Design Book Magazine

Sign up for Design Book updates, news and events!

Interview by:

Damir Sinovcic

Images Courtesy of:

Morgans Hotel Group and Tim Andreas

Send to Friend

Design Book [DB]: Tim, I understand that you were educated as an architect at Penn State and you worked as an architect for 11 years in California before fully venturing into interior design for Ian Schrager and the Morgans Hotel Group. What led to your involvement in interior design?

Tim Andreas [TA]: I have Ian Schrager to thank for giving me my first interior design job at Morgans Bar. While at ISH I then went on to design the Shore Club and then after we both had left the company he referred me to design the Delano guestrooms.

DB: When you work on an interior design project, do you feel that your architectural background influences the conceptual development of that interior?

"I have a critical eye to read a space and know how to use interior design to both expand on its positive aspects and fix the negative ones."

TA: My architectural background has a huge impact. It gives me a grounding in understanding architectural space, the play of light and materials, and how people naturally react to space. I have a critical eye to read a space and know how to use interior design to both expand on its positive aspects and fix the negative ones.

DB: Having designed for hospitality icons like the Delano, Shore Club, and the Mondrian you are largely responsible for defining what's in style for that market. What inspires you as a designer?

TA: Every beautiful thing that was ever made, no matter what era or part of the world. But in my core, it's the possibility of creating spaces and environments that will inspire other people to appreciate beauty in the world.

DB: Let's talk about your award-winning renovation of the Delano guest rooms. Were you involved in the previous design by Philippe Starck?

TA: I was not involved in the original Delano when it was first done, but I had been involved in some small projects there during my years at ISH.

DB: The white on white concept seems to have survived in the guest rooms. What guided that decision?

TA: It was really a directive from management. But I think it was the correct one. The Delano room is an icon. It was really the first all white hotel room. It inspired so many imitators, not just in the hospitality field. I think you could even argue that Pottery Barn wouldn't exist without the Delano room. But it had been over 10 years, which is a long time in the visual world, for something to remain fresh. So we kept the core concept and reinvented it.

DB: What inspired the Murano pieces for the rooms?

“In contrast to the starck room, I wanted to introduce more sensuous shapes to the room. If you’re going to make an investment in a new design, you have to make sure people see it.”

TA: The client wanted a more luxurious room, yet there were aspects to the iconography of the room that we all wanted to maintain, the plaster walls, painted wood floor, etc., mainly the architecture. In contrast to the Starck room, I wanted to introduce more sensuous shapes to the room. If you’re going to make an investment in a new design, you have to make sure people see it, even if the overall sensibility is still the same. Murano glass is so fluid. We could achieve the simple shapes we wanted, impart a hand-made sensibility, in a really luxurious material.

DB: What other spaces have you designed at the Delano?

TA: After completing the guestrooms we went on to do a full redesign of the spa. The intent, again, was to build on the iconic white interior sense of spaciousness, but with a more elegant ambience. In December 2008, we completed the new Plat Bleu brasserie at Delano as well.

DB: Is your work intended to complement or contrast the Philippe Starck interiors in the rest of the hotel?

“Our goal was to reinvent. We needed to make something completely different, yet altogether familiar.”

TA: I always believe that you want to achieve a whole that’s greater than the sum of the parts. While at ISH it was very much about maintaining a consistency. Now there is more freedom. I think my approach to design is different than Starck’s, but I think we both try and achieve a certain life in our designs and a delight in the response of the guest. The white Delano room was always a bit of contrast to the dark wood lobby, but a complement at the same time. The previous room was more casual than the lobby. I think the actual elements in our room were inspired by the level of elegance in the lobby. Our goal was to reinvent. We needed to make something completely different, yet altogether familiar. We kept certain aspects of the concept and certain specific elements too. If Philippe Starck put an angel on the wall of your room, you just don’t take that down. We also kept the green apple, which was a Delano symbol and we used it as a departure point to inject more color in the room, with the Irish Connemara marble and some accents in the rug. We added the color in such a way that you notice it when you walk in the room, but it’s only on horizontal surfaces, so that when you lie down in bed, it falls away and you’re left with the simple white room again. With the spa we maintained the white aesthetic, but expanded on the use of green on the rooftop terrace. It really made an impact on the space as well as tied together the whole experience of the hotel with the guestrooms and the gardens.

