It was certainly a year to remember for Saul Design founder and managing director Anne-Marie Saul-Rotne, who was shortlisted as Designer of the Year at the 2022 Irish Construction Industry Awards. This followed on from the practice’s fantastic achievement of receiving an RIAI commendation for their fit out project at the St. Clare’s Amenity Space in Harold’s Cross.
Located in Booterstown, South County Dublin, Saul Design is a vibrant, client-focused architectural and interior design firm that works in close collaboration with clients and multidisciplinary design teams to deliver fresh and innovative projects in the hospitality, commercial and residential sectors.
Creating spaces that are unique to each client, their particular needs and functional requirements, are Saul Design’s goal on each project. The practice’s aim is to exceed expectations through innovative design solutions and a collaborative approach.
Established in 2018 by Anne-Marie Saul-Rotne, Saul Design is a young practice with a steely resolve to ensure that all projects deliver design, creativity and innovation. As a specialist architecture and design practice developing concept-led architectural and interiors projects in the commercial, hospitality, retail and residential sectors, the team at Saul Design is extremely ambitious.
Their creative journey on a project is rooted in solid analysis and concept development. This allows them to invariably think big and be brave. They are not fad focused and always design to endure, their primary objective being to deliver innovative, cutting-edge design solutions that are unique to each client.
“Our approach to design is very concept-led,” Anne-Marie reveals. “We endeavour to identify a concept that is unique to the client and we strive to integrate that into our whole approach so that we end up with a concept-led design style that flows through the entire project from start to finish, right down to the door handles.
“The starting point is to find that singular concept that is unique to the client. For me, this is critical as it leads to a final design that is unique and less generic than it otherwise might be.”
As for her remarkable achievement of being shortlisted for the prestigious Designer of the Year accolade at the 2022 Irish Construction Industry Awards – just four years after the genesis of Saul Design! – Anne-Marie adds: “It’s always nice to have your work recognised by your peers and exposed to the industry. It’s good for us, our clients and all the stakeholders involved in the projects. While awards and award nominations only provide a snapshot of what you are doing, it’s great to get that exposure.
“It’s good from a networking perspective, too, as you get to see other quality projects and you can learn from that. It’s a nice validation and it is good for the morale of our team and also reassuring for existing clients and new clients alike.”
Anne-Marie qualified from the School of Architecture of University College Dublin in 2002 and University of Westminster in 2004. She is a member of RIAI (Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland) and the British ARB (Architects Registration Board).
After graduating from UCD, Anne-Marie left Ireland to work internationally for 15 years. With Foster+Partners in London, she worked on 51 Lime Street, a 28-storey office building in London’s financial district. In Copenhagen, she was Competitions Group Leader with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. In 2012, Anne-Marie joined Henry J Lyons Architects, with whom she worked extensively on the RCSI’s new clinical healthcare education building on York Street in Dublin and the Central Bank’s Headquarters on North Wall Quay.
In 2018, Anne-Marie founded Saul Design, a specialist design practice for concept-led architectural and interiors projects in the commercial sector. The objective in setting up the practice was to have an opportunity to work on projects where design was the central driver. Through experience and constant awareness of global trends, the practice aims to deliver cutting-edge design solutions along with a structured management approach.
This year, Saul Design expanded in size and office space in response to a marked increase in their client base. This has been a very exciting development for the practice both from a personnel perspective but also from a skills and expertise perspective.
Since 2019, Saul Design have actively sought to expand into other sectors. They are very proud of the fact that in 2022 they collaborated on projects in the commercial residential, hospitality, office commercial, retail and private residential sectors. An effective marketing strategy to reach out to clients in diverse sectors in order to diversify the client base has led to an increased workload as well as more variation in project types.
The PRS sector is an area that Anne-Marie deliberately sought to work in. As a result, since 2020, the practice has been involved in multiple PRS amenity spaces and PRS apartment fit out schemes, and furniture and procurement. This has been a very successful business area for Saul Design and based on current housebuilding forecasts it is one that the practice will continue to grow and use their expertise to develop in.
