Chris Godfrey: The balance between global and local

Chris Godfrey is the Global Co-CEO of HBA (Hirsch Bedner Associates), the world’s leading hospitality design firm. An award-winning architect with over 25 years of international experience, from the firm’s global headquarters in Singapore, he leads 1,500 employees across 25 offices. Since his appointment as Co-CEO in 2022, Godfrey has led the firm’s transformation into a global leader in integrated design, expanding HBA’s scope beyond interiors to include architecture, landscape, and art consultancy. His vision is founded on the ‘OneHBA’ framework, a commitment to collective creative excellence that, as the firm celebrates 60 years of history, continues to guide a global community of designers.

With HBA’s global footprint, how do you balance a consistent standard of excellence with the integration of local craftsmanship and production?
This balance is a positive challenge for us; it has become part of our DNA. HBA is composed of nearly a hundred boutique-sized studios, with 1,600 people across 25 countries, but we consistently operate in about 50 different nations at any one time. This structure, which is an idiosyncrasy and uniqueness of HBA, requires us to have a dynamic response and to approach each project on its own merit: its geography, its driver, its context. We don’t achieve consistency by standardising styles, but by creating a first-class internal infrastructure that supports each individual studio. We’ve created a model that combines the best of both worlds: the local sensitivity of a boutique studio with the strength and resources of a global network. This gives each team a flexibility and operational capacity it couldn’t achieve on its own.

HBA’s mission is to create spaces that “inspire, connect, and elevate the human experience.” How does this translate into connecting a luxury project, which can often feel like an exclusive bubble, with its external context and the local community?
Our evolution from interior design specialists to an integrated design firm is the key. We think in a scalable way: if we design a chair, we think about the table, the room the table is in, and what you see looking out the window. Our approach isn’t to create a building as an isolated object, but to ask ourselves, “What does it feel like to look out of that window at that tree in that courtyard?” This way of thinking, from the inside out, allows us to react to the context organically, whether it’s physical, cultural, or social. Furthermore, considering how a project’s spaces can open up to the local community is increasingly pertinent. The idea that a restaurant or a spa within a hotel can also be accessible to the external public is an evolution we welcome, as it strengthens the connection to the place.

The “OneHBA” framework includes a dedicated art consultancy. How is the role of art in hospitality spaces evolving beyond mere decoration?
I agree that the role of art has evolved significantly, much to the benefit of the hospitality environment. We’ve moved from a superficial and purely decorative use to an approach where art can become the central element, the *raison d’être* of a project. It offers a unique opportunity to engage with local artists and craftspeople, bringing authenticity and uniqueness. In fact, our art consultancy division is increasingly an integral part of the creative process. It is no longer involved in a secondary or tertiary way but often guides the concept development from the very beginning, becoming a fundamental narrative driver.

Themes like sustainability and wellness are increasingly central. How do you ensure these principles don’t become elitist concepts but are universally integrated into your projects?
I firmly believe that sustainability, wellness, and longevity shouldn’t be exclusive or luxury drivers, but universal principles. Years ago, I was invited to assess a piece of land at the foot of the Great Wall of China for a luxury resort. The place was inherently beautiful, and my response was to proceed with extreme caution. From there, we developed a strategy based on a different idea of luxury: not about adding, but about teaching how to value what is already there, like the local farming and fishing. This philosophy—of revealing, celebrating, and treating the existing context with respect—can transcend price point, typology, and brand.

You are renowned for hospitality, but your expansion into integrated design is significant. In which other sectors do you see the principles of hospitality design being applied?
We’re not really in the retail sector. What we observe, rather, is that the fundamental principles of hospitality design are migrating to other sectors. For example, commercial office spaces today seek an atmosphere and experience closer to that of hospitality. The same applies to the healthcare sector, with private wellness facilities moving away from a purely medical aesthetic towards that of leisure. Our core is hospitality, but many other touchpoints spring from it. Although retail is not our primary focus, our design principles, based on human experience and a universal approach, are applicable in any context.

This approach of applying hospitality principles to different contexts is also reflected in the design of individual elements. How is your philosophy manifested in the recent Kumiki furniture collection for Giorgetti?
The collection originated from the request to develop products that could naturally exist in both residential and hospitality contexts. My approach is always based on first principles: proportion, line, detail, and perspective. In this case, the aesthetic inspiration comes from the *kumiki* structural joints of Japanese temples, but the design’s true strength lies in its universal qualities. I believe that if an object is designed according to universal rules, like the golden and silver sections we integrated, it will always be correct in any setting. For the hospitality sector, it offers durability and lightness, with functional details like a hidden finger pull to make it easy to move. Furthermore, the upholstery is interchangeable for easy maintenance, and the interlocking wooden joints will develop a patina over time, allowing the product to evolve and acquire its own unique character.