Boutique Design - November/December 2011 - 54

Q + A

Strong visual lines and luxe materials de ne DiLeonardo’s design for the guest rooms of the Sheraton Incheon Hotel in Songdo, Korea.

the sustainability movement very early on, mainly at the urging of our younger partners, and we now offer incentives for all of our staff to become LEED-accredited. (We also require that credential for many of our positions.) We also have a completely integrated speci cation program, which allows us to work with clients and operators to best evaluate and implement green practices in our work.
BD: In addition to degrees in design, you have a doctorate in business administration. Why did you pursue the latter degree, and how has it affected how you do your job?

BD: Yours is a family-owned and run ﬁrm. How does that affect the way your business operates?

ities for impoverished communities and signi cantly reduced exposure to disease and waterborne illness.
BD: Given the turbulence in the global economy, the past several years have been challenging for the design industry. What internal changes has your ﬁrm made to adjust to today’s market conditions?

I look to the old, multi-generational family companies, particularly the French, Italian, and Japanese, as good examples to follow. Like those rms, we look beyond shortterm pro t as a motivator, and focus instead on such principles as pride in the product over the long haul.
BD: What kinds of philanthropic efforts does your ﬁrm undertake, and why?

We feel it’s important that all of our staff around the world help make a difference in the places they live and work. We typically I’ve always believed that we are in business team up with long-established charities in rst and design second. We have to be good each region where we have of ces. We’ve businessmen and provide good business also chosen to champion causes that might thinking in order to be successful with our not be the most high pro le, but have a clients and to be able to understand their great impact on the children in their given perspective. Great hoteliers understand the communities. For example, we got involved importance of both, and this is what really with a clean water and latrine project in the Philippines. That effort provided new facilexcites me about working in this eld.

We had a great foundation, but we needed to continue our evolution as a rm. To make that happen, we started by examining who we are and what opportunities existed for us to improve. Based on that process, we decided to invest back into the rm by rebranding, enhancing our team through strategic hires, making some major IT investments to enhance communication between our of ces and continuing a commitment to keeping our core team intact. Those steps have allowed us to maximize our creativity, exibility and service to our clients. BD

Boutique Design | November+December 2011

Warren Jagger Photography

Boutique Design - November/December 2011

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