Design Talks with Jerome Lee is the most recent Design Talk we have the pleasure to announce. Jerome Lee is the Design Director of HBA Shanghai, a world-renowned hotel design firm. He has worked with major international firms for over 15 years – HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates creates brand-building design experiences that reflect a distinct sense of place while appealing to the world’s most discriminating travellers.

Design Talks with Jerome Lee

A HOMES’SOCIETY INTERVIEW

Home’Society believes that talking, discussing, and exploring ideas together is essential to the design process. The goal is to create a platform with a new vision of macro and micro trends within the industry, generating added value for the design lover community. These design talks include interviews with interior designers, architects, and showrooms to discover and discuss trending and the creative process.

See also: LIVING ROOM COLLECTED INTERIORS: MODERN STEP BY STEP DESIGN BOOK

Design Talks with Jerome Lee

An Exclusive Interview

Make sure to watch the whole interview here!

Jerome Lee has worked all over the world, such as in places like Australia, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore, all of which have had a significant influence on his work. Each country’s client had a specific focus and interest in what they desired in interior design, thus it naturally influences each project he has worked on. He emphasizes the differences between working in Australia and working in China in particular. It is more regulated in Australia, but in China, you have more freedom to test new approaches and not always follow the regulations by the book. HBA is a company that is always setting new standards for elegance, comfort, and innovation all around the world.

Working in hotel design is really interesting for him because he doesn’t need the architectural regulations, he can look through more logical approaches. In Shangai, he has a team of 10 people that work on a variety of sophisticated branding hotels, allowing them to be more creative in their interior design. Jerome Lee emphasizes that these types of initiatives help HBA stand out from the rest of the firms, giving clients who visit certain hotels or resorts experience something unusual to do while vacationing.

As a hotel designer, you must understand the needs of your clients. HBA creates brand-building design experiences that reflect a distinct sense of place while appealing to the world’s most discerning guests. The company is always setting new standards for elegance, comfort, and inventiveness in hotel interior design all around the world.

When it comes to design trends, Jerome Lee says he doesn’t have a favourite, although there are some architectural designers he follows. He does not follow trends because they come and go and do not last. He prefers that his projects avoid certain fads in order to remain ageless within modern and contemporary aesthetics.

Jerome Lee would rather focus on understanding the local context and conducting an adequate study on it while creating a place so that he can better comprehend the nature of the surroundings in order to develop a design that fits within its environment. The general design should be more subtle and tranquil, while yet having its own personality and not resembling any other projects. Jerome Lee aspires to develop interior designs that are timeless and to which the user will always have a connection.

Our design talks guest also mentions that there is a significant gap between designers from the West and those from the East when it comes to design. Western designs have more colour, more emotion, and are less constrained by rules, but eastern designs are more constrained by tradition and their past. He notes that this is also due to clients’ choices, which impact the world of design.

He closes the conversation by encouraging aspiring interior designers to stick with their art and discover what they are good at designing so that they can flourish. He emphasizes the significance of having a competent mentor who can guide and share their skills.

WATCH IT NOW

See also: Endless Design Possibilities: Discover the Collected Interiors Book

What did you think about this article on Design Talks with Jerome Lee? Stay updated with the best news about trends, interior design tips, and furniture luxury brands, sign up for our Newsletter and receive it in your email – free of charge, the latest and the most exclusive content from Inspiration and Ideas. Follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin!