Designing Without Limits: Lessons from the Ultra-Luxury World, ft Victor LG at HBA

Designing Without Limits: Lessons from the Ultra-Luxury World, ft Victor LG at HBA
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[00:00:00]

Stephen Drew: Hello everyone! Strap on in because today we're going hyperspeed. We're gonna be talking about the other life. That's right, imagine if you had a few hundred thousand dollars. BPP, you could be our client. 20 seconds. Hello everyone and welcome to this non livestream live stream special. That's right, I [00:01:00] might be or might not be pre recorded. But it doesn't matter because we're here in spirits. And today we're going to talk about a very interesting topic. Imagine Maybe where you are in your career, you're an architect, you're well on their way, and you thought about, I would like to work for the hyper luxury, for the elites.

I want to design those amazing spaces for the certain clientele that have those standards. They're checking everything. And on that note, we need to speak with someone who's dealt with The height of luxury, the height of society, and knows how to design awesome buildings for them, and impart our wisdom on us.

On that note I have the fantastic Victor Lorenzo with me here. Victor, how are you today? Are you okay?

Victor LG: I'm very well Stephen, thank you so much for having me, thank you so much for that introduction, it sounds good. Arguably even more interesting than the reality [00:02:00] is, but yeah let's chat about it and let's see where we ended up.

Stephen Drew: We're gonna dive deep into that, but maybe first before we go into the topic, tell us a little bit about yourself, Victor. For those who've not met you, who are you and and what do you do now?

Victor LG: Yeah, that, that makes sense. So I'm originally from Spain. I studied architecture and construction engineering there in Madrid. Then I've been working pretty much across the world with UK and London. where I have this opportunity to discover, arguably, what is true luxury, this clientele, this 0. 001 percent of people that money is really not a concern, so creativity can be flawless.

And along my career, I have the pleasure to work with some of the best in the industry, very well known designers, such as Martin Kemp, for example, is one of the [00:03:00] names. And now I've moved to the other side of the world, into Singapore. And I've been appointed as a Design Director of HBA Residential. So we keep with this idea of just trying to create what has never been done before.

Stephen Drew: Wow. Wow. Very cool. And that brings us to our topic. So when we were discussing what we should talk about, I think one of the interesting things that came up in conversation was working without budget. The ultra risk, fast tracking career path for creatives. So let's break down that first bit.

So normally, especially in our, okay, in architecture school, A lot of the stuff we do, in terms of academic, perhaps doesn't have a budget. But when we go into industry, it's all about that budget, it's all about cost on site. And maybe, was it like that for the first part of your career, when you went into industry then, Victor?

Were you [00:04:00] working on a budget? First of all,

Victor LG: Yeah, I started my career as every other architect, right? We join a studio, that they do regular things. You're put there into very technical, boring, repetitive work. And I have this conundrum like, is this really for me? This doesn't align with my expectations. I cannot wait 50 years to be the lead architect to design a tower.

It doesn't work. At least it didn't work for me. So I was looking for alternatives. And that's some of the advice that I would like to give today away. They really changed and impacted my life in a very rewarding career, to be honest. No, you don't start designing for the queen or the king of somewhere out of the blue.

There is a transition period that you need to get there. Hopefully, as I said, I can guide our audience. to make that faster, and they don't have to go [00:05:00] through all these gloomy, scary, boring, technical part of it.

Stephen Drew: my goodness. Okay, I know we, in a bit, we're going to talk about the opportunities that are there, however, what kind of sectors, first of all, are the ones where the budget is less of an issue? Because if it was social housing in London, it's going to be all about the budget, right? It's going to be all about getting the maximum for the minimum.

However, what kind of Industries, sectors, building types. First of all, does the budget go? Second or third priority?

Victor LG: Yeah, that's a really good question, because we can talk about, for example, luxury hotels, wherever it's conceived as a business, you have a clear budget. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter how wide or tight it is, but wherever it is considered business, you have very strong conditions.

