Lauren Rottet, FAIA, FIIDA, is a visionary architect and interior designer whose work elevates the way people live, work, and travel. As founder of Rottet Studio, she has shaped landmark hotels, residences, and corporate environments worldwide, earning an American Architecture Award for the Conrad Washington, D.C. project.

Known for her holistic, research-driven approach and refined contemporary luxury style, Rottet’s Rottet Collection has won multiple Good Design Awards for Beds, 2023 Series, Luminosa Screen, James Desk, Crossbeam, Dichroic Table, FASCIO Collection, The Walking Bench, Artis, Wood Float Chair and Sofa, Lyda Sofa, The Powerful Table Collection, and Cake Lamp, as well as Prize Designs Furniture & Lighting Awards.

This interview, part of our Women in Design series, explores her philosophy, career journey, and lasting influence.

GDN: Over the years, you have designed landmark hotels, offices, and residences. How have your priorities and design philosophy evolved from your earliest major projects to today?

Lauren Rottet: As a young architect, I designed two high-rise buildings in Dallas before the age of 29. Then SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) asked me to take on the design for certain interiors projects.

My first thought was “I am an architect, why should I do interior design?” My second was I need a job. I found it even more challenging than base buildings for many reasons – First, the owners/users were highly vested, highly opinionated and took it personally since they would be living in it and using it directly daily.

I realized I had to not only design, but be a mind reader, therapist, convener, colorist and know everything an architect knows plus, furniture and fabrics! Early on, I had intuition about what design was right for a space but did not have a firm philosophy or driver.

As I designed more, I realized intuition was key, but equally important, the passions I was studying trying to perfect. My initial priorities were to create buildings/projects that were forward thinking and used new materials in new unused ways such as metal industrial filter cloth as backdrops for Bank Tellers and common foam mattress cushions for acoustical walls.

As I worked more in Interiors, my passions evolved into making interior spaces as alive and kinetic as exterior spaces. Highly influenced by the light & space artists of California and being personally claustrophobic, I, like them, explored ways to visually expand and animate interior spaces.

And like Kinetic Artists, I explored ways to make interior space have visual movement and though not truly perceivable, would animate and entertain, from offices to my first hotel project in 1990, The Solana Marriott in Westlake, Texas whose architect was Ricardo Legorreta. Back then, we focused on architectural design, focusing views and creating visual experiences out of design.

My second hotel was The Surrey in New York’s Upper East Side, where I was guided by the masterful Brad Wilson who taught me that the operations (scent, floral, staff, music, F&B) were equally as important as the design and must complement each other.

It changed the way I thought/designed as I realized my role was as much Set Designer as Architect conveying the mood and script, but leaving room for the characters.  

This property was the essence of boutique luxury. Everything was designed down from the building and the guest to the smallest detail including the tassels on the custom-designed and hand-painted credenzas. The Surrey remained the #1 Hotel in NYC by Conde Nast and Traveler and Leisure for 10 straight years until COVID.

GDN: With your extensive work in hotels and resorts, how do you balance luxury, comfort, and local culture to create memorable guest experiences?

Lauren Rottet: Luxury is a feeling of exclusivity, understated elegance, discovery and scarcity. It is quiet, cohesive, and never forced. Comfort is both emotional and physical. It is the overwhelming feeling of being present in the moment immersed in and excited by the location, created through design of the architecture, interiors, furniture, lighting, and accessories/styling.  

A balance of luxury and comfort is achieved through subtle storytelling in every element of the design. We dive deep into research of a property’s history, cultural and geographical influences and its immediate microclimate.

We assign imaginary characters based on our research to envision what the perfect stay at the hotel would look like through their eyes and we develop a design narrative that supports that story.

It is important to stay true to that story from the moment of arrival to the linens on the sheets to ensure nothing is forced, everything is cohesive and the overall sense of belonging is never lost.

GDN: When designing workspaces such as Artis Capital Management or your new Houston office, how do you ensure the environment fosters productivity, collaboration, and well-being?

Lauren Rottet: We take great pride in our depth of research into the business, the location and the people. We listen to our clients’ needs. We like to spend a full day on site during business hours to really examine how each department operates, observing what is working and what is not.

In addition, we interview the staff to understand their true work needs and define ways to improve their daily office lifestyle. Then we test-fit several program options to determine the most optimal layout to suit the needs of each department.

Artis Capital Management was ahead of its time. Their firm was of like-minded individuals with a common interest in wellness and they put those interests at the forefront of design.

Moreso, now more than ever, commercial office design is blurring the lines of hospitality design. Today, we are seeing full-service kitchens in leased officed towers, full amenity floors and dedicated outdoor space to gather, socialize, and recharge.

GDN: Your work spans architecture, interiors, and product design. How would you define your personal design philosophy, and how does it guide each project you undertake?

Lauren Rottet: My personal style is minimal at heart. Interior environments should not be static, but rather dynamic and ever-changing—like outdoor spaces where the light, breeze, and weather influence perception.

Through the strategic use of natural and artificial light, glass, subtle mirrors, texture, color and materials, Rottet Studio continues to explore concepts for making the interior environment feel dynamic, as if it extends beyond its physical boundaries.

Like a musical score, areas of visual calm and excitement which engage the occupant are also key elements in achieving the subtle dynamism that characterizes our work.

However, the most important aspect of our design is ensuring that each environment is visually and physically comfortable and promotes the function for which it will be used while promoting an overall sense of wellbeing.

GDN: In what ways do you believe increased female representation in architecture and interior design can influence how spaces are conceived and experienced?

Lauren Rottet: I have never been one to categorize individuals as male, female or other and discuss their abilities as such. That said, I do believe that male and female have some discerning traits that allow them to see one way or the other more clearly.

For example, most often male designers neglect to place a full-length mirror in the room or to give the vanity the proper light for putting on makeup.

Conversely, sometimes female designers neglect to consider the needs of the male guest such as shaving the beard or finding comfort in a bigger armchair. I find the combination of voices especially in the hotel room design is helpful from both voices!

There are never stereotypes, but often women are more instinctively intuitive, comforting and nurturing while men can be more adventurous and bold. I thrive on this collaboration and love when trained, experienced voices offer carefully thought-out opinions that make the whole better than the sum of the parts!

GDN: How do you see the future of architecture and interior design evolving, and where do you envision your studio’s approach within that future?

Lauren Rottet: Every industry from commercial office, residential, luxury condo and multi-family are all leaning toward hospitality design combining human needs and desires with the need for progress and saving ourselves from extinction.

What we think of as hospitality design today will be the standard for new offices. What we see as the beginning of wellness and self-reflection in hospitality will become the norm.

Inspiration, enlightenment, exploration, and self-survival will become the new goal and will soon be layered in. I see the future of Design and Architecture also a study of the preservation and advancement of mankind.

Far from just – Is the structure beautiful and will it stand for years, but how does it advance human livelihood? I was raised by a doctor father way ahead of his time in terms of healthy living (longevity) and preservation of the earth (sustainability) so I studied Science equally to design and architecture.

I believe the science of human behavior and the universe’s sustainability will become a far greater part of architectural studies, and thus we are focused on this aspect of the future of the profession.  

We find ourselves involved very early on in large master planned communities to bring this level of thought from high end preservation to design and the built environment.