AvroKO chief creative officer Nick Solomon’s cosmopolitan background is more than a little fascinating. Born in Germany and raised between Milan, London, and Tokyo, the designer honed his aesthetic and approach during academic and professional stints in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Madrid before settling in New York City. Throughout his meandering career path—spanning commercial interiors, luxury hotels, large-scale transportation projects, and more—Solomon has maintained a singular focus on crafting spaces that create memorable experiences.
Where did you grow up?
My mother is Italian and my father is British. I was born in Germany but raised between Milan, London, and Tokyo. I had the chance to work and study in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Madrid before settling in New York.
When did you know you wanted to be a designer?
Art came before design. But as I grew older, and as I was exposed to more in the world—especially during my time in Tokyo—the art evolved and started to play a role in expressing a place, an experience, or a thing. I became obsessed with drawing the cityscape and its buildings. With packaging, labels, and logos. With chairs. And I remember how these things came together in spaces like hotels, museums, and even airports, and how people used them. This made me want to design.
Did you go to school for design?
I got both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees [in architecture] at the University of Bath in the UK. During that time, I got to study abroad in Hong Kong, intern in Tokyo and Sydney, and then spent half a year crafting my final thesis in Tokyo.
What drew you to hospitality?
I was always focused on having an impact on how people interacted with a place, space, or an object. I saw that connection as a fundamental principle of every project I worked on, but saw it often overlooked on projects of scale. Hospitality was a way to focus heavily on crafting design experiences for people.
What was your first design-related job?
I had a great experience interning for the incredible Ian Moore and Tina Engelen at what used to be EngelenMoore in Sydney—the darlings of cool, minimal Aussie houses. They treated architecture and interiors as a lifestyle brand, approaching projects with strong modernist principals and connections to the outdoors.
Describe your career path.
I started as an architect at Estudio Lamela in Madrid, crafting large commercial projects and headquarters for companies in Europe and China. After a stint at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York, working on high-end hospitality projects like Four Seasons and Waldorf Astoria hotels, I joined Grimshaw Architects in New York, where I spent nine years on projects like Newark Liberty International Airport’s new Terminal A, the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre in Toronto, Aeris Concourse seating for Tecno, and the headquarters for the aviation branch of the Qatari government. For the past five years at AvroKO, I have focused on hospitality projects like the newly opened Oiji Mi restaurant in Manhattan, the flagship Six Senses hotel in London, and the re-envisioning of Detroit’s Michigan Station. My career path has been nonlinear, but as a result, really rich in cross-pollination and always centered around perfecting places for people.
Most challenging project you have worked on?
Spending five years developing a headquarters building for the Qatari government. It was a building that set engineering and workplace standards, championed sustainability in the harshest of climates, and was called beautiful by the prime minister of the country. But, after a change in government, it was shelved during the tender phase. It felt like a lot of spilled blood, but was the growth lesson of a lifetime.
Favorite place to travel?
My mother’s childhood home in Emilia-Romagna’s Apennine mountains in Italy. It is also my childhood home, my place of refuge, and a great source of happiness in my life.
Guilty pleasure?
Doodling on scraps of paper during meetings. I have a library’s worth of snippets of scribbles, doodles, characters, cartoons—especially cute hair dryers, toasters, and cars.
What do you want it to say on your tombstone?
His favorite shape was the Tom Ford soap bar.
Check out projects Solomon has worked out, and get to know the rest of Hospitality Design’s 2022 Wave of the Future class.