DB: You did the lobby, Skybar, and garden design for the Shore Club as well. These spaces have become synonymous with South Beach and together with the Delano are a part Miami’s image and brand. Consequentially, do you see yourself as a brand maker?

TA: It’s funny, when we first started the business we had to confront this notion of what is the brand. When I look at the work, I see variety, individuality, specificity. It was difficult in this world of branding to see what it was that created our own brand. But I realized that it was the approach, not so much a particular style, that defines Banjo. We see the client as collaborator, and along with the context – Miami, the Delano, etc. – we strive to achieve something unique for each project. I believe that a project is richer when it has more than one influence, coming together, more layered and sophisticated. The spaces at the Shore Club, and Delano all came from an intense process involving many views, trying to achieve something authentic, in a design world that is often full of what I like to refer to as the ‘fauxthentic’. I think that a great brand achieves authenticity, so if we achieved that with our designs, then I guess I would have to consider myself a brand maker.

DB: Do you feel your Miami designs would be just as successful if they were transplanted to LA for example?

TA: Not a literal transplant, no. LA and Miami have similarities, but the people and climate are different. The overall sensibility is a bit different, so I think you’d want to change them. You also water something down when you simply copy it from one place to another.

DB: Speaking of LA, you designed several spaces for the Mondrian hotel including the Skybar renovation, the penthouse interiors, and the Agua Spa. Ianschragercompany. com labels that property a “one-of-a-kind” urban resort in West Hollywood. How did that inform your design?

TA: The penthouse and spa were done many years ago as a real extension of the brand. Our Skybar renovation was a job in which we had more freedom, but again, wanted to maintain a whole greater than the sum of the parts. We tried to re-imagine the urban resort, we added color to the furnishings, but in such a way that it felt organic to the place. Playing off the sky as an element of the design we replaced an overall gray look with a pale blue look. In the hut we wanted something beachy to reinforce the idea that you’re at a resort and to give it a special place in the overall, but also something that would transition from day to night. There was a consideration of making it a Red Room, like at Skybar at Shore Club, but this was an instance where the color scheme didn’t seem to translate to the open air space and we pushed for yellow.

DB: You and Steve Nelson partnered in 2005 to form your own design company called Banjo. That’s an interesting name, what’s the significance of it?

TA: When we started we had other partners and it was a loose acronym of our initials. I think it’s significant in that it does represent our approach as one of collaboration, and not just one individual. When we were considering the name, I looked up the definition to see what I could find out about the origin of the word and by accident a dream dictionary came up. It said that when you have a dream of playing the banjo it means that you will enjoy great times with good friends. That, along with the fact that it’s just a word that makes people smile, was the clincher.

DB: The firm continues to work with Morgans Hotel Group. Are you collaborating on any new projects with them at the moment?

TA: We are in discussions about a few hotel projects. But nothing that’s been announced, so I can’t be more specific.

DB: Banjo is also involved in high-end residential work with projects in East Hampton, Beverly Hills, and Manhattan to name a few. Does your design method and the end product change when it comes to the residential market?

TA: I think the approach to the client and the space are the same, but a residential job is usually much more of a personal expression, so the end result feels less designed.

DB: What’s next for Banjo?

TA: We are just now starting on a new hotel in Palm Springs and a major renovation in Miami Beach, but I can’t, at the moment, name any names.

DB: One last question, where do you stay when you are in Miami?

TA: The Delano, of course.

For more information on Tim Andreas and Banjo AD visit: www.banjoad.com.