Slow tourism with social virtue

Bigatt is a new concept of sustainable hospitality experiences combined with an employment reintegration project for disadvantaged people.

Industry

Travel & Tourism

Year

2018

Client

Cooperativa Area

Services

The beauty of good

The concept of creating a new accommodation structure (hotel and restaurant) is founded on the principles of sustainable development and social impact: visitors can spend quality time in a renewed vintage villa surrounded by nature, while at the same time sustaining a social and work reintegration process.

All the activities, services, and envisioned experiences put inclusion and conservation at their very core so that the beauty of the place and the quality of the hospitality stay interlaced with social justice.

Outcome

While starting from the initial idea of welcoming guests with an ecological and relaxed experience, we also identified and became aware of various other places: so we studied their connections and differences and put them together in a branded ecosystem of connected services.

We focused on every single moment of the user’s engagement, from the discovery of the place to the nice memories to be taken back home.

Each part of the experience has been designed as tailor-made and suitable for users as possible, with particular attention to details.

new experiences from 1 location

retrained employees

Turning spaces into service ecosystem

Starting from the initial idea of opening a hotel and a restaurant where customers could feel welcome to an ecological and relaxed experience, we also identified and became aware of various other places.

For each space we defined what they could offer to which type of users, in order to understand connections and differences between them and put them together in an ecosystem of connected, combined and organized services.

An accommodation for genuine people

Environmental sustainability is a hot topic and all the data about traveling habits confirm the trend. We coupled this statement with the intended social impact of Bigatt to define the ideal guests:

People who love hospitality, familiarity, authenticity and reasonable prices, without renouncing to comfort.
People who prefer to live a tailor-made, unique, accurate, empathic and relaxed experience.
People who dedicate themselves to voluntary activities and are inclined to projects and actions with social and ecological implications.
People who support environmental sustainability, organic food and wine and who love to be surrounded by nature.
People who choose short but frequent holidays.

Making each moment memorable

By taking into consideration both the authenticity of the place and the peculiarity of the people employed, we designed the services and the related user experience for each one of the ecosystem’s main spaces: hotel, restaurant, bar and meeting rooms.

The Sketchin team took us out of the fog we were lost in. Like true guides they welcomed us and listened to us, they understood and shared. And then they turned on a fog light and traced the road. One of the safe ones, which can take you far. They’ve been essential for us.
Aldina Crespi, Cooperativa Area

From modest to precious: a silky smooth brand

We got inspired by the historical and cultural roots of the place to set up the concept of the brand we designed.

On one hand, the "bigatteria", the heart of the structure, a room equipped for the breeding of silkworms; on the other hand, the name "Bigatt" from the local dialect, a language close to the everyday life of people in Ticino.

We designed the ecosystem’s experiences and visual identity by starting from the values of change and evolution, embracing the aim of the social mission for the employees’ work reintegration.

Project numbers

weekly iterations, from research to design

Four

designers in the Sketchin team

stakeholders involved in the project

collaborative and co-design workshops