Unveiling Interior Design’s 2024 Hospitality Giants

2023 marked a year of very strong recovery for the Giants in general, with almost all metrics surpassing the 2019 levels: salaries, staffing, billing rates, fees. But when it comes to the sector-by-sector temperature-check, the landscape is more uneven. Hospitality joins corporate in the recovery-pending zone. Giants working in this vertical are still struggling to surpass pre-pandemic fees: They’re down 44 percent compared to 2019. In fact, hospitality is faring the worst of all sectors. Chalk it up to the expected revenge travel surge that never came to pass, and that business travel remains sluggish.

“blank cells” = did not report data

But looking more closely at individual data points, hospitality fee income did increase 12 percent year-over-year, and Giants are predicting another small 5 percent bump-up for 2024. So, the needle is moving in the right direction. Moreover, these are quite high fees: $645.6 million in 2023 (versus $576.2 in 2022)! To put things in better perspective, the verticals experiencing double-digit growth—including government/civic and transportation—make up a much, much smaller piece of the Giants pie in comparison. It stands to follow that hospitality has a comparatively bigger dollar-amount gap to recover.

Typical for this sector, the greatest growth is happening in luxury hotels, comprising almost a quarter of fees, with restaurants in second, resorts in third, and boutique hotels in fourth— together driving some serious dollars. Many other segments, including cruise ships, remain flat, however. Segment predictions for 2024 are dead-even with 2023 actuals, with a majority expecting the most growth in luxury hotels.

Project totals are also way up, to the tune of 40 percent year-over-year and 63 percent higher than 2019. The hard numbers are fantastic: almost 8,000 projects, a figure that doubled over the last decade. And Giants are expecting another 11 percent project growth for 2024, which would bring the amount very close to 9k.

You may be scratching your head thinking something doesn’t track: How can hospitality projects balloon so much over the last five years—but fees overall remain down from 2019? A likely explanation is that Giants are working on smaller projects for less dollars, and/or more renovation projects versus new construction. This would be in line with anecdotal reporting. Interestingly, FF&C value also increased robustly between 2022 and 2023: from $14.7 to $22.4 billion. That’s 53 percent year-over- year and surpassing the 2019 numbers by 15 percent. Again, these big digits to some extent reflect the inflating cost of products and construction. But Giants expect a strong 22 percent growth curve for 2024, which implies an upward trend that’s independent of hard costs. (The FF/C ratio has been consistent over the last decade but is currently trending higher towards furniture and fixtures.)

In terms of locations, Hospitality Giants tend to have the highest percentage of overseas projects in comparison to other verticals. While most sectors hover around a 90/10 split between domestic and international, hospitality has traditionally held steady around 80/20, and this year is no different, albeit skewing toward domestic. Once again, the biggest growth markets are Asia, Canada, and Europe overseas and, in the U.S., the southernmost regions.

Editor’s Note: Take a look at recent coverage of our Hospitality Giants most admired firms of 2024 below. Yabu Pushelberg tops the list followed by AvroKO, Rockwell Group, and Meyer Davis Studio.

Percentage of Firms Projecting Regional Growth Over the Next Two Years

Methodology

The Interior Design Giants annual business survey comprises the largest firms ranked by interior design fees for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2023. The listings are generated from only those surveyed. To be recognized as a top 100, Rising, Healthcare, Hospitality, or Sustainability Giant, you must meet the following criteria: Have at least one office location in North America, and generate at least 25% of your interior design fee income in North America. Firms that do not meet the criteria are ranked on our International Giants list. Interior design fees include those attributed to:

1. All aspects of a firm’s in­terior design practice, from strategic planning and programming to design and project management.

2. Fees paid to a firm for work performed by employees and independent contractors who are “full-time staff equivalent.”

Interior design fees do not include revenues paid to a firm and remitted to subcontractors who are not con­sid­ered full-time staff equivalent. For example, certain firms attract work that is subcontracted to a local firm. The originating firm may collect all the fees and re­tain a management or generation fee, paying the remainder to the performing firm. The amounts paid to the latter are not included in fees of the collecting firm when determining its ranking. Ties are broken by rank from last year. Where applicable, all per­cent­ages are based on responding Giants, not their total number. 

