In March, World Duty Free will open its new Connoisseur Bar in Heathrow’s T5. The new concept will allow passengers to sample and explores a range of cognacs and malts. The bar is located within one of the Duty Free stores and will feature a team of trained experts offering one-to-one tasting sessions tailored to customer’s requirements and personal tastes.
It is reported that Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Bowmore will be producing new malts exclusively for the launch of T5.
As hospitality automates for efficiency, a critical line is emerging. Explore the hospitality threshold — where frictionless design becomes soulless, and which moments must stay human.
Modern systems have turned rest into something we perform rather than something that restores us. This essay explores why holidays often fail to renew people, how work and the holiday industry reinforce the problem, and what real restoration actually requires.
Luxury resorts used to sell status and spectacle. Now they sell something quieter: relief. Guests arrive overloaded, and the best resorts are redesigning around sensory calm, reduced friction, and emotional steadiness. Modern luxury is less about what you add, and more about what you remove.
In high-stimulus public spaces, our bodies do more than react – they strategise.
Airports, hospitals, and stadiums all evoke subtle “Flight” responses: scanning, pacing, early exits.
Understanding how threat appraisal drives behaviour can help architects and planners design calmer spaces – and reveal why relaxation, not excitement, predicts dwell, spend, and satisfaction.