Anne-Marie has worked extensively in the commercial office sector working with large global organisations. She understood from the outset that working with a multinational organisation throughout Covid and beyond would require a major commitment and attention to detail. She prioritised developing client relationships and effective management of design and concept processes to ensure that the collaboration with the company was as effective and successful as possible.
Collaboration is a key aspect of how Saul Design work. They enjoy close relationships with other architects, contractors, subcontractors and project managers as well as close collaboration with clients. On Indeed’s St Stephen’s Green project, alongside Studio 3 Architects, this approach resulted in a final outcome that exceeded all expectations. Anne-Marie’s understanding of the design and branding standards of this global company was essential to delivering a project would exceed the expectations of the client.
Working closely with the client to know and understand how Indeed works, both in the work environment and in the break-out environment, Anne-Marie’s ‘Park Life’ concept for Indeed’s 1,500 sq m renovation of part of their St. Stephen’s Green building was to try and draw the adjacent green deeper into the building and to use this to drive the interior design concept.
It was envisioned that the sense of the park coming inside would promote wellbeing and reinforce the feeling of proximity for staff to one of Dublin’s most iconic public spaces. The ‘Park Life’ concept became the catalyst for the selection of all the finishes including flooring, colour scheme and furniture, all of which had an outdoor feel to them.
Another innovative area that Anne-Marie has been working with Indeed is Future Office Design and how modular construction could play a role in this. Anne-Marie has also been involved in the design and procurement of pilot modular furniture & spaces. This has been a very exciting process, not least for Indeed but also for Anne-Marie and Saul Design as a practice, seeing the sustainable potential inherent in the modular design.
SaulDesign have also been involved in a Accessibility initiative, which saw the practice, in conjunction with OHAC Accessibility Consultants, spearheading a global accessibility initiative that would see universal design principles being incorporated into their clients’ new & existing offices worldwide including London, Dublin, Sydney, Singapore and Amsterdam.
For the aforementioned repurposing of St Clare’s Convent in Harold’s Cross as an amenity space for a new community of residents, which was Highly Commended at the annual RIAI Awards, the renovated space functions as a modern hub for the residents of the development. Tenants can access a concierge service from this space as well as a barista area, a shared working area, a lounge area, a multi-purpose media room and a gym.
Saul Design worked with the Vardis Group to fit out the apartments of the St. Clare’s development. They developed detailed design concepts for the apartment fit out, analysis of apartment typologies and the final selection of furniture, streamlining the entire coordination of the apartment furniture scheduling and sizing in preparation for final procurement. In conjunction with the Vardis Group, they also coordinated the furniture order with the fit-out contractor and furniture supplier. At install stage, they prepared detailed install plans and managed staging and final inspections.
One of the greatest challenges presented on many projects over the past two years was Covid stoppages, project timeline extensions, material shortages and delays. Anne-Marie had to deal with these challenges in different ways but passed these unprecedented tests with tremendous flexibility and fortitude.
For example, she had to work very closely with contractors and subcontractors to find alternatives to construction strategies or selected materials. This would lead to longer design periods, which were unexpected and often needed coordination with others.
Significantly extended construction programmes had a big impact on projects from a resourcing and budget perspective, but also from a project knowledge perspective. Managing RFIs that were associated with a site that had been closed for over half a year was very challenging and she had to prepare for this as a team.
Sights fixed firmly on the future, Saul Design have also significantly expanded their software in recent times. Despite their relatively modest size, they have big ambitions and often work on large projects with large design teams. To this end, they have invested in Revit for all staff members as they are determined to ensure that their technical skill base meets the standards required to be able to participate on multidisciplinary teams and contribute to the coordinating information.
Software, the accompanying hardware and the training that goes hand in hand with this, represented a significant expense and investment for the company. However, Anne-Marie believes it to be vital to Saul Design’s competitive advantage and their ability to be able to work effectively and collaboratively on projects of all shapes and sizes.
Saul Design,
4A Seafield Park,
Dublin.
Tel: 087 2597899
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.sauldesign.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, February 2023, Vol 9 No 2