All research conducted by ThinkLab, the research division of SANDOW Design Group.

Inside an Award-Winning Boutique Hotel in Washington, D.C.

2023 Best of Year Winner for Boutique Hotel

The Morrow Hotel, Washington, a 150,000-square-foot property aims to bring much-needed optimism to D.C., thanks to Interior Design Hall of Famer Lauren Rottet and her team, which handled the guest rooms and meeting spaces, and INC Architecture & Design, which oversaw F&B and public areas. Blending neoclassical, modern, and organic styles, the concept draws on the location—a new development in the formerly industrial NoMa neighborhood—and the passage of time throughout the day. Public spaces transition from light and airy to dark and moody. In the lobby, green ribbed-glass panels frame the lounge and fluted white-oak millwork wraps columns; in the bar, the latter reappears with a deep blue stain, similar to the shade of wainscotting in guest rooms, which also feature watercolor-esque wallcovering. Custom furnishings, pure geometries, and such elemental materials as burnished brass and travertine create a timeless refinement.

rottet studio: lauren rottet; david davis; james cull; chris evans; ashley lu; christian hinze; felipe cosio; sophie brasfield; stacy rapa; lori firpo.

inc architecture & design: adam rolston; drew stuart; gabriel benroth; tyler kleck; megan mcging; marissa zane; amy cahill; joselyn dontfraid; billy abramenko.

Desert Oasis: Inside Banyan Tree AlUla Resort in Saudi Arabia

2023 Best of Year Winner for International Resort

Human habitation of the Ashar Valley in Saudi Arabia, its fertile desert soil and abundant water making it an oasis in the most literal sense, traces back to the Bronze Age. For Banyan Tree AlUla, a new resort there, AW2 Architecture & Interiors designed 47 villas on approximately 2 ½ acres that each consist of a simple platform structure covered by a canvas tent, their colors selected to blend into the surrounding sandstone. This “light touch” approach is intended to make guests feel one with the landscape, while interior spaces, which range from 800 to 2,500 square feet, are lavishly decorated with traditional Arabian handcrafts.

reda amalou; stéphanie ledoux.

Hotel AKA Alexandria Nods to its Historic Surroundings

2023 Best of Year Winner for Domestic Hotel Transformation

Piero Lissoni, an Interior Design Hall of Fame member and master of all genres, adds yet another to his portfolio: his debut U.S. hotel. Located in charming Old Town, Alexandria, just minutes from downtown D.C., Hotel AKA Alexandria melds Italian élan with regional historicism. The architect’s New York studio touched every aspect of the property, from the existing facade, updated with new glazing and chic anthracite paint, to the surrounding landscape, now totally transformed—not to mention design of all public and private interiors encompassing 150,790 square feet. Lissoni’s signature move is the dramatic darkened-steel staircase connecting reception and terrace. Strictly unique, though, is the hotel’s galleryesque vibe. Adorning the lobby are artworks specially mounted on custom screens, which serve as a cocooning backdrop to contemporary furnishings from such upscale Italian sources as Porro, Living Divani, and Kartell.

piero lissoni; stefano giussani; christine napoli; stephanie rieger; tania zaneboni; roberto berticelli; giacomo lattanzio.

Inside an Award-Winning Hotel With a Millennial Twist

2023 Best of Year Winner for Budget Hotel

The terroir of Santa Clara Valley, California, is imbued throughout the newly refreshed Hotel Avante, a 91-key hotel in the heart of the region. Everywhere, from the lobby, corridors, and gym to the elevators—totaling 36,000 square feet—plus the exterior and pool, are suffused in subtle hues of sage, rosemary, and juniper, while materials are authentically at home in the agriculture-rich location thanks to BHDM Design. See the lobby lounge’s pieced-leather wall by Peter Glassford and BHDM’s custom cerused-oak rocking chairs in guest rooms, where headboard walls are emblazoned with abstract vinyl wallcovering by Michael Hildebrand. It’s modern organic, with a millennial twist—all for an incredible $55 per square foot.

