We created Hour directory, a new travel and hospitality platform featuring bookable architect-designed hideaways an hour from the city — and beyond.
The website is a part-directory, part-editorial platform that showcases design-led places in the UK and Ireland. Showcasing places within easy reach of the city was a key driver.
We curated, designed and developed Hour directory in response to restrictions on international travel during the pandemic. Places are an hour (or a few) from the city, enabling travellers and holidaymakers to discover stays in remarkable areas that they might not usually consider.
At the heart of the website is a carefully considered navigation system. Visitors filter by country and then by city-level, and the listings update accordingly.
The platform is a digital and mobile-first experience, delivering information to visitors across key areas of their stay: how to book, getting there, the accommodation and what’s nearby.
Each listing features a concise guide to the area. This showcases six favourites from the owners handbook, giving visitors an insight into the area and the opportunity to plan their stay and book activities in advance.
We went a step further with the content creation and research for each listing to demonstrate more environmentally-friendly journey options: by train, bicycle or electric vehicle.
The platform highlights the next available dates, helping owners fill last-minute availability in their booking calendar. For visitors, this facilitates quick, bookable dates at short notice.
We also created a customised map style for Hour directory. We used Mapbox to ensure a seamless feel between the maps and the experience across the rest of the site.
The first six listings are: Breac.House (Ireland), Glen Dye’s Hay Loft, No.4 Steading Cottage and No.5 Steading Cottage, and Harlosh’s Black h and Wood h (Scotland). Ambitions for the site are to extend the listings further into Europe, North America and Japan.