But I [00:06:00] understood this quite quickly. So I moved to private residential, where effectively we can argue, we are building dream homes, dream villas, dream palaces for people in there. Really, there is no constrictions. If I can give you what you have desire, sky's the limit, right? Because money is not a contingency for third time people.

So I understood this quickly. So I shifted. My career and this aligns with many of the things I'm going to talk later on private residential or boutique hotels, or this, this kind of little entities. Where what I want is more important what if it is cost effective or not. There is still that little corner where capitalism has didn't corrupt absolutely everything.

Stephen Drew: Fair enough. So well, the first question that we posed around this topic was what opportunities arise for [00:07:00] creatives when budgets are unlimited? So even by nature of that question, do you think the constraints perhaps on projects when the budgets are there then Are you saying that almost constrains the role of an architect compared to when you're allowed to go wild for it on a project?

Victor LG: Good design is good design. And creativity can be found in every project. Arguably with tight budgets you can be creative. What I like of this sentence is when you don't really have boundaries is when true creativity comes alive. Because I cannot go into Pinterest and tell my clients, hey, I would like to do this for you.

They will tell me, yeah, but that already exists. Create something for me. That's the true nature of creativity, so it's only on this kind of projects where you don't have any constraints or any budgets to be crazy and [00:08:00] be bold. I think that's very interesting. We touched on this while we are in university.

As you said, we don't have budgets in uni. It's not an important thing. And then you Jump into the real world and everything is about making it work financially. This opens a window to go back there and to do something truly unique, which for someone like I, that, what I enjoy, I love my profession in the sense I'm passionate about this.

I think that's really important. And what I like of working in this type of industry is nothing is really repetitive. I cannot get bored, everything is different, everything should be different. I find that very interesting.

Stephen Drew: it makes complete sense. And maybe that kind of feeds into the next point there though. So how how do high budget projects accelerate career growth? Is it a bit like then back in academia when you can really flourish? Or is that what you [00:09:00] think? That when there's no budget there that you can really go wild?

Victor LG: There is, arguably there is always a budget. Maybe that's a bit, marketing wise. Everyone has, but what I think is fair to say, we can condition here that budget is not a constraint. Coming back to this question, I would say there are three key points. You don't get you don't end up, it's very easy as an architect to end up doing the same thing every other time.

And it becomes really repetitive. At some point fairly soon in your career, you are not pushing yourself. If you go into one of these magnificent brands and these megamaniac famous studios, you're going to become an expert on Windows. What's the point? Really, some people might love it, but I'm talking for those that, they want to be bold, they want to be different, they want to disrupt things.

You shouldn't be an expert on [00:10:00] Windows and how things are wired. You will become an expert on whatever it is, because now to be competitive, you need to get to that. I think when you're working in this type of industry where there is no rules, where there is no norms, where there is no right or wrong, and creativity is arguably boundless, you push yourself way harder.

And, of course, your portfolio is going to look really neat because you are doing something that is unique and hopefully looks really pretty.

Stephen Drew: Yeah, makes complete sense. Definitely going to be some beautiful projects in that area. Now, the next question we had is quite wide, because it's a bit like asking to summarize everything that you know. However, maybe we can break it down a bit and in some chunks. Maybe There's two or three key things, and we'll go through it, but the question is, what lessons and advice have you learned over a decade?

That's a long time, a decade, [00:11:00] but perhaps maybe there's two or three things that stick out, and what's the first lesson that comes to mind when you do this shift and you work on, like you say, high budget projects compared to those before?

Victor LG: Third question. Hard to structure, but I'll try to do three, three points I want to cover. Yes, three. There, there are like 300, but yes, three. Personal branding. I think this is a must for everyone today. I think this type of clientele, what they are expecting in someone that is a little bit different, but still appealing to the general public.

For example, this is one of the reasons that I have never really worked out to get rid of my accent. My accent is really strong. I mispronounce some words. It's part of my brand. I'm Mediterranean. This is what I do. This is who I am. That's my style. Everyone new in this industry should have his own personality until a certain point.