Dan Mazzarini; Sheila Cahill; Sheridan Markham.

This School Turned Coffee Shop is an Adaptive Reuse Gem

In 1936, the Public Works Administration completed a beautiful Art Deco building in South Philadelphia to house a vocational school with a range of offerings, from culinary arts to welding and bricklaying. Just shy of a century later, in 2013 the school closed; developer Scout LTD eventually bought the space with the idea of transforming it into a new home for the city’s vibrant community of makers.

All those artists need fuel, of course. So local architecture and design firm Kaminski + Pew carved out a space on the ground floor for independent cafe, Two Persons Coffee. “Our goal was to create a space that intentionally blurs the narrative of place and time,” explain firm cofounders Kevin Kaminski and Alexis Pew. “We wanted to invite a sense of wonder. What is existing? What is new?”

As for what’s already on hand, the answer is: Almost everything. To recast some 300 square feet of what once was an auto body tool room into the coffee shop, the team relocated, wire-brushed, cleaned, and painted the school’s existing fencing. Granite panels, removed from walls and resurfaced, is the face and top of Two Persons Coffee’s monumental counter. Classroom furniture takes on a new life as café seating. “The biggest challenge was finding a contractor willing to salvage and repurpose materials from the building,” add Kaminski and Pew. “Conor Roche from ROC buildings was up to the task and a great partner.” The walls and ceiling, they say, “are clear coated to preserve the existing patina and make the space safe for food.”

And as for the design duo’s second question? “The small but mighty coffee shop quickly developed into a destination,” they share. Not just for the tenants of the building—50% of which are women-owned and 80% of which are self-owned—including spaces for furniture makers, tattoo artists, painting studios, designers of all disciplines, and charitable organizations. But also for locals in the area. “Two Persons has become a vital hub,” note Kaminski and Pew, “for both the building and surrounding community.” A good lesson, then, in adaptive reuse.

Transforming an Industrial Building into a Creative Hub

David Rockwell: 2023 Interior Design Hall of Fame Icon

“Chopin’s Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major,” David Rockwell replies when asked what he’s working on next. He is fresh off a private recital of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, accompanied by a full orchestra (as well as notable guests Robert DeNiro, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jane Krakowski). The architect returned to classical piano lessons in 2016, picking up where he left off in childhood. In fact, at the Rockwell Group headquarters in New York, a former print room now serves as one of his practice studios. Just as Gershwin’s rhapsody has come to define the Jazz Age, the name David Rockwell has become virtually synonymous with the epitome of modern-day hospitality design. But his oeuvre extends far beyond restaurants and hotels.

It all began in 1984, when Rockwell founded the firm in Manhattan with just six other employees. The small team was soon filling the studio with mood boards for Nobu, Rosa Mexicano, and the W, along with thinking about how design could transform a young person’s stay for the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx. In 2002, at age 46, Rockwell was welcomed into the Interior Design Hall of Fame, one of the youngest inductees ever. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, Rockwell Group has grown to 330 employees, who occupy four floors of the Union Square HQ along with offices in Los Angeles and Madrid, and have worked in 40 countries on more than 125 hotels and 500 restaurants as well as such hybrid hospitality endeavors as NeueHouse Hollywood, Moynihan Train Hall, and a JetBlue terminal. Across the decades, their intrepid leader has continued to accumulate accolades, including Emmy Awards for the production design of the 2010 and 2021 Academy Awards and a 2016 Tony Award for the She Loves Me sets, making him the only architect to have won both such honors. But Rockwell has never been one to rest on his laurels.

