Creating Brand-Driven Hospitality Spaces with Contract Furniture

Contract furniture is an essential part of branding hospitality spaces. Things like your seating, tables and decor help to set the tone for the company as a whole, creating an atmosphere that will come to define your restaurant, bar, hotel or nightclub in the minds of your customer base.

Branding is essential, regardless of if you’re flipping burgers or serving up fine dining experiences. This can come in the form of pre-fabricated pieces or with bespoke items, depending on the goals of your company and more.

This blog will offer some guidance on how to create brand-driven hospitality spaces by using contract furniture, whether you choose to take the path of specially-made furniture or pieces that capture your imagination.

The importance of understanding contract furniture
Before you start buying, you have to consider the ins and outs of contract furniture and how it differs from residential pieces. Contract pieces are generally going to be more durable in construction, along with being created to meet fire safety standards. Even prefabricated pieces need to be made to specific commercial regulations and to withstand long-term, heavy use, ensuring investments are safe and long-lasting.

Determining your hospitality branding
If you’re going to buy contract furniture or have it made bespoke, you need to go in with a clear vision for the branding that you’re trying to achieve. Hopefully, you should already have a semblance of your branding in mind, including some graphic design choices and a menu that reflects your identity. This should be your guide when it comes to choosing or designing your contract tables, commercial chairs and everything else.

For example, some principles to follow include:

• Fast casual dining should be defined by benches, stools, casual tables and less luxurious pieces in general, along with brighter colours and lighting choices
• More upscale places should be defined by comfort, which can include more plush upholstery, warmer colour choices and more subtle lighting
• Bars and nightclubs can capture a vibe and brand identity with the use of different banquette seating installations, stools and the magnitude of seating in general

Materials & finishes define storytelling
Determining a theme or a story to tell will be defined by your choice of materials and finishes largely. Things like wooden pieces might create more rusticity, while opulent materials can create a more luxurious feel. The same goes for colour psychology, which can change how people perceive the brand as a whole.

Finding the right contract furniture partner for customisation
The best contract furniture supplier will offer you a degree of customisation when it comes to materials, finishes, modules, fabrics and overall constructions. This ensures that you can capture your brand’s aesthetic perfectly and properly define a brand-driven space. Experienced partners will provide expertise on everything from layout to installation techniques, meaning you can bypass typical pitfalls.

Hill Cross Furniture is the UK’s leading supplier of contract furniture and we have a long, storied history of completing bespoke projections that have helped to define brands going forward.

For example, when working with Shake Shack, we created bespoke chairs using a metal mould that’s now totally unique to their business. Our constructions also finished their pieces in a custom RAL colour, along with crafting engraved, chamfered edge tabletops. All of these elements have helped to define the branding for this massive fast food institution.

For more information on bespoke furniture on everything from armchairs to commercial exterior furniture, visit our website today. We’ll help you create the brand you’ve been working towards.