Imbibing at a Lakers game suddenly became a glamorous ritual when, in 2009, the sbe nightlife concept Hyde Lounge opened inside Los Angeles’ Staples Center. The Sunset Strip flagship was already a hit, but this classy, clubby sibling—a mélange of leather, gold, and onyx—was a luxe destination in its own right. Designed by Studio Collective, it was an impressive debut for the newly formed, multidisciplinary firm.
The Great Recession was still in full swing when Studio Collective’s three partners, Adam Goldstein, Leslie Kale, and Christian Schulz, banded together. Goldstein, who previously worked with Kelly Wearstler and at Commune, and Schulz, a former design consultant for Thompson Hotels, first met in grad school at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), before reuniting at sbe. Schulz knew Kale, one-time creative director at Kale Handbags, when they were both at Dodd Mitchell Design.
Although the Venice, California-based Studio Collective “started out loosely to make ends meet,” says Schulz, the trio was buoyed by the additional calls coming in—especially when one of them led to cocktail lounge the Spare Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel in Los Angeles, at which point “we strategized on how to turn this into a real company,” adds Goldstein. After designing a number of restaurants and bars, Studio Collective dove into hotels, bringing a refined Scandinavian style to the revamp of the Landsby in Solvang, California in 2015.
Shelves filled with eclectic décor line a hallway at Jonathan Beach Club in Santa Monica
Since the firm’s inception, hotel public spaces have morphed from the days of “exclusive, dim nightclubs to a living room for the community,” says Goldstein, a shift that has allowed the team to become even more imaginative.
Consider the renovation of the Hotel Figueroa in DTLA, where a robust collection of pieces by female artists honors the building’s roots as a YWCA hostel. Another standout is the EAST Miami hotel, for which Studio Collective designed the sprawling rooftop bar Sugar, incorporating bamboo, rattan, and abundant botanicals “to create a giant garden,” points out Kale, as well as Quinto La Huella, sister restaurant to the now-shuttered beachfront original in Uruguay. There, “people came off their yachts to eat and drink all day,” adds Kale.
Wood tones dominate at the Bungalow Huntington Beach’s main bar
Because of their knack for creating authentic, locally driven spaces, Studio Collective has become the go-to for hotel companies that need help defining their brands. There’s the third outpost of the Bungalow lounge in Long Beach; the much-anticipated unveiling of Hyatt’s Tommie Hotels in Hollywood and Austin (Thompson Hotels’ value-conscious sister brand); and the summer debut of Hotel June, the first location of Proper Hotels’ breezy Southern California-centric spinoff brand on LA’s Westside, complete with Mexico beach-inspired pool decks. Also in the works: boutique property Shay in Culver City; a redo of Auberge Resorts Collection’s Solage in Calistoga, California; and the spa and guestrooms at the forthcoming Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
Equally compelling is the firm’s own coastal-influenced furniture line. Now, in its early stages, its arrival feels as organic as Studio Collective’s origins.
Whimsical colors and patterns animate the Park House, a members’ club in Dallas
A rendering of the patio at the upcoming Bungalow Long Beach harborside lounge
Jonathan Beach Club’s residentially informed lounge, complete with a fireplace
Photos and renderings by Roger Davis and courtesy of Bungalow Hospitality Group, Park House, and Studio Collective
This article originally appeared in HD’s July 2020 issue.
