Commercial Interior Design in Orange County

Our Orange County portfolio splits between resident spaces and guest spaces, and the two ask different questions. An apartment amenity is judged over years by the same residents. A dining venue in a shopping center is judged in a single visit by people who chose it over the restaurant next door. We start each project by studying what the property competes with, nearby communities for an apartment building and neighboring venues for a restaurant, and we present a direction ownership can react to before money is spent.

Much of the county is built around master-planned communities and established retail centers, so a new interior usually enters a setting with a strong existing character. The design has to feel current next to it without fighting it.

Calypso sits in Irvine, the same city as our office. For a multi family property, the shared interiors carry the leasing story: the path from arrival through the leasing area to the amenities has to look composed on a tour and still make sense to a resident who walks it twice a day.

The trade-offs will be familiar to any apartment owner: soft seating or work tables in the clubroom, a statement finish or a surface that cleans easily, a hotel feel or the realities of shared residential use. We weigh those against how the property will be staffed and maintained, because the operator lives with the result long after opening day.

A venue inside an operating shopping center is built while the center stays open around it. Centers typically set their own rules for delivery hours, loading and contractor access, and the furniture plan has to fit inside them. For an apartment community the constraint is usually the construction schedule itself, since amenity rooms are often among the last spaces finished before leasing opens.

In both cases we stay involved through construction, answering contractor questions and reviewing submittals so the space that opens matches the one ownership approved. Our designers are on site for installation, and we clear out the cartons before the doors open.

• Benchmarks drawn from nearby communities or neighboring venues, depending on the property
• Finishes chosen for resident wear or restaurant cleaning cycles
• Installation planned around a center's delivery rules or a leasing date