In architectural jargon, ‘space’ means a three-dimensional area. Reliably true for some time, it is less so if the architect-designer is Lauren Rottet. She might be first among her peers in mentioning our country’s space agency, NASA, in a sentence involving the words ‘new hire’ and ‘furniture designer.’
How the founder of Rottet Studio brought NASA into an hour-long discussion in her NeoCon showroom for the new Rottet Collection on the Merchandise Mart’s third floor manifested in three revelatory phases: choosing wisely, admiring liberally and launching intelligently. Only questions on choosing, admiring and launching drifted about the backstage space that morning. The answers came years earlier in decisions about the firm’s core triumvirate.
There is a long design history between Rottet Studio’s Los Angeles principal Richard Riveire, AIA, NCARB, and Ms. Rottet. They have worked together for over 25 years, beginning their careers together at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Then they worked alongside one another at Keating Mann Jernigan Rottet, continuing to do so after a merger with Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall (DMJM). In 2008, the two joined forces to launch Rottet Studio.
“As much as Richard and I love working together, we decided early on you can have too much horsepower on a job,” said Ms. Rottet. “Since then, we’ll say who takes the lead when we work together. On Viacom, I was the lead and Richard worked for me; on United Talent Agency, he was the lead, and I worked for him.”
Working with Ms. Rottet and Mr. Riveire is David Davis, AIA, IIDA, NCARB, managing principal and head of the New York City office of Rottet Studio. Himself an alumnus of SOM, Mr. Davis ran the firm’s interior design department in New York City. He left his post at SOM to join in setting the foundation for Rottet Studio.
It is a framework that endures.
“Some of us have been together 20, 25 years,” said Ms. Rottet. ”In ways, we’ve become like family.”
One grown into Houston, New York City, Los Angeles and Shanghai offices. And a family where comity matters.
“It’s hard to find the right people to bring in,” she noted. “The ones who come to our firm because of ego are probably not the right fit.”
Loving design and wanting to learn everything about it; those bearing these passions will fit within the Rottet Studio family and the new company, Rottet Collection.
“Lately we’ve brought in several people with a good bit of experience because of our growth,” said Ms. Rottet. Also, fresh graduates are good matches because “we can help and mentor” them.
They also get a seat at the table for discussing projects, literally and figuratively.
“Everyone on staff shares in our projects, even though I’m involved in just about everything,” said Ms. Rottet.
Yes, the firm bears her name, she is the founding principal and highly visible in the industry. In operation, hers is a firm centered not on “I” but on “we.”
“We are good about letting our people bring their ideas forward,” said Ms. Rottet. She avoids quashing ideas. “Everyone knows my aesthetic and point-of-view as we sit around a table and talk about projects.”
Those talks build careers by welcoming individual input.
“For example, in a project in our Los Angeles office, the client wanted bolder color and design than we had done for them in the past so I made sure a particular designer was lead on the project. As we began the design, I could tell was holding back a bit.”
“Our designer was thinking, ‘It’s the firm’s project, how would Lauren and Richard design it?’ and I said to him, ‘Follow your natural design instincts and design it as you would design it, knowing our design philosophies.’ Since then, it has gone much better for him as he had been trying to stay within my boundaries instead of bringing his own point-of-view, again, within our philosophies.”
Instilling the confidence within Rottet Studio’s ranks of architects and designers to follow their instincts begins with the one whose name appears on the door.
“In our firm, we want designs from the heart,” said Ms. Rottet. “We trust our team; we encourage them to do what they will do.” Even when the prior job of the team’s newest team member could be called ‘out of this world.’
About this new hire, one Parker Nussbaum, Ms. Rottet said, “I have been looking for someone like Parker for years, and I just couldn’t find the right person. He’s sold furniture, he’s worked with clients, he understands what they need, he’s tweaked furniture to meet project needs, and he designed for NASA.
Parker Nussbaum came onboard just over two months ago with an industrial design degree and a position at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on his resume.
“Just think about making someone feel comfortable floating in that little box out there,” mused Ms. Rottet.
Mr. Nussbaum’s work for his previous employer involved designing habitable spaces onboard Orion, NASA’s next ‘crew-rated’ spacecraft.
Writing for SpaceFlightInsider.com, Jason Rhian describes the Orion capsule as designed with needs of those who will fly it “firmly in mind.” This approach is termed ‘Humans in the Loop’ or HITL. Considerations for the interior design of seats and controls support Orion’s capabilities for longer space flights than ever before.
Though deployed in space, the design minds involved in Orion’s design are here on earth. Among them was Mr. Nussbaum, who said, “The Johnson Space Center was an amazing place to work.”
