The global integrated design firm DLR Group has announced that London and Hong Kong-based interior design and architecture studio Conran and Partners has joined the firm. Conran and Partners becomes DLR Group’s first studio in Europe and will operate as Conran and Partners, a DLR Group studio, as will the Hong Kong studio.
Conran and Partners is recognised internationally for luxury hotels and resorts, branded residences and high-end residential development, and bespoke workplace and retail environments for leading international clients. The studio carries forward the design legacy of Sir Terence Conran and the belief that good design improves the quality of people’s lives.
“Conran and Partners is synonymous with luxury design in Europe and around the world,” said DLR Group CEO Steven McKay, AIA, RIBA.
“We both share a purposeful belief in the power of design to elevate the human experience. Conran and Partners adds a luxury design studio and a level of craft that immediately elevates our work for clients at the premium end of the market in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States.”
The partnership ensures the continuity of the Conran and Partners design legacy for its employees and clients and provides the studio with an expanded global platform. Its five partners ― Tim Bowder-Ridger, Katy Clarke, Sebastian Conran, Simon Kincaid, and Tina Norden ― will continue as Principals and lead operations in the London and Hong Kong offices.
Speaking on behalf of the five partners, Tim said, “We‘ve been exploring how to take the practice further through a strategic partnership. We consistently found the same tension; growing bigger usually meant growing more corporate and losing the imagination of our boutique culture. DLR Group gave us a clear answer: more design resources, extended reach, and the platform to grow, without asking us to become something we’re not.”
Through DLR Group’s global network, Conran and Partners gains access to larger-scale design opportunities for hospitality, mixed-use, residential, and workplace as well as a route into the U.S. market. Conran and Partners provides London and Hong Kong locations for DLR Group to expand into adjacent geographies in Europe and Asia.
“Collaborating with all of the principals of Conran and Partners, we will grow the design studios in London and Hong Kong to delight and exceed the expectations of the most sophisticated clients in the world,” said Steven. “Conran and Partners will remain a distinct luxury boutique design studio within DLR Group. That distinction is precisely the point — and precisely what we intend to invest in.”
Conran and Partners‘ 75 design professionals across London and Hong Kong will each have the opportunity to become DLR Group employee owners through the purchase of DLR Group stock.
“What convinced us was the opportunity for our team to become employee owners and the design culture of DLR Group,” said Tina.
“The relationships we formed with DLR Group’s leadership made it clear this was a cultural match. Our clients will see the same team, the same studio, and the same sophistication of design — with the additional design resources and expertise of DLR Group’s global platform. For our team, this opens new design and career opportunities in building types and geographic markets around the world.”
