Barry Design Associates is working on a high-profile project to help revitalize downtown Los Angeles.

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Barry Design Associates Inc. is helping to revitalize downtown Los Angeles. It is designing the interior of a new hotel, JW Marriott, to be a major component in a new mixed-use development across from the Staples Center, the home for the NBA’s L.A. Lakers and L.A. Clippers and NHL’s L.A. Kings.

The hotel will have more than 800 rooms and is attached to a 200-room Ritz Carlton hotel/condominium complex. JW Marriott will also house a large conference area, CEO and President Bob Barry says. “It is a very interesting glass building,” he says. “We’ve designed all the rooms and suites and the corridor.”

The new hotel will be located in a popular area, near 15 retail outlets and restaurants and bars, including ESPN Sports Bar, as well as an 18-screen theater complex. Construction started in April and will be completed in early 2010, Barry says. “We like the project because it is a part of the effort to revitalize downtown,” he adds. “It was an interesting opportunity.”

‘Hip Hotel’
Barry founded the company in 1980 after working at another design firm. “I had an opportunity to take a project in Mexico on my own and I decided to leave the company,” he says.

Today, the Los Angeles-based company primarily designs interiors for hospitality, restaurant, spa and senior living projects. It has performed projects in Puerto Rico, Florida, Hawaii, Japan and California. “Along with a reputation for excellence, [Barry] has built up an experienced and multitalented staff from diverse backgrounds, speaking more than eight languages, which has proved to be a great asset for all international projects,” the company says.

It recently opened a resort for Luxury Resorts – or LXR – in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a part of hotel chain Blackstone. The 250,000-square-foot facility has 500 rooms and features an integrated bar and lobby reception area, and outdoor seating with a fire pit. “It’s right on the water,” Barry says. “It’s a very neat, contemporary [and] hip hotel.”

This is one of several projects the company did with Blackstone last year. It also completed a hotel renovation in Hawaii, and Naples Grande Beach Resort in Naples, Fla., which featured restaurants, meeting rooms and spa. The Naples complex consists of four small buildings connected by water features and pathways.  

“When you find a nice, good synergy with clients, it makes the process much easier,” he explains. “We understand what we are trying to achieve. [Blackstone is] one of those clients who don’t try to micromanage us. They are always very happy with our work.” 

“I have worked to keep the size of the organization large enough to cope with the most complex projects, while not so large that I would not be able to deal personally with the client and generate the design himself,” Barry says. “I am proud to note that over 90 percent of our work has come via referral.”

Project Awards
A graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., Barry has more than 30 years of professional interior design experience. In 1995, he received the Platinum Circle Award from Hospitality Design magazine for design excellence.

The company has been recognized for its work numerous other times. The company won Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design in 1997 for the Imperial Hotel Osaka, Japan, and the flagship Nikko Hotel Tokyo. In 1999, it won the Gold Key Award for the Villa La Cupola Suite at the Excelsior Hotel in Rome and was a finalist in the suite and restaurant categories for the Four Seasons Los Angeles in Beverly Hills, Calif. In November 2003, the company was the Grand Prize Winner of the Gold Key Award for Sun City Kashiwa, Japan.

Style Changes
Clients’ priorities have changed since the company’s inception. For example, 25 years ago, hotels were most concerned with cost. “Over the years, hotels have come to realize that design is an important part of the project,” Barry says. “That is a good thing for us. A lot of us really fought for that. We’ve always realized that people spend more time inside the building than outside. The interior is important.”

The style of hotels has also changed. “I think the period of big atrium hotels is going away,” he says. “[Hotels] are trying to scale down and bring a public image of being more friendly and more approachable.”
    
‘Appreciation for Design’
The company plans to be more selective on the projects it takes on. For example, it will strive to work with owners who share the company’s design and quality vision. “It doesn’t have to do with luxury projects; it has to do with an appreciation for design,” Barry explains. “We want people who are nice to work with. There are a lot of people filled with egos and we don’t want to work with those.

“We’re just trying for excellence,” he continues. “We are trying to be creative without trying to be trendy. We want products that will last, stand the test of time and be hailed as a good design.”