A workday there might include a meeting at Mission Control, the Neutral Buoyancy Lab or in Building 9, home to experimental space vehicles. When not meeting, Mr. Nussbaum would be in his office in the same 150-meter-long tunnel that once housed labs for developing a kind of high-speed internet for space known as laser communications. The area now serves as a testing site for new space habitats.
Habitats. Space capsule interiors. Where’s the intersection between work for NASA and Rottet Studio?
Of working there thus far, Mr. Nussbaum commented, “For most of my career as an industrial designer, I have worked with architects and interior designers. He continued by comparing his current and past employers. “The commitment to innovation at NASA and Rottet Studio make both uncommon and special.”
What consequences have the confines of interplanetary travel had on interior design?
“Designing for space environments – zero g or surface habitats – is the definition of minimal,” said Mr. Nussbaum. “You must allocate for every piece of material, furniture and functional space. There is no extra, just what is needed to achieve the mission goals.”
This philosophy toward form and material might be useful to him in helping to realize Ms. Rottet’s vision for accessories and furniture. The range includes tables, consoles, chairs, benches, sofas and mirrors, all relevant to uses in home, office, living room, lobby or resort. Among the materials available to specifiers are marble, metals, rattan, leather, fur, glossy acrylic and rich veneers.
The offering of goods, materials and versatility stems from Ms. Rottet’s design expressions over the years.
“Some clients want soothing sophistication while others go for something louder,” she said.
Providing comfort is a mainstay of the Collection’s rationale and uppermost in designs to fill out the product line.
“In Parker, I have someone who can work with me, who can contribute his designs and interpretations to the collection,” said Ms. Rottet. “Drawing on his experience with manufacturing, he’ll have a key role in bringing the Rottet Collection to the marketplace.”
As for the experience of doing business with the Rottet Collection, it is fashioned by the design minds of specifiers with years of project specification and installation knowledge.
The entirety of the customer care philosophy of the Rottet Collection comes to this: “We’re going to stand behind everything,” said Ms. Rottet.
“Because we’ve done business with manufacturers in contract, hospitality and residential – plus the shipbuilders for our interiors on Viking Cruises’ ships – we’ve seen customer service come and go.”
“Honestly, it’s about relationships,” said Ms. Rottet. “We genuinely care about the designer – we’ve been on receiving end and know what goes through our minds when there’s a ‘whoops’. I want clients of our Collection to have confidence in us.”
The reason, Ms. Rottet explains, “They took the time to find, choose, buy and anticipate installing our products – if something arrives in less than perfect condition, our first move is replacing it.”
That nature of the quick response to issues from the field sets the level of extraordinary caring planned for clients of the Rottet Collection.
“We’re going to be sure team members who are communicating with our customers know everything about the furniture and accessories,” said Ms. Rottet. “This comprehensive training will include details of the furniture and how it can be customized.”
Readiness for specialized products and services interior designers frequently need figures prominently into Ms. Rottet’s approach.
“We’re working every day with product in our studio, and we’re more than willing to help designers meet the unique needs of their projects.”
Given the realm of work done by the firm, they have nurtured sources for certain hard-to-find items.
“Our contacts and their abilities will add items to the Collection our fellow designers can use in all sorts of spaces,” she said. “We want to make these items available where possible as a resource for the industry.”
Another intention for the industry is a solution for schedule creep on COM orders.
“We receive a lead time on the fabric, but the color we pick isn’t in stock. When the mill has it, they send us a cutting to match, except dye lot variation enters in, and the cutting doesn’t match.” Ms. Rottet adds that now three weeks have passed with no fabric, yet the schedule remains based on the lead time originally quoted. “I want to pioneer a way to make ordering fabric easier.”
These days, the public views pioneers in design and the practice of design itself in a more respectful light.
“Intellectual capital in the design world gets more appreciation now in the United States than ever before,” said Ms. Rottet. “The public likes the design mind; they welcome what design brings to their lives, and the demand for design thought has been increasing for a while.”
Why a growth in demand?
“We have a trend in contemporary design and a trend supporting greater risk taking by the design community, rewarding those who push the limits,” said Ms. Rottet. She believes the last stages of emergence from the “pullback of risk in design” of the 80s are now taking place. “Risks taken in the 50s, 60s and 70s were greater than in the 80s, and it’s taken until recently for forward-thinking design to recover from that conservative decade.”
As for 2017, she said, “We’re past the days of asking ourselves, ‘Do you think they are a traditional or a contemporary client?’”
Her opinion is that clients do not sort into those categories any longer.
“We have made relatively safe progress, but progress nonetheless, and I think that is going to change as creative thinking transforms lives.”
Creative thinking transforms lives. Not this admired firm’s motto, but it would be a solid choice.