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DESIGNER FILE


Ben Webb is managing director of hospitality design agency 3Stories, co-founded in 2017 with Jordan Littler. Below, he sets out ten things he’s learnt in his career so far


WORDS BY PAMELA BUXTON


1 I absolutely love designing hospitality spaces – everything from an independent cafe to a hotel


Loving the industry you’re working in is vital. Hospitality is fun – we’re creating spaces that people can enjoy and have a great time in – and it’s the area of design I’ve always been drawn too. What could be more rewarding than creating a positive outcome for the guest or user? And, the projects end up being completely diff erent every time. We’ve just fi nished creating a new brand and interior for Roast in Borough Market, and it’s so satisfying to see the diff erence it’s made for the client and their guests.


After studying at Kingston I started out at Blacksheep, where I was thrown into the deep end to work on restaurants, bars and hotels at


a time when there were a lot of chains, and casual dining was dominating the market. I left to pursue my passion as a photographer for a while, but missed the design so much I found my way back, working with architect Andy Martin to launch his commercial design arm, Superfutures, before forming 3Stories.


3Stories MD Ben Webb


2 Setting up 3Stories was the life-changer I’d met Jordan [Littler, co-founder] some years earlier when we were both working together. We decided to put our skill sets together and see if we could do something for ourselves. We reasoned that if it all failed, we could always go and work for someone else. T at was six and a half years ago, and there are now 12 of us. We called the company 3Stories because we wanted to create a memorable brand rather than make the business about us as individuals. 3Stories is the mantra of our process – think, make and create.


3 Combining branding and interior design creates a stronger narrative


We’re branding designers as well as interior designers – we need to be both to ensure we stay relevant in such a competitive industry. We think of ourselves as a creative agency with a mixed skill set – as well as interior designers, we have brand strategists, copywriters and art workers.


Our clients are generally looking for both interiors and brand design, and if they aren’t, we sometimes have to help them identify the need to defi ne the brand strategy before embarking on the design.


Left Le Petit BeefBar Edinburgh, within The George hotel, was conceived as part of the hotel’s overall refurbishment


Right top The Mövenpick bedroom enhances the guest experience while prioritising comfort


Right bottom A bedroom at Hotel Indigo, Clerkenwell


On average, we’re working on fi ve to eight projects at any one time, and there’s always a crossover from brands to interiors. For Pullman, traditionally seen as a business hotel with 150 locations around the world, we’re transforming both the brand and interiors to cater for a new type of guest. T is involves defi ning the new target market, and creating the right type of environment to make those


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