I'm a place. I [00:12:00] don't want anyone pushing the limits of what is conceived as normal. But yes, we need to have this, this little accent or this little differentiation, which allow us to be true with ourselves and also allow us to have a character, which is what you need to make it in here. Then next point that I think is also relevant, the Pareto Principle.

What are we good at and what we are not good at? Obviously, I'm hoping whoever is looking to follow my path. It's a creative mind. It doesn't have to be. That's the fun part of it. You don't have to be a crazy person with 300 ideas. But you need to leverage on the things that you are good at. My sketching is quite good, so I tend to sketch a lot.

My personality normally allows me to talk freely. It's not really hard for me to talk to people. And I don't like to [00:13:00] solve things fully. I like to draw the picture. Give that 80 percent there and that remaining 20 percent someone can help me, someone can detail for me. And it's fantastic because there are some people that they only like to detail because they find that peaceful.

Measure your strengths, I would say. And leverage on what you are good at and just make the rest work good enough to the industry standards. That I don't like to, I don't mind to resolve that 20 percent extra, that doesn't mean I'm extremely technical. Thank you. Because I am. But it's not what I leverage when I'm trying to convince someone about who I am.

And finally specialize yourself. I, my, my primarily focus is high end residential, where I exceed and allow me to move really fast on the industry is because I only do homes. Maybe you have restaurants, maybe a boutique hotel but my, my, my primary goal or what I'm really good at is doing homes.

[00:14:00] And on uni, we are taught to be this fantastic architect that knows to do master planning, knows to do a hospital, a university. Yeah. And maybe eventually I will get there in, in 50 years. But what I feel is interesting is for us creatives, what we want is to lead and to create. To do this, you have to be at the upper part of the chain, right?

You, as a junior, no one is going to allow you to really need a home. What I did is a quick assessment. What is the minimum unit for a human to habitate that I can control? This is normally homes. What is the industry that will never place boundaries on me in terms of creativity?

That's clients on high net worth individuals that they want to bring home. And how can I get there quick? I use the talents I think I have. We can argue if I really have them or not, but I think I have them, so I trust myself. So I think that's the [00:15:00] three best advices I have for everyone. Have your personal branding, leverage on the abilities and qualities that you already control and you already exceed, and specialize yourself in something that you love, because you will move faster.

Stephen Drew: Yeah very good. Now, those are all those are quite good ones. Those are quite good ones. The last question we had around here around the subject was how the results surpass mere output. So

Victor LG: we needed to talk about this.

Stephen Drew: Do you do we mean by this like going above and beyond? Is that what we're talking about here?

Victor LG: I have a very good advice to everyone on the industry, the ones that they are working, not necessarily only to creatives, to absolutely everyone. As a very famous architect said once, less is more make sure you have good quality, that this is, it's very detailed, it's just spotless, rather than doing [00:16:00] trillions of things that are half there this applies to absolutely every area, when you are talking to your boss, and when you have an idea, better have a very beautiful sketch, And to convey your ideas, so you always look tidy and organized then have five sketches that are half finished that takes me ten minutes to understand any of them, and then I wasted one hour, I made it mad at you, and I, yes, swamped you with more.

Make it easy, branch yourself the right way. And this also applies to your portfolio be don't over show if you don't have three magnificent pictures. Like when we are looking to hire someone, obviously we go through the full portfolio, we go through everything.

I rather be curious. I will never reject anyone for showing too little. Arguably, it has to be very little. So less. Learn how to leverage on what you've sown. Don't worry, if [00:17:00] we need something from you, we will ask for more, but don't put this thing that you are not confident about you, or that doesn't align with your personal brand.

This is what I wanted to cover with these questions. I think it's quite helpful.

Stephen Drew: I think so too. Great. So we've covered the questions. Now I've got you for a little bit and we're going to go with a tiny bit of script in a good way because I want to expand upon that because you mentioned when we're looking in portfolios now a lot of the listeners might be in the middle of their careers, learning.

