Reduce warmth to match other shots
nomads. “Since there was no benchmark to look at, you start looking upwards,” Davis explains. “So, we would look at what the best boutique hotels were doing and what’s making them successful. We’d then take that study and apply it to a bracket that just doesn’t have access to those social spaces.”
Much of Designagency’s subsequent work has been with established brands – Soho House, Momofuku, Nando’s – brands that already have reputations and guidelines. I ask Mekhayech what the likes of Momofuku get from a relationship with a mid-size Toronto firm. “The interesting thing with those brands is that they’re constantly evolving,” he explains. “They’re looking to become more effective as a brand. Some want a cookie cutter and that’s fine. For their first noodle bar space in New York, we weren’t involved in that process, but now there are ramen shops all over the world that have the same look. They’re a perfect example of a brand that’s constantly evolving. There’s a real opportunity to take them on that journey.”
Later I ask David Chang, chef and founder of Momofuku, about this new experience of working with a consistent design team across multiple projects, including one in Las Vegas. “We speak a common language now,” he tells me. “It allows us to improve on each project without having to reinvent the wheel. Historically, we never spent money on our restaurants outside of the kitchen. But Designagency has provided us with thoughtful interiors that still allow the guests to focus on the food.”
As the business has matured and work has spread to outpost offices and faraway clients, the partners spend their lives almost perpetually on planes. They’ve made a raft of operational decisions to keep things sane, including hiring a front-of-house manager and building a dedicated operations team. At least one of the partners remains hands-on on any given project, but they now cede a little more territory to design directors. Many of these changes were overdue, they say.
“We were all over the map three or four years ago,” Chan says. “Looking back on it, it’s like, wow, how did we ever survive without this support? Obviously now that we’re working on the business and not in the business as much, part of that mindset has to be, How can you do a project of this size or larger and not totally blow yourself away?”
Though the partners feel they now have a healthy office culture, they admit they face a challenge adapting to the work and lifestyle expectations of the next generation. They were upstarts themselves once; now they’re the establishment. “We’re listening,” says Chan. “In Toronto there’s so much competition for talent that people are like, if it doesn’t work I can go somewhere else. What is the laundry list of things you need to do to attract talented staff and retain them?”
From the Broadview’s rooftop, the spectacular city view is full of cranes and scaffolds. Over the course of Designagency’s life, this landscape has changed beyond recognition. As we discuss upcoming work with Marriott, Momofuku and and on the expansion of Toronto icon the Drake Hotel, Davis asks me to look the other way, toward the east – there, the big city gives way to single storey houses and the trees and ravines of the still-wild fringes. There’s a lot more still to come. thedesignagency.ca