“David is always hustling. It’s something I’ve come to really cherish about him,” says Oskar Eustis, artistic director of The Public theater in New York and a repeat Rockwell client. Working with Eustis, Rockwell has designed sets for numerous productions, including four Shakespeare in the Park plays, as well as The Library restaurant at The Public. “Most people think it’s an old original library, but it’s designed from scratch,” Eustis adds, noting that Rockwell’s lifelong love of theater plays out in an unfolding series of researched details that suggest a backstory. Rockwell and team are currently devising the sets for another story: the revival of Doubt, opening on Broadway in February.

“He manages to see the beauty in our diversity, using food, fabric, music, art, and design as his canvas to unite us all,” says restaurateur and Food Network personality Melba Wilson. She first worked with Rockwell 30 years ago on a proposed refresh of Minton’s Playhouse jazz club. More recently, as president of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, Wilson partnered with Rockwell Group on DineOut NYC, a 2020 initiative that developed a prototype of outdoor dining to keep restaurants throughout the boroughs—including her Melba’s in Harlem—in business during the early months of the pandemic. It’s one of the latest in a series of pro-bono projects instigated by Rockwell. Others include Stoop NYC, designing the annual Citymeals on Wheels fundraising event, and serving as the chairman of DIFFA for more than two decades.

“David is the opposite of the designer who is locked in a kind of hermetic, self-referential world,” states architecture critic Paul Goldberger, who has followed Rockwell from the beginning. “He’s interested in architecture as it relates to the human experience.” Rockwell applies that human-centered approach to the design process itself, engaging consultants with critical questions and inviting them to be a part of the conversation.

Get Ready for 2024: See what’s next for Interior Design‘s Hall of Fame event with a peek at what we’re planning for the 40th annual gala. Discover Hall of Fame details.

He is known for bringing in unexpected creative collaborators—choreographers, for example. A culture of collaboration is also in effect every day at all three studios. “It’s the thing I appreciate most,” says Rockwell Group partner Shawn Sullivan, who has been with the firm 26 years. Partner Greg Keffer agrees: “It’s led to our cross-disciplinary approach—and to a plurality of personalities and talents experimenting.” Keffer is the partner in charge of the Spain office, led day-to-day by principal Eva Longoria, a Madrid native who interned at RG New York as a student. “We’re constantly trying to break the boundary to do something even more special,” says Longoria, who adds that her studio is 80 percent female architects and designers—the same majority as RG’s executive team.

The commitment to collaboration is underpinned by curiosity, which may be Rockwell’s defining personal trait. “I’ve always been curious about how people come together,” notes the architect, who has also penned four books and designed furnishings for Stellar Works, Lasvit, Shaw Contract, Maya Romanoff, and Jim Thompson. “What are the kinds of things that attract people to want to collaborate? What are the different things that make a moment work?” he muses—and encourages his team to do the same. This means that sentences around the office are more likely to end with a question mark than a full stop. It’s a way of seeing with valuable practical implications.

“His flair for the dramatic and innovative use of space are second to none, and the reason I’ve called on David so often over the years,” says former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. He’s referring to the several projects they’ve worked on together from 2002 to today. One is the interior public spaces and restaurant at the just bowed Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center complex. It’s a site that Rockwell became intimately familiar with just after 9/11, when he collaborated, pro bono again, on the viewing platforms that served as a kind of temporary, grassroots memorial. Politician and architect further forged their professional relationship with Imagination Playground at Burling Slip, a 2010 children’s project initiated and developed by RG for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation that the Bloomberg administration advocated as part of the revitalization of lower Manhattan.

Their most recent collaboration is the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, which opened in Washington in October. It’s RG’s first higher-education project. “We brought fresh eyes to creating opportunities for connectivity and spontaneous encounters,” the architect notes. Many firms lean into a practice area where they’ve found success. But Rockwell makes a point of exploring new territory, possibly a function of his trademark curiosity. Adds Bloomberg: “David has a rare combination of imaginative creativity, technical brilliance, and deep civic-mindedness.”