Perhaps what would be cool is, as well as that, so less is more. I agree there's the art of redacting, but let's pretend you're looking for A perhaps a part two architectural assistant or young architect for your team. Do you have any tips in terms of the CV, the portfolio, maybe the approach? Is there anything that you think would help or stand out or anything you would have liked to have [00:18:00] known before that would help you in your job search?

Victor LG: Let's start with one that is easy, that I fail vastly. Don't have spelling mistakes. Please guys. I realized about two years in my career that I have a couple of spelling mistakes in my CV. Just try to avoid this. So double check now with ChatGPT and all of these things should be easier than I was there.

But yes, no, I have more serious. Try to understand the industry. We are normally in industry we tend to be very nice and very accommodating. You could even, if you really want to work with someone, let them know, Hey, I'm passionate about what you do. Can I go visit your studio?

Try to gather information. We have very when we are looking for someone at that level, what everyone needs to understand is we are expecting this person to solve a problem. Normally it's an output problem. Meaning, we need someone to do SketchUp, we need someone to do AutoCAD, we need someone to do Revit, [00:19:00] whatever it is.

You need to prove to your potential employer that you exceed, that you are good enough. We don't care, we don't care, and this links with my advice before. If you've designed a university, you are coming to an interior design studio, you are coming to a firm, architectural firm, that is focused on certain particular things.

Tailor your approach to us. It's very obvious when you've been in the industry for 10 years, when it's a generic CV, when it's a generic portfolio, your chances are very low. So do your research tailor your documents, if possible, try to gather from someone what our what our expectations like.

I place you an example, normally all the elevations that we give to clients in our poses are a scale of 1 to 20. If I see someone in a portfolio with elevations from 1 to 20, very nice, very organized, very detailed, they [00:20:00] have a lot of time, they have infinite time to do those perfectly well, I will be very pleased.

So try to learn from the firm that you would like to join or try to, we all have same industry standards across, try to learn what we are looking for. For example, I on a middleweight or in a part two. Architect. What we would like to see is a clean CV with no spelling mistakes. Yes, hopefully it's showcasing some previous experience, but at least for me, it's not important.

What I value the most when I hire someone on junior or middle level is the attitude. They will learn, but I want someone that is willing to smash it and is willing to really push themselves to the next milestone and to learn with us. After that, look into their portfolio. Does that align with my expectations?

Is it Revit in there? Is it SketchUp? Is it whatever it is that aligns with my firm so I can plot in this gentleman or [00:21:00] this lady and work with him in, within a month? Yes or no?

They are able to do this in a compelling, beautiful way, to me that's a given. It's part of our profession to beautify things.

The answer should be yes, right energy and the right portfolio ticking the boxes within the right points is a hundred percent acceptance rating. And I learned how to master this and my interviews are always, not always, 90, 90 percent very successful. So there is a, there is, you can learn, you can

Stephen Drew: Okay. You've, you. Okay. I've got one or two more cool questions that I think would be useful. So maybe people are inspired by, we're talking about the projects here. But as in architecture, sometimes you can get your first job and it's congratulations, you are in the practice. And then they rock up and they go, you are gonna be working on the airport team.

And then the part one's oh, okay. And where I'm going with this is sometimes we enter architecture and get. Accidentally pigeonholed [00:22:00] in sectors and perhaps maybe someone's doing hospitals and is thinking, Oh, actually my passions for hospitality, or maybe they're doing a certain kind of thing and that they want to get into private residential.

Do you have advice for people on how they can start engineering their careers into the sectors of buildings that they were passionate about, Victor?

Victor LG: It's a very fair question. I'm the live proof of that. I was doing, at the very beginning of my career, I was doing arguably master planning and mixed buildings, so nothing to do with residential. What I would say is, after all, it's a building. It's much easier to move career paths when you are young, because effectively, as I said, and it's sad, but we care more about your output rather than your creativity.

If you are able to prove that you understand how to do joinery, you understand how to do an elevation. At [00:23:00] that level, it's absolutely no problem for me to understand that you want to redirect your career. It's fair, actually. How do we know when we start? It's, I will consider so unfair that someone rejects a junior because he started doing hospitals and now he would like to do homes.

