An operator-first design firm

Why we design: spaces people see themselves in

Design affects how people interact with the world around them. We design spaces where your ideal guests see themselves reflected, where they feel understood, where they think “this place gets me.” We design the moment guests talk about: the play-space inside the serious space, the one that breaks autopilot.

That is the joy of the work, and the expression is the point. Operator-first is how we protect it. A feeling only lasts if the place behind it runs: the room that makes a guest feel understood also has to turn the table, fill the glass and get the plate out hot. Emotional design isn’t soft. It’s strategic.

What does operator-first mean?

KPHD is an operator-first design firm. The operator’s business is the brief. Every design decision answers to how the place runs, what it needs to earn and how it feels to the guest. A space that looks extraordinary but can’t run is a failed design.

Operator-first describes how we design. It is not a claim that we run restaurants. It means we design as if we had to run this one.

Front of house and back of house are one project

Hospitality design is often split into two jobs. One designer gets the dining room: the palette, the lighting, the photograph. Someone else gets everything behind the kitchen door. The guest experiences both. They feel the back of house as the wait for a drink, the server who disappears too long and a room that looks right at six and struggles by eight thirty.

Kellie saw the cost of that split while working on Aria in Las Vegas. Skilled designers produced spaces that showed little understanding of the operation, and the gap showed up twice: in how operators experienced their own spaces and in how guests experienced them. That is why KPHD brought equipment design, workflow and process into its own design practice.

Unreasonable hospitality, applied to the room

Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect rests on a distinction between service and hospitality: “Service is black and white; hospitality is color.” [4] Service is doing the job competently. Hospitality is how people are made to feel about it. At Eleven Madison Park, Guidara’s answer was to tailor the experience to each guest, an idea he sums up as “one size fits one.” [5]

We hold design to the same standard. A competent room is black and white: it meets code, fits the equipment and photographs well. Unreasonable design goes further. It rejects the laissez-faire approach of drawing the room, handing off the rest and leaving the operation to sort itself out once the doors open. It follows every decision through to the people who live with it: the cook reaching for the same lowboy hundreds of times a night, the bartender working a well built for this menu, the guest who never sees why the drink arrived quickly.

Guidara’s Rule of 95/5 is why this is a business position, not an indulgence. He manages most of the business tightly so that a small share can be spent deliberately on what people remember. [4][5] Operator-first design works the same way: discipline in layout, equipment and budget is what pays for the moments guests talk about.

Nobody asked the operator

No operator agreed to have their restaurant divided among a dozen consultants. Standard guidance for restaurant owners lists an architect, an interior designer, a kitchen consultant, lighting and acoustic consultants, furniture vendors and engineers, and some of those consultants may never speak to each other. [1] In restaurant work, many of them are hired directly by the owner, which leaves the owner coordinating the team by default. [2]

Operators need the space to work and to look extraordinary, from one team that answers for both. Research on project delivery finds that a single point of responsibility is a primary reason owners choose integrated delivery when they can. [3]

How KPHD is involved

We ask business questions during design, while the answers can still change the plan:

• What does this space have to earn, and how fast?

• How does the layout support your labor model, ticket times and covers?

• Where does the equipment budget go, and what does it return?

• What is the strategy, and does each design decision serve it?

Equipment design, workflow and process are part of our scope. At Dedo Coffee in Long Beach, the layout, café equipment coordination and all of the design were done by KPHD. At Equator Coffees in Culver City, KPHD was the only designer on the project. We bring in engineers and specialists where code or complexity calls for them. Design leads, and we stay accountable for how the result runs.

Who KPHD is for

Operators who want their designer to challenge the business plan as hard as the finish palette, and who are ready to work through strategy, return and operations while we design.

Who KPHD is not for

If you want a designer who takes direction on what looks good and leaves the business to someone else, we aren’t the right fit. That is a legitimate way to hire a designer. It isn’t ours.

Frequently asked questions

What is an operator-first design firm?

A design firm that treats the operator’s business as the brief, so layout, equipment, workflow and finishes are designed around how the place runs and what it needs to earn.

Why does KPHD design hospitality spaces?

To create spaces where guests see themselves reflected and feel understood. Operator-first design is how that feeling survives a busy night.

What does unreasonable hospitality mean for design?

For KPHD, it applies Will Guidara’s distinction between service and hospitality to space. [4] A competent room is service. Going unreasonably far means designing through to how staff work and how guests feel, rather than leaving the operation to sort itself out after opening.

Does KPHD design back of house?

Yes. Equipment design, workflow and process are part of KPHD’s design work, alongside the guest-facing spaces.

Does KPHD work with engineers and kitchen consultants?

Yes, where code or complexity requires them. KPHD leads the design and coordinates those specialists so the project holds together.

What kinds of projects does KPHD design?

Restaurants, bars, cafés and hotels. The studio is based in Los Angeles and has completed projects across Southern California and beyond.

Read the other half

This article explains why the operation is part of the brief. For how that plays out at the bar, the pass and the dish station, read “The room has two sides.”

What we leave people with

A firm dedicated to immersive hospitality design. We start with getting to know you, your business, your ideas, and what’s worked and not worked for you in the past.

We do our research, presenting you with sketches, photographs, digital images, and animation. We move closer to design with client feedback and discussions concerning location, material, flow, behavior, and efficiency. Building results in places of joy, energy, and wonder. They are settings where you want to be and where you want to take the people in your life. We know that great design isn’t always what you see, but it’s always what you remember.

Amaze. Elevate the spirit. Have a positive impact.