Watch the Hall of Fame Documentary Featuring David Rockwell

Explore Hospitality Designs by David Rockwell

A Glimpse at Showstopping Set Designs

Higher Education, Transportation, and More Institutional Designs by Rockwell Group

A Closer Look at Works by 2023 Interior Design Hall of Fame Icon, David Rockwell

5 Global Getaways That Nod to Their Surrounding Scapes

Global getaways channel the earthy, organic essence of their unique terrains.

Super Paradise Beach Club by Omniview Design

Site: Mykonos, Greece

Tasked with reinventing a 1971-built beach club—the island’s first—the firm combined the best of old and new, preserving the chill retro vibe while leveraging cutting-edge technology for au courant takes on traditional elements, such as the computer-generated curves that distinguish everything from the wood-ceilinged bar to wall niches showcasing locally made pottery and bottled libations.

Faraway Martha’s Vineyard by Workshop/APD

Site: Edgartown, Massachusetts
Keys: 75

This near-the-waterfront hotel’s mid-century-meets-modern redesign—including an expanded lobby, new courtyard pool with lush plantings, and revamped décor—is based on a neat conceit: The team conjured as muse an island native who grew up in the 1960’s, now an avid gardener and mystic fluent in the healing powers of plants who hosts artsy bashes in her bohemian-botanical manse.

Albor San Miguel de Allende, Tapestry Collection by Hilton by Esrawe Studio; Productora

Site: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Keys: 93

The clean-lined architecture of this new-build property thoughtfully integrates with its surroundings. Coloration of the ground level, housing the public spaces, is inspired by the purple tones of the mountainous terrain, while the upper levels devoted to guest accommodations feature lighter, more serene shades. The abstract motifs adorning artist Omar Barquet’s ceramics—some cladding ceiling-hung sculptural elements—were likewise sparked by local flora.

Faern Arosa Altein by Run for the Hills

Site: Arosa, Switzerland
Keys: 126

The London studio’s refined-rustic refurbishment of an alpine wellness resort, set in a national park, offers guests a cozy retreat for après-ski socializing, with cosseting upholstery (think sheepskins, Swiss-cross wool blankets), characterful timber furniture, and a rust-to-ochre palette. A dose of the unexpected comes from the camera-ready Wes Anderson–inspired reception desk and Slim Aarons photographs.

AutoCamp Zion by HKS; Narrative Design Studio

Site: Virgin, Utah
Keys: 72

Nestling up to Zion National Park, the outdoor-lodging brand’s latest property honors its red-rock desert locale. Guests sleep in custom Airstreams, cabins, or tents and hobnob in the communal clubhouse, featuring expansive glazing, an easy in/out flow, and an earthy palette of hues and materials, including sustainable cork walls and furniture.

Standout Projects by 2023 Hospitality Giants Reflect Their Locales

After a quiet stretch for hospitality design during the pandemic, INTERIOR DESIGN’s 2023 Hospitality Giants report calls for celebration. With project numbers increasing and projected to continue rising to figures healthier than pre-COVID numbers, the sector’s uptick is well on its way.

Take a look at three projects from this year’s Hospitality Giants report that showcase the desire for experiential hotels, restaurants, and everything in between.

Hospitality Design Projects From Manhattan to Bahrain

A Boutique Hotel Draws on a Manhattan Neighborhood’s Local Flair

Stonehill Taylor, Workshop/APD, and MVRDV

Washington Heights, located way up at the northern tip of the island, is known for its parks, food, and community. Now, it has its first-ever boutique hotel. Designed by MVRDV and Stonehill Taylor, Radio Hotel’s exterior is comprised of LEGO-like “blocks” in bright primary colors, anchoring a mixed-use development that includes a Santo Domingo-inspired restaurant, dedicated event space, office and retail space, courtyard, and a rooftop lounge. As for the hotel itself, it boasts 221 rooms and suites that draw on the neighborhood’s own local flair, with interiors from Workshop/APD. Read more