There are, all the skills are transferable, doesn't change anything. The SketchUp is the same SketchUp. The AutoCAD is the same AutoCAD. So I don't see, I don't see any problem. Arguably, if I should put some pressure on someone, the sooner the better. It's pretty difficult now for me to become, at my level, let's say as a director level on an important branch, to go and say, I want to do hospital.

Because I have no clue of the regulations.

Stephen Drew: yeah,

Victor LG: creativity is never pointless. It's not the key pillar of that. So, try. There is nothing wrong with trying. Try fast and try at the beginning because it [00:24:00] gets much harder as soon as you move up.

Stephen Drew: yeah. No, said. Very interesting and thank you for sharing that. I agree. The sooner the better. Now, especially maybe for our younger architectural apprentices listening or architects. I don't know about you, but initially, I'm sure you're ready. The idea of doing interviews when I was more younger, it was like, I'm going for a test.

Oh no, this is going to be awful. Over time, it's got easier for me now, right? And you mentioned earlier that you've learned certain techniques which make interviewing better. Perhaps now you're almost switching the roles up a bit, but when you're starting to do it, it's quite scary, isn't it? The idea of going for an interview.

Do you have any tips to offer someone earlier on that is a bit nervous about interviewing?

Victor LG: I, let me tell you my first interview. I still remember very well. I didn't speak English. My English was really bad at that time. I couldn't communicate properly, arguably, and I didn't understand anything. I memorized all the questions. I memorized all my questions like a robot. And [00:25:00] the interviewer, which is a very successful designer, realized this.

He was having fun, it was actually after all these years, his lives. He didn't care. He was asking me about one thing and I was replying, what I have memorized. Nothing to do with the answer. Oh, I'm very committed, I'm very passionate, and blah, blah, blah. He didn't care. What he saw is the right energy.

If you're at the beginning of your career, it doesn't matter much what you say. Hopefully, that relieves a lot of pressure from some people. You don't need to be as eloquent as maybe you are. We are, after 10 years of talking to people, no, there is no need for that. You just need to smile and be happy about being there and enjoy the process.

Of course, some nasty questions will come across, and there is nothing wrong when you are a junior to say, No, I really want to learn this. Do your research. You cannot say no to anything. At the interview, you will fail. But if there is a couple of things that you don't really know, but [00:26:00] you're curious, No, but hopefully when we have our next interview, I can prove to you that I know all of these.

This person is a must have. Attitude over, over stress, over, over words, over everything. The, for the less experienced you are, honestly, the easiest it is if you just prove you want to make it. So, they shouldn't be nervous. And another advice I would give is Practice makes, not protection, practice makes improvement.

Practice. Go to one interview. Go to another interview. The first one is terrible, the second one is a bit better. The third one is terrible again because the interviewer was nasty. Okay. The fifth one is good. Practice.

Stephen Drew: Yeah, I

Victor LG: Nothing to be scared of.

Stephen Drew: I think it's really good advice. I think the more you do, especially early in your career, the better, isn't it? There's no harm in meeting more people before making your first decision. So why not? Now, [00:27:00] the question that I had, the next one you touched upon earlier, AI. I weaved into our conversation at some point.

Now I know everyone goes, oh, AI. Steve's going to ask again about it, however, I've not asked someone who's in your sector. So in terms of practicing architecture, in terms of what you do, in terms of working on these projects, have you started to see artificial intelligence bleed into the day to day profession yet, Victor, or is it more little bits, or is it a lot, or not at all?

Victor LG: This is very interesting because my perception is probably different than the majority of people. So far, what Artificial Intelligence is capable to give is very interesting, quick, visual, appealing results. Quick pictures. When you analyze this picture, it has no sense. It has no sense. The architecture doesn't align with anything, the skirting, [00:28:00] there is no skirting, this is floating, this is whatever.

When you work in true luxury, what people care, one of the things that is very relevant to clients is attention to detail. How can I go to a client with a random image that doesn't have a storyline behind? Who did this? What's the purpose? Oh no, I exploded mid journey, three words and mid journey came with this.

