Hospitality Design - July 2015 - 44

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Q&A

with

uriah bueller
ceo and chief designer

How would you describe your business in
one sentence?

Parasoleil likes to design and make the fun stuff
- the shade panels that filter light and create a
space to relax, the patterns that flank the entrance
to a building to make the whole thing more
approachable. It's structural and tested and we
care how it gets installed - but really, it's art.

How different does your company look
today from five years ago?

Our start was in selling our shade panels for parks
pergolas and patios trellises, and to hide unsightly
areas between buildings. That's an obvious fit
for us. But about two years ago, we're started to
see a larger emphasis on building remodeling,
corporate image extensions, exclusive patterns,
and a more comprehensive questions about using
outdoor spaces efficiently. People started to ask
about using us for cladding, for hiding bad design,
or even continuing good design with patterns that
echo the brand in some way. And we said, okay,
we can do that. Now we have products, brackets,
hardware, and even designers specifically for that.

What does partnership mean to your
company today?

In the design world of big egos, and I'm guilty of
this myself, partnership often means doing what
the client wants. I get that. We're dealing with
some pretty big designers and architects, and they
often know what they want. Partnership, for me,
means knowing why someone has called us. We
have our own set of skills and expertise. We need
to be comfortable enough with what our products
can and can't do, that we can help redesign when
we know something's off.

What is your company's philosophy
toward customization?

So right, that leads into customization. The
question of "How far will we go to get the job." It's
funny because we laugh about that all the time
back home. Our R+D department looks like a
haphazard job shop where anything is possible (or
it might look like nothing is possible in there if you
ask our office manager). But really, it's important
to understand two things: The direction of the

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July 2015 hospitalitydesign.com

industry is toward customization - it's just easier
to manufacture a run of three parts than it was 20
years ago. We product makers need to accept that
if not fully embrace it. And secondly, it's a matter
of asking ourselves what we're good at - what we
can do on-time and not lose our client's trust doing.
That may be obvious, but it's so easy to lose track
of those things when presented with a large order.
Parasoleil can customize our pre-tested patterns
or we can test and put our warranty on custom
patterns and products, but it's a question we have to
answer for each new project. Not sure I answered
your question, though.

Briefly describe a product innovation you
have introduced recently.

Briefly? This is the exciting part, and you want
me to be brief? We just developed a powder coat
finish that looks exactly like rusted steel. We call it
COR-11. Funny, right? But it'll never rust because
it's an applied finish on aluminum. It's half the
weight of steel. And it's half the cost of the kind
of steel that's "supposed" to rust to point and then
stop. Think of cladding an entire hotel with these
panels and never have to worry about corrosion of
the hardware, rust stains, or the structural weight
of steel. Can you tell I'm excited about that one?
See? Fun stuff!

Where does the company stand on
sustainability?

We're for it ... but I'm surprised we're still talking
about sustainability in the industry. Are there
companies that don't make this a core principle in
their product development? Our aluminum has a
high recycled content. It's 100% recyclable. And
our Colorado-made, maintenance-free product is
good for LEED points in efficient use of functional
space and lowering the heat-gain on a building.
But sustainability means nothing if something
gets designed and built that people don't want to
use. I'd rather the industry talk about how quality
products can be used to make cities more peoplefriendly, to bridge architecture with nature, and
to create spaces that people can remember as
beautiful, sure, but more importantly, remember as
useful -- again, and again.

http://www.hospitalitydesign.com

Hospitality Design - July 2015

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