Southern Hospitality Abounds at an Atlanta Hotel

KTGY Simeone Deary Design Group

KTGY Simeone Deary Design Group drew on Georgia State symbols such as the peach, the honeybee, and the Cherokee rose to bring design cohesion and a strong sense of regionalism to the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta. The vibe is well-bred meets well-traveled: Guests enter the lobby, awash with the tone of a formal yet welcoming manor house; the design of rooms and suites embodies the archetypal southern belle, with channel-tufted emerald-velvet headboards and sofas as well as the rugs’ lacelike floral patterning; and the presidential suite evokes the masculinity of southern gentlemanliness via chocolate-brown hues, tailored upholstery, and geometric elements. The space deftly balances elements of both warmth and sophistication, nature and culture. Read more

A Luxurious Airport Lounge in Bahrain

Champalimaud Design and Tony Masters Design

Refined New York firm Champalimaud Design, spearheaded by Interior Design Hall of Fame member Alexandra Champalimaud, was invited by Australian travel specialist firm Tony Masters Design to partner on an airport lounge competition entry in Bahrain. The 29,000-square-foot Pearl Lounge in the new billion-dollar Bahrain International Airport terminal incorporates traditional Arabic hospitality with a host of intimate spaces including a café, bar, and restaurant. Five-star hotel amenities dovetail with nuances of regional hospitality: Rosewood and gold-plated details on cozy wingback chairs; snakelike sofas recall traditional majlis seating areas and help to facilitate a natural flow of foot traffic. Of course, all 450 seats include smartphone charging ports for travelers in need of a boost. Read more

Read more hospitality design projects: Hospitality Design Projects Featured on INTERIOR DESIGN, The 2023 Hospitality Giants Report, An Updated Sedona Spa, The Renovation of the Historic Georgian Hotel

Bold Hues Set the Stage for This Bakery by Day, Club by Night

Whether stopping by for a morning pastry or enjoying a drink after nightfall, this fun, multi-use spot has something for everyone. Pastry shop by day; club by night—that’s the clever combination found inside Pastry Club Woda. With interiors by Znamy Się, bold hues interplay with creative textures, creating a space that honors the building’s history while generating a modern concept.

The shop is situated within the historic Rother’s Mill complex on Mill Island in Bydogszcz, Poland, a thriving community gathering spot. Designers landed on the curious combo of pastry/nightclub given the locale’s around-the-clock appeal, serving as both a concert venue in the evenings and a daytime destination for families.

Inside a former boiler house within the complex, Pastry Club Woda was born. “We created the interior as an idea of the whole complex, where flour was produced, but the boiler house is at the heart of it,” says Aleksandra Majdzik, owner and architect, Znamy Się. Today, Pastry Club Woda is the only place in the complex still producing consumable goods but the interiors hint at its roots. Designers referenced the building’s flour-making past through distinct, vertical grooves within the plaster walls, which nod to the texture of raked grain after going through the millstone.

To showcase the daily work of Pastry Club Woda, the space features an open concept kitchen, enabling customers to see the complete production process, from bread being baked to goodies lining the shelves. Not to mention baking equipment and steel elements visible throughout. A striking combination of cobalt blue and sunny orange balances the steel accents. Cobalt was chosen for its likeness to water, which is referenced in the shop name (woda means water in Polish). Fitting, given the island locale and that water is a critical component of flour production. The color also gives a subtle nod to the designers’ connection to the Pastry Club’s owners. “This color was used as a very important detail in the owner’s first restaurant, which we also designed. It comes from old flour sacks, the ones with blue stripes.”

The other primary hue, orange, signals the transition from day to night. For Majdzik, the color exemplifies warmth and vibrancy, think a setting sun before a night on the town or an aperol spritz by the sea. The orange-tinted glass wheel atop the bakery’s counter includes horizontal details, an homage to sundown. Together, the bold colors signal the meeting of two energies—day and night, light and dark, morning bakery and late night party joint.

Inside Pastry Club Woda, a Hybrid Space Serving Sweet Treats