Where is the beauty? Why that relates to me? We craft stories for people. That align that, the tool that we use is a home but there is every detail for me, it's relevant, every aspect of functionality. Architecture, sorry, Artificial Intelligence is not there yet. It's not even close, and I don't think it's never going to be.

Where I might be scared, a little bit more scary, is if it, if I was a visualizer. It's getting, and there is, it's getting closer, because I did my sketch up, and now I [00:29:00] type, color it for me, and the sketch that I normally took me 2 hours, now in 2 minutes I have 20 iterations. That's a bit scary but what is not as scary is the story behind the level of detail and everything what in my sector has to be absolutely controlled.

I work to the millimeter. My margin of error on a 3, 000 square meter property, a palace, is millimeters. No no, no worry about architectural intelligence. And then finding something with no soul, with no design, that doesn't relate to my client, it will never get approved.

Yeah, it might work for many other firms.

I think obviously it has some benefits. Now to color a plan is maybe easier, but not really, yes, at the conceptual stage because I cannot afford for something to be blurry. You don't build high ends and the best designs of the world with blurry, it doesn't work. [00:30:00] So yeah, it's a great tool to have.

I'm looking forward to see what, what in the future comes through this topic. We are actively working with architectural intelligence. We have a team that is. On the research to see how we can make this work. So far, I'm not worried. Maybe we can have a chat in five years and I tell you a different story, but let's enjoy these five years that we have.

Stephen Drew: exactly. I agree on the last question for me was we touched on upon the future. Maybe this will happen, maybe that, but what I'd like to know is what are you excited for at the moment then Victor in your world? Are you excited for certain things that you think could come? Is there anything you're looking forward to?

Maybe this year or the way things are going?

Victor LG: It's a good question. I'm really lucky. I'm excited about the present. It's, it's like this. Like I think I was, it wasn't easy to make the decision. Look at the time, I have as many other creative people, as many other architects and companions of profession. I have [00:31:00] what should I do?

I cannot make a living out of this. You can. There are ways. You just need to, you just need to differentiate yourself. If you are conceived, and allow me to say this, maybe disrespectful to some people, please don't take it like this, but if you become a monkey cat, which is someone that don't think, just do.

You will be rewarded as such.

Don't push yourself to have your own brand, to differentiate yourself you will be rewarded as the majority of our industry, which is not where I would like to see our compensation. But if you are able to differentiate yourself the sky is the limit. And what I like of this, and it comes back, it ties in with the question, is not really.

I'm just looking forward to the next project and I hope a crazy client comes with, a bold idea of a house that is floating, make it, in the middle of a pond and the reflection makes the house float and [00:32:00] it's, I'm, on that sense I'm lucky and I find the place where I am. In my career, very rewarding.

Stephen Drew: Fair enough. Good for you. It sounds exciting. You've done some great stuff. Maybe the floating boat mansion will be your magnum opus, but we will see. If there is a client out there that wants the mansion floating boat, Victor is your designer, but Victor, jokes aside, I really appreciate you sharing all that valuable input.

It's super useful. Perhaps if the listeners, whether video or audio, want to get in touch with you, how can they find you online to say hello?

Victor LG: It's a good question. I would advise to follow me on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the only platform I use. I try not to disrupt my creativity with social media or anything else. Guys, if you type for Victor Lorenzo you should find me easily.

Stephen Drew: Excellent. All right. Fantastic. On that note, thank you [00:33:00] so much, Victor, for sharing all that stuff. Stay on the stage one second longer while I say thank you in the audience for joining us. I hope you thought this was useful. If you are thinking about going into high end residential or working in hospitality, then hopefully these lessons will be useful to you and there's lots of takeaways, but I do agree with Victor that I believe that the longer you leave that desire to go into that sector, further in your career.

The worst. So jump on it now. What's the worst that can happen? It's better to try than to regret, I think. But thank you so much. I'm going to end the live stream now. More content coming soon. Have a lovely day, everyone, where you are, and see you soon. Take care. Bye bye.

Victor LG: Thank you, everyone.