Improve Your Hotel Furniture Design & Enhance Guest Experience [CHECKLIST]

aws standards hotel furniture design

Your hotel furniture design needs to meet modern guest expectations. It also needs to fulfill your vision while meeting industry standards for functionality and aesthetics. This AWS hotel furniture design checklist is your key to success.

The Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI) is the leading expert on wood product quality, and the gatekeeper of functional and aesthetic woodwork standards across industries.

All of your wood-based hotel furniture designs - including furniture, casegoods, and finishings - should conform to these standards for the comfort and safety of your guests.

How Do Architectural Woodwork Standards (AWS) Apply to My Hotel Furniture Design?

AWS provide the bare minimum criteria for the concept, design, fabrication, finishing and installation of wood-based hotel furniture.

The purpose of these standards is to help designers to specify hotel furniture and casework that meets the functional and aesthetic requirements of their hotel project.

Quality standards are different based on the Grades of Work you choose:

Economy Grade specs mean you’re getting the minimum requirements for workmanship, materials, or installation.

Typically applies to wood products that are out of public view, so your hospitality furniture should not fall into this category.

Custom Grade is specified for most high-quality wooden hotel furniture. Custom-level specs give a designer more wiggle room in their concept.
Premium Grade is reserved for high-use and high-profile furniture and casegoods. Specifying Premium Grade woodwork means you’re getting the highest quality materials, production, and/or installation.

AWS standards also provide helpful information on:

Scope
Design best practices
Useful materials/products you may not be familiar with
Suggestions for processes and materials if you don’t have base specs
Minimum material, fabrication, and assembly requirements
Minimum installation requirements
Ways to verify compliance with these standards

To ensure the quality of your hotel furniture (or check it post-production), you can present AWS standards as guidelines for your manufacturer.

As an AWI certified vendor, our hospitality furniture & casegoods conform to these standards by default. However, if your vendor is not AWI certified, there’s no guarantee your furniture will meet the same standards.