A New York hotel unveils an all-pink suite for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Solange launches free library spotlighting black voices, and two Pratt students develop sustainable carbon water filters. All that and more in this week’s Five on Friday.
Lewis Hamilton to grow Neat Burger
British Formula One titan Lewis Hamilton is taking his promotion of plant-based diets one step further with the expansion of his Neat Burger brand. The vegan fast food chain is slated to grow its footprint in London with the rollout of 30 new locations, Bdaily News reports. Outposts are slated to open through spring 2022 across the capital, including in major commercial corridors like Covent Garden, Clapham, and Canary Wharf. “We created Neat Burger to make plant-based eating more accessible to everyone whether you eat plant based all the time or just want to add it to your diet every now and again,” Hamilton says. “I’m really proud of the boundaries we have been able to push in this space and the plans for expansion both in terms of sites and delivery are really exciting.”
Solange’s Saint Heron opens free digital library
Photo by Natasha Aftandilians/Flickr
A free library of literature by Black creators has been launched through singer and artist Solange Knowles’ Saint Heron studio and platform. The library of “esteemed and valuable” texts empowers registered readers to borrow any of its 50 books for up to 45 days each. Its first “season” will run through the end of November, during which time books will be shipped via Worldnet on a first-come, first-served basis, according to Variety. Saint Heron is partnering with Rosa Duffy, founder of Atlanta-based Community Bookstore and reading room For Keeps Books, on its first iteration.
Pratt students revolutionize water filters
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A pair of grad students from the Pratt Institute have unveiled a design-driven collection of carbon water filters using only kitchen waste. Dubbed Strøm, the four-piece range of purifying sticks provides a sustainable alternative for Brita filter cartridges that are free of fossil fuels and can be used in cups, bottles, carafes, or self-cleaning pitchers. According to Dezeen, students Charlotte Böhning and Mary Lempres transformed food waste into carbon-rich biochar and combined it with natural resins in order to shape the sticks like thermoplastics. And unlike the polypropylene alternatives the rest of us are used to, Strøm sticks decompose in soil in just a month.
Walker Hotel Tribeca thinks pink
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Walker Hotel Tribeca has launched its For the Girls package. For the rest of the month, guests can book two nights in an all-pink guestroom reimagined with a custom hue conceived in partnership with designer and color expert Martin Kesselman of InColour. All proceeds for the package—which also includes beauty gifts, rosé, and all-pink literature to peruse—will benefit the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The hotel room is available to book throughout the month of October, and packages for a two-night stay start at $229 per night.
A lesson in digital art and design
Sky Lapis by Sara Ludy; photo courtesy of Niio
Join Hospitality Design for “the Future of Art + Tech,” presented in partnership with media art platform Niio, on Tuesday, October 26th at 2 p.m. ET. The CEU-accredited webinar will explore the innovation and development of digital art at the intersection of creativity and science, and what design teams need to know now about this evolving technology. Speakers include Niio CEO Rob Anders, Brian Jaymont of Aloft Hotels and Moxy Hotels, Shawn O’Connell of Samsung Electronics, ICRAVE founder Lionel Ohayon, Damien Perrot of Accor, and HD editor in chief Stacy Shoemaker Rauen. Register now!
