Laura Lleal is setting her 2017 sights on New York and London.
The Barcelona-born, raised and educated designer – already known for prominent residential and hospitality projects in Dallas and elsewhere – is teaming up with The Workshop for a branding campaign aimed at expanding her studio’s reach and influence.
She brings an all-inclusive approach to the projects she chooses to work on.
“One of the things I like to bring up to clients is that I approach design and architecture from a construction point of view,” she says. “I’m hands-on with contractors and developers to minimize change orders for concrete and curtain walls – I work with contractors to control costs.”
Part of that may be that she comes from a family that once supplied most of the brick to Barcelona’s modern masterpieces. And part of it comes from having studied with a sculptor in New York. “I appreciate design – but also how it’s made and the materials and how they’re put together,” she says. “As a designer I have a construction manager’s point of view but also an artist’s point of view.”
Noted for its sophisticated boutique design and project management prowess – with high profile developers and luxury brands over the past five years – she plans to segment the studio’s pertise in the realms of art, design, architecture, construction, and real estate development.
The idea is to achieve a series of environments where people will do more than just live and work and play. “It’s more than the space itself – it’s an environment where you are creating,” she says. “It’s a space with quality, where people can continue to grow – it compels people to continue to grow.”
She does her research, and she listens closely – for style, location and client, and how they’ll affects the design. “When I design a chair, I don’t look at other chairs – I look at life itself – because nature is a good place to start,” she says. “What makes you feel good in a space are the natural qualities – so understanding how humans behave in the environment informs how I design.”
She loves what she does, she says – and it shows.
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Photos of Saint Ann Restaurant by Eric Leignel
