In the beginning, success meant establishing a foothold, a solid team, a few standout projects, and a name within both residential and hospitality design. Over time, that evolved into a broader vision: building a studio with global reach, creative impact, and a portfolio that tells stories through space. Today, success is as much about the journey as the outcome, doing meaningful work that resonates, endures, and constantly pushes boundaries.

We’re constantly learning how to balance. Jo brings a deeply emotional and sensory intelligence to design, how something feels on a visceral level. Martin brings structure, flow, and practical logic. We meet in the middle, always pushing each other to be better. That tension is part of what makes the work interesting.

We always start together. It begins with a conversation—spreading out moodboards, sketching ideas, and discussing the emotional essence of the space. What story is it telling? How should it feel the moment someone walks in? The guest is always at the centre of that thinking—their experience, expectations, and emotional journey through the space. We always use our own experiences and passion for hospitality, F&B evolution, wellness and further afield into the world of theatre, fashion and the arts to influence us. At the same time, we dig deep into research: the building’s history, local culture, and design references that root it in place. Then commercially, it’s about aligning all of that with the brand, ensuring the concept supports the identity of the hotel or operator, both aesthetically and operationally. It’s a balance of storytelling, strategy, and soul.

Every project has its surprises. We’ve worked on palatial spaces where blending heritage with modern comfort was a delicate balancing act and conversely ultra-modern architecture where open plan living and full height glazing means you have to create anchors that empathise with the modernity of the structure and intention while creating a sequence of liveable spaces. Often, the solution is collaboration, bringing in craftspeople, specialists, or rethinking the design around a constraint rather than fighting it.

We listen. Every place has its own rhythm, whether it’s London, Vienna, or Istanbul. We start by immersing ourselves in the cultural, architectural, and emotional DNA of the location. Then we layer in our own aesthetic - timeless, elegant, textural, residential - so the space feels authentic but elevated. It’s about respect, not replication.

Wellness is no longer confined to spa areas. It’s becoming part of how we live and travel. People want spaces that support calm, comfort, and connection. In residential design, we’re seeing a desire for flexibility - rooms that can shift with your needs. And in hospitality, there’s a move toward a more residential feel: layered, warm, lived-in luxury with character. We are also seeing that people really want unique and individual spaces and are actively moving away from the ubiquity of what can be found through algorithms. It’s a trend that means that we can manifest much more artistic and creative solutions when it is appropriate, mixing materials and crafts to create really unique solutions. 

We believe in designing once, designing well. True luxury should last - emotionally and materially. That means using quality materials, working with artisans, restoring instead of replacing, and making choices that are both beautiful and responsible. Sustainability is woven into the design process from the start, not added at the end.

That’s a hard one. Projects like Raffles London at The OWO or Vienna’s Imperial Riding School really express our philosophy - sensitivity to context, layered storytelling, tactile richness, and timeless elegance. Each one is different, but they all carry that thread of thoughtful, human-centred design.