Contract Magazine - October 2019 - 69

Location San Francisco

Founded 2018

After starting a solo firm in
2013, as a one-woman show
designing residential and
restaurants, Hannah Collins
changed her company name to
ROY in 2018, which she now
owns with her sister, Emily
Collins (right). The firm does
mostly hospitality projects in
the San Francisco area,
including: Media Noche
(opposite page, top left),
Flores (opposite page, top
right), Sam's Anchor Cafe
(opposite page, bottom),
Magnolia (this page, top left)
and Elda (this page, top right).
All images courtesy ROY.

Hannah Collins started her company, Hannah Collins Designs in 2013, as a
one-woman show designing residential and restaurant projects. Last year, she
changed the company name to ROY, which she now owns with her sister Emily
Collins. Both sisters grew up in the restaurant business and worked in restaurants
throughout their college years and beyond. Their infatuation with hospitality and
the industry has led them to focus their seven-person business on designing
spaces that are conceptually strong and fun to be in. When it comes to designing
hospitality interiors, Hannah Collins sums up her design philosophy as a belief that
gathering and sharing a meal is a fundamental part of being human and a catalyst
for positive change in how we live and thrive in our communities. "We believe that
when design and concept are in harmony, they create a memorable experience

Typologies

bigger than the sum of their parts," she says. "We believe when form
and function align to create a strong concept, we can create spaces that are
emotionally irresistible."
ROY designed the Elda cocktail bar in San Francisco, for example, with
a warm mix of tropical wood tones, lightly textured cementitious plaster walls
inspired by Mexican adobe style architecture, and plenty of leafy plants. Brightly
colored pendants and stools bring in a playful, relaxed sensibility with an end result
that has evokes the look, feel, and vibe of 1970s Baja vibe yet contemporary
and rooted in the present.
For Sam's Anchor Café, located in Marin County, California, ROY was
charged with updating the nearly 100-year-old business-and local landmark-
located right on the water, and with great views. With a layered nautical color
palette of navy blues, off-white creams and warm wood tones. the space feels
completely connected to the boating culture of the Bay Area. ROY added vintage
pendant lighting, exposed the original redwood ceiling, and installed a floor-toceiling sliding glass door that opens onto the deck. They also worked with Galanter
& Jones to design an 80-foot heated wrap-around bench seat to the deck to extend
the use of the outdoor space in the cool evenings. The sensitive design refresh
has made sure that this space will continue to be enjoyed for years to come.
It's no surprise that being based in San Francisco, the overhead and cost
of running a business can be a challenge. "The city doesn't make it easy to own
and operate a restaurant or to open one," says Collins, explaining that with
frequently changing codes, the rules are constantly viewed differently and creating
barriers to entry. On top of that, "there is a lot of construction happening
in San Francisco, so everything is expensive to build," she says. "We try to really
help clients navigate all those challenges to get the most bang for their buck.
When we work on projects outside the Bay Area those challenges tend to be easier
to get through."
Regardless of locale, the studio always strives to design in elements
that feel memorable and work well with the larger brand as a whole. "I tend to use
a lot of high contrast in our designs and often approach with a design philosophy
that less is more," says Collins, "but above anything else, I think our approach
to really telling a story and digging into the concept to inspire design decisions
is the most important part of what we do."

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Contract Magazine - October 2019

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