In 1979, three years after graduating from Ryerson University, George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg crossed paths on a Toronto street. Relaying their mutual frustration over securing space for their one-man businesses, the former interior design students, friendly during their college years, decided to share a large downtown office. “It was sheer serendipity,” recalls Yabu of the encounter.
As Yabu and Pushelberg tended to their individual clients, illuminating their personalities and design styles in the process, “we got used to working together,” says Pushelberg. Soon they started collaborating on projects—a hand-drawn rendering featuring their respective pencil lines, for example, exhibited an uncanny synergy. In 1980, they officially joined forces and launched Yabu Pushelberg. Somewhere along the way, the budding entrepreneurs also fell in love. “It was a blurry mishmash. We’re not sure what came first,” Yabu explains.
Forty years later, with offices in Toronto and New York, the firm is renowned for its hospitality, retail, and residential projects, collaborating with such brands as Park Hyatt, St. Regis, Waldorf Astoria, Las Alcobas, and Bergdorf Goodman.
In the beginning, however, the eager designers embraced whatever came their way. Throughout the 1980s, at the height of the shopping mall’s allure, they spent ample time developing stores for fashion brands such as Club Monaco.
But another fateful meeting, this time with a contractor who encouraged the duo to prioritize happiness, led to more meaningful projects. “We were young and wanted to work,” Pushelberg says. “He made us realize that you should drop the stuff you don’t care about for work that gives you positivity and light. If you do it for money instead of passion, you’ll never be satisfied. That lesson sticks with us today.” A year later, they faced their first recession, but they were content. “If you understand your values,” he adds, “you can be resilient and adjust accordingly.”
It was around this time that the two made another vital discovery about their motivations. “We wanted to avoid boredom,” Yabu says. “That was a killer for us. Forty years later, our minds are still racing all the time. What do we want to accomplish next?”
Luxe local materials and works by Chinese artists create serenity at the spa at Rosewood Guangzhou
This ambitious mindset organically propelled Yabu Pushelberg into the hospitality sphere, and in 1998, the firm was honored with a James Beard Award for its design of Monsoon, a Pan-Asian restaurant in Toronto. That milestone grabbed the attention of Starwood Capital Group’s Barry Sternlicht, who invited Yabu Pushelberg to submit a proposal for the much-buzzed about Times Square location of his then on-the-rise W Hotels collection. “After we presented, Barry said, ‘You’re in. You have one year to get this hotel open.’ How hard could that be?” Pushelberg remembers naively thinking. That opportunity taught them another important lesson: how to balance building a business with the rigor of bringing a vision to life.
For the firm’s second hotel project, fellow Ryerson alum Isadore Sharp—founder, chairman, and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts—commissioned the pair to design the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi. On the opposite end of the spectrum from W, this hushed contemporary property groomed the designers for a bevy of future hotels that exude their refined, glamorous flair. Both disparate experiences allowed the pair to “learn early on that hotels are complex and we need a common thread that holds things together,” says Pushelberg.
Still, they don’t like being pigeonholed as luxury designers. “It’s the fear of not being relevant, the fear of not having opportunities to make things happen,” says Yabu. Wanting to evolve at every turn, Yabu Pushelberg took on Marriott’s Moxy brand, applying the team’s same reverence for narrative and detail to the affordable offering’s petite-sized guestrooms at New York properties in Times Square and Chelsea.
The light-filled Garden Pavilion in the Park Hyatt Shenzhen offers an opulent setting
Creating new brands and reinventing current ones are of particular interest to the firm. With Marriott, for instance, they are helping to rebrand Ritz-Carlton, beginning with a new hotel set for New York’s NoMad neighborhood that will showcase a “casualness, graciousness, and chicness,” says Pushelberg. For Aman Resorts’ spin-off brand Janu, the pair is designing one of its first resorts in Montenegro, which will have a more social atmosphere fueled by F&B concepts and expressive design.
Inclusive is a word the duo deems essential to the modern hotel, one that seamlessly mingles folks from different social strata. Take the London EDITION, which they completed in 2013. (Yabu Pushelberg worked with Schrager on the Times Square outpost as well.) “You sit in the lobby and see fashion, art, and [loyalty] points people, as well as tattooed kids from Shoreditch,” says Pushelberg. Adds Yabu: “Finished interiors are satisfying—not in empty photography but when it’s full of life and you see the delight on people’s faces in an environment we created.”
Beyond launching and reinvigorating brands, Yabu Pushelberg is taking its holistic approach to new heights, via a dedicated lighting studio and rollouts of new products and furniture, bolstered by branding efforts and decorative arts consulting.
“George thinks very deeply, and that’s the essence of creativity. As we grew, we had to split up a bit. George focused on design, and I managed the practice and looked after clients,” says Pushelberg. “We have come full circle with directors who are moving the company forward. It’s what keeps our work clear and fresh, and it makes us happier.”
Emerald walls and graphic flooring define the lobby at SLS LUX Brickell Hotel & Residences
Yabu points to the 1983 film Trading Places, saying that he and Pushelberg can effortlessly swap roles. But, ultimately, he’s calmer while Pushelberg is more outgoing and strategic. It’s a complementary relationship that thrives on intriguing projects like the exuberant and artistic Londoner hotel, scheduled to open on Leicester Square in late 2020. Still to come: The Pan Pacific London, the Singapore brand’s first foray into Europe, is slated for a fall opening in the city, and the Raffles Sentosa Island in Singapore, one of a slew of projects they have on the boards in Asia.
As Yabu Pushelberg plunges into its fifth decade, “we’ve found resilience by remaining true to who we are and finding patrons who genuinely appreciate the art and creative process of design,” says Pushelberg. “It’s essential to understand what you’re good at and to continuously refine your craft. Not only does it make your work stronger, but in times of crisis, it places you in an empowered place of self-awareness. Amid chaos, we’re able to offer transparency—to clients, partners, and our studio.”
The firm’s new office in New York features a full kitchen and gallery space to host events
The pool area at La Vetta Clubhouse; the entrance of Katsuya restaurant at the SLS LUX Brickell
This article originally appeared in HD’s May 2020 issue.
