational efficiency, there is too much competition today for a poorly designed hotel to succeed," he says. "Guests are highly driven to stay in places that are enticing and aesthetically pleasing."

Since Nagata founded Blink in 2006, the firm has worked on large-scale master planning right down to product and industrial design - and even brand identity and motion pictures.

Its impressive client roster includes big-name hoteliers such as Jumeirah, Dusit and Hyatt, as well as helping to cement brands such as Bluebird for Mercedes-Benz.

The firm currently has offices in Bangkok, its creative hub; Singapore, its business hub; New Delhi, its production hub; and a studio in Shanghai to fit its swelling Chinese client base.

Nagata has witnessed the exponential changes in China reflected in his own industry, with the most recent being increasingly more idiosyncratic properties, a far cry from the bigger-is-better mentality of a decade ago.

"To design a 500-key hotel with three to four restaurants was very common," he recalls. "Hotel designs today have shifted to become smaller and more individual. We already can see the transformation in first-tier cities.

"Also the design in areas like Shanghai and Beijing has matured, so less flashy, less glitzy design is more widely acceptable. However, there will be a huge push to develop resorts in other areas of China besides Sanya. The Chinese market needs weekend destinations that are an hour's drive or so from urban areas."

Nagata believes that this is the right direction for the region, with more niche hotels catering to different market segments instead of trying to be everything to everyone.

"The world is becoming smaller and smaller by the day," he says. "As a result, the need for hotels to be more individual, intimate and tailored to what their guests desire has never been more important."

As Blink's creative director, along with Alan Barr, Nagata gets to work on both a hotel's exterior and interior, a privilege the architect relishes.

"As an architect, it is inspiring to first set foot onto a beautiful site and to be able to visualize what the resort or hotel could look like," he says. "But I find it equally inspiring to filter out the white noise and come up with left-field ideas on materials, textures and other techniques."

Despite the many projects on Blink's drawing board and the jetsetting that comes with frequent site visits, Nagata has not lost his love for adventure.

"Traveling is my great passion, which is just as well because this job keeps me constantly on the road and living out of a suitcase," he states with a grin.

Contact the writer at sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn.