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The Design Questionnaire with Lauren Rottet, Interior Design Icon
Few careers in American interior design rival that of Lauren Rottet. The Founding Principal of Rottet Studio, an international architecture and interior design firm with studios in Houston and New York, she is the only woman in history to be elevated to Fellow status by both the American Institute of Architects and the International Interior Design Association.
An Interior Design Hall of Fame inductee, she also holds the titles of Interiors Designer of the Year, Boutique Design’s Designer of the Year, and Hospitality Design Platinum Circle honoree, while her furniture and product designs have earned four gold medals for Best of NeoCon and a Chicago Athenaeum Award. Her furniture company, Rottet Collection, launched in 2017 to rave reviews and an Interior Design Best of Year award. Rottet Studio itself is consistently ranked among the corporate and hospitality Top 100 Design Giants, with a portfolio spanning corporate, hospitality, residential and maritime projects for the world’s leading companies and brands, from Goldman Sachs and Disney to Four Seasons, Marriott and Belmond.
We had the pleasure of connecting with Lauren for the latest edition of Love Happens’ Design Questionnaire. Read on and be inspired!
LH Design Questionnaire with Lauren Rottet of Rottet Studio
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Swimming in the clear blue ocean and walking barefoot on the beach on a beautiful sunny day with my family and furry ones.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Well – my children of course but after that… creating a firm with so many wonderful, talented people who continue to produce excellent work across such a wide variety of project types. We are mostly known for Interior Architecture and Design, but we also design buildings, landscapes, master plans, and sometimes do the branding and graphics for our projects. We work on everything from office to hotels, bars and restaurants, high rise residential to ground up houses and ships.
What profession does your alter ego have?
Landscape Design
The design you will never forget.
There are many – An office for Paul Hastings New York and The Surrey Hotel in NYC upper east side which remained number 1 Hotel for 10 years in a row on both Travel & Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler! I also LOVE The River Oaks Residential and La Colombe d’Or in Houston. All were memorable for the wonderful clients who supported our vision down to the smallest detail and allowed greatness to happen!
Your favorite business tool or resource.
A pen or pencil and paper!
The most timeless design.
As a Texan growing up in Houston, I saw in real time how the city was transforming architecturally, witnessing high-rise condos and towers starting to change the Houston skyline, and have always felt inspired by designs that bring me back to my Texas roots. At my latest project, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Houston, we’re creating spaces that feel authentically Houston both in modern day and historically, where residents feel like they are in a Texan city yet at the same time transported into a luxury oasis. The most timeless designs are ones that bring history to life through thoughtful choices that nod to the past and welcome the future.
The biggest design faux pas.
Copying and not creating. A designer must also be an educator and lead their clients slowly into a new and wonderful realm. If a client says they do not like something you must listen, but realize that most people do not instantly like what they do not know or have never seen before.
So, if you want to be a brilliant designer and create things that have never been done you must have great patience. The faux pas would be giving up and just going with the norm. ) Not overlaying the reflected ceiling plan and electrical plans over the furniture plans… I could go on and on, I have seen it all as you can imagine.
Your design motto.
Design is like a musical score that begins with an intriguing note, then softens and allows the eye to travel calmly and freely around the environment, then it crescendos to moments of great visual interest. If you recognize what you are designing, you are not designing, you are copying.
Design is the result of the process – understanding the venue, climate, culture and purpose, then taking all the parameters and influence into consideration creating the ideal environment for that particular project. If done correctly (authentically) there may be another hotel or residence or office or bar soon, but there will never be a better one!
Our publisher KOKET makes statement décor. If you were to design a room around one KOKET piece, which would it be, and why?
I would build a room around the Empress Console – maybe a Groom’s Room or a Secret Scotch Bar. I love the curved shape and the deep rich black, the intricate gold and the empty space in between the two sides begging you to open it. It is magical and makes you want to open it to discover what is inside. In the case of the Groom’s Room, it would be his favorite watch he has always wanted, or his favorite scotch or a sweet note from his bride to be – preferably all three!
Love happens when….
Oh so many things, but I assume you mean about design… When the project is finished, and the family, guest, or owner is sitting back enjoying it immensely and entertaining their friends.
Explore more work by Lauren Rottet and Rottet Studio at rottetstudio.com and on Instagram @rottetstudio
Interior architecture and design by Rottet Studio | All images courtesy of Rottet Studio
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