When Kari Bennett and her former business partner launched their design firm in 2013, their goal was to build a process- and standard-driven business that would provide clients with a consistent experience and give the designers the ability to put energy into creative work.
“We provide a very start-to-finish, turnkey process for our clients, so they know exactly what they are going to get from us,” says Bennett, founder, CEO and now sole owner of Salt Lake City-based design firm EDGEiD.
It’s a model that has proven especially successful in the hospitality world, where hotels and restaurants have exacting brand standards. And that’s where EDGEiD concentrates its work, counting Marriott, Hilton, Choice, IHG and Best Western among its clients. The firm also has multifamily residential projects, as well as some other commercial work.
When it comes to hospitality, “I like that you have to make both parties happy: You have to make your client happy and also meet the standards of the brand. … There are guidelines, and I really like that as a person. I think that structure is challenging but also fun. It’s a balancing act,” says Bennett, whose eight-person team has projects across the United States, as well as in Canada.
What clients appreciate from EDGEiD — in addition to the firm’s consistent, well-defined design and procurement process — is the storytelling that Bennett and her team do. Bennett describes it as building a narrative for each project, and it starts with extensive research.
“We do a lot of research. (For projects outside Utah,) we’ll fly into the place. We want to know what people are eating in the area. We want to know what people are visiting in the are — the historical sites, the importance of the area and maybe some of the key features that people don’t necessarily know as much about,” she says. “For example, we did the AC Hotel (by Marriott) in Salt Lake City. In Salt Lake, we have these incredibly huge grid city blocks. It’s kind of known for that. … So, we took that grid concept and we wove it into our narrative and implemented it into the design. You can see it in the grid walls and in a grid pattern in the carpet. … It doesn’t come across as theme-y but that’s how the story can be woven throughout in subtle ways.”
Bennett is especially excited about two current projects. One is a new Hard Rock Café in St. Augustine, Florida. “It’s a brand I’ve never worked with before and we’re actually going down next week for immersion. We’ll spend a whole day at corporate headquarters, and they’ll tell us their stories. We want to understand what makes Hard Rock, Hard Rock,” Bennett says. “… One of the fun things about this project is that the building is a unique shape with a lot of angles to it. So, space planning is very challenging but fun. … We also want to create a space where you’ll feel like a rock star, right? That’s the vision behind the brand. And a lot of that actually starts with space planning and a layout that’s very efficient. … No one comes in thinking, ‘Look how efficient the space is’ but that’s how (the whole experience) starts.”
The other project is for a venerable Utah-based ice cream shop as it expands after a return to the market a few years ago. “We’ve done four iterations in four locations with them,” in part to see what might work in different sized locations and under other various parameters, Bennett says.
“It’s been really fun,” she says. “We don’t always get to design with bright, pop-y colors, but we’ve got pinks and blues and yellows. … Again, we’re telling a story. I hear all the time ‘My grandma used to bring me here’ or ‘My dad used to bring me here.’ Re-introducing a brand that has history is exciting.”
Design News Now also talked with Bennett about the state of the hospitality sector and trends in hospitality design. Here’s more from that conversation:
Design News Now: Parts of the residential design market have slowed. How’s hospitality design right now?
Kari Bennett: It’s moving forward really, really well. There are some challenges, like with residential. Some of the things holding us back right now are interest rates. A client might have a property or piece of land that they’re sitting on and it’s just more expensive right now to move forward with that. … So, I have clients who are saying, “We’ll give it a few more years before we invest that amount of money into that property or piece of land.” But at the same time, because of Covid, many, many properties put off property improvement plans, and now we’re seeing a huge influx (of those projects).
DNN: You also do some multifamily residential. How is that market?
Bennett: We’re working on a couple of multifamilies right now but that, I think, is more regional. Here in Utah, we’ve had a boom in multifamily for years and years, and everyone is projecting that will continue to grow. We just can’t keep up with housing fast enough. So many people want to come to Utah and then you add on some of the future projections of things that are happening, like the Winter Olympics coming back in 2034.
DNN: What trends are you seeing in hospitality design?
Bennett: I think we’re seeing a return to color, which is super exciting for us. Everything got very neutral and, all of a sudden, we’ve got these layers and layers of colors going on. We had a vendor come in and present last week and it was so much fun, seeing the palette that they’re offering — just full of colors in their tile and in wall vinyl. There are even metallics, and that’s fun for me. (That said), we’re driven a little less by design trends because our design is driven by the narrative and story that fits the property and the location. Our story guides the design. But trends influence our design because those are the products that are available.
… We’re also seeing an increase in (clients) wanting to make mixed-use spaces appeal to more people and make them as functional as possible. … In that sense, we’re seeing the integration of more features into the lobby of a hotel to bring people out of their rooms. We do that through (internet) connectivity, through access, the lighting, making sure it’s comfortable for somebody who wants to set up their laptop and settle in for the day. Maybe the lobby has a little coffee shop where you can grab a coffee and sit down. … I think it’s really fun when you walk into a hotel space that is activated. It’s lively and there are people there — not just at night at the bar, but throughout the whole day.
DNN: What are top-of-mind concerns for your hospitality clients?
Bennett: Tariffs are a huge issue. I would say that I talk to clients about tariffs a couple of times a week. (They want to know) where the produce is coming from. Are we sourcing it from the U.S.? Can we get it domestically? How does that help with the budget? How does that help the timeline? What kind of delays are we looking at if we do outsource overseas? Those are definitely big conversations and they’re a bit tricky. We try to get the client situated so they know what to expect because … with the tariffs, new information is coming out every single day and that makes it hard for us to guarantee something to the client, which doesn’t put me in a really good position. … I’m trying to choose the vendors that are willing to work with us and hold pricing for longer. It helps us feel more comfortable and helps the client feel more comfortable.
