Boutique Design - December 2013 - 86

side lounge at the
InterContinental
Phoenicia Beirut
features elegant
arches and communal
tables to evoke what
HBA London designers describe as the
ultimate "chill-out"
environment.

5 At Mosimann's in

London, the HBA
team created an
intimate setting for
two in the Montblanc
Room, which features
curved oyster walls
and a chandelier with
crystals bearing the
luxury goods maker's
signature black and
white colors.

6 Moore and her de-

signers updated
the Hotel Alfonso
XIII Hotel in Spain,
including the Bodega
Alfonso, which is dominated by royal red.

HOW DID YOU WIND UP AT HBA?

It was totally by chance. A furniture
supplier in South Africa knew somebody who worked in HBA's London
office and set up an interview. I then
realized that HBA had designed the
Hyatt in Johannesburg. I had had
enough of casino work and wanted to
do something more sophisticated and
glamorous, so I went for an interview
and was immediately offered a job as
a designer.
AFTER BEING NAMED PRINCIPAL OF
THAT OFFICE, HOW DID YOU SET
ABOUT RAISING ITS PROFILE WITH
POTENTIAL CLIENTS?

HBA had the reach to be able to work
on the world's leading hotel buildings
and the American and Asian offices
were winning the work, but less
successfully in Europe. I believed that
the London office needed to develop
its own creative language in a way
that was particularly appealing to
European projects. Happily, it was a
time of change within HBA, and with
the support of the firm's top leaders,
the London office became independent. Then came the process of
convincing the operators and developers that we truly were different and
could do work that stood out,
creating interiors that tell a story and
elicit the emotions.
WHAT GAVE RISE TO THE GALLERY?

Nobody in Europe was really interested in a big American company-
86

boutiquedesign.com december 2013

we had to be different. HBA worked
well as a brand in Asia and the United
States, but was not right for Europe.
So, as our portfolio steadily grew into
a body of work that reflected the truly
individual and customized, I felt it
was time to express this. As a name,
The Gallery HBA London is an expression of both the boutique culture
of my team and the resources of an
international company.

AT THAT POINT, MANY CLIENTS
WERE LOOKING FOR STAR
DESIGNERS FROM OTHER
DISCIPLINES. HOW DID YOU
CONVINCE CLIENTS THAT YOUR
OFFICE COULD THINK YOUNG AND
ENTRPRENEURIALLY?

In the early years, we sold HBA
London as a small studio focusing
on small projects: the Gilt Bar at the
Jumeirah Carlton Towers in London,
Mosimann's Montblanc private dining
room, The Hotel Europe and ESPA at
The Europe, for example. These gave
me the portfolio, our design story,
and we could then make our move
for larger projects.
CAN YOU DETAIL SOME OF THE KEY
IN-HOUSE CHANGES YOU'VE MADE
SINCE BECOMING LEADER OF HBA
IN EUROPE?

I've tried to create a less corporate
environment. Our brand should be
about creativity, sometimes breathtaking, sometimes playful, sometimes
wacky or glamorous or avant-garde,

E R I C L A I G N E L ( A M E T H Y S T; M O N T B L A N C R O O M ; A L P I N A G S TA A D ) ;
C O U R T E S Y O F S TA R W O O D H O T E L S & R E S O R T S ( H O T E L A L F O N S O X I I I )

4 The Amethyst pool-

http://www.boutiquedesign.com

Boutique Design - December 2013

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