We are delighted to welcome back Steve Barnes, who joins the UK Team as a Design Director. Steve is a familiar face in Benoy, having worked in the Hong Kong Studio for over four years, leading its Interior Design offering.
With over thirty years in the interior design industry, Steve’s experience covers work in the retail, hospitality, airport, corporate and residential sectors. As a specialist across all retail typologies, design and branding, he has led the design and implementation of many high-profile shopping malls, high street stores, department stores and retail rollouts in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
Whilst in Hong Kong, Steve was instrumental in the design and delivery of many projects including CRL Kunming MixC, which opened earlier this year; the award-winning Seazen Suzhou Wuyue Plaza (previously known as Futureland Suzhou); and Xintian 360 Plaza, Kangqiao.
Commenting on his appointment, Tom Cartledge, CEO said: “Steve is an outstanding designer and when the opportunity arose to bring him back into the business, we were more than happy to do so. His experience in Asia brings different insights to our work in the UK offices, which will be to the benefit of our clients, the development of technical teams and internal design reviews. We continue to see demand for our data-driven design expertise, which brings together Benoy and its sister business, Pragma, who are the experts in commercial space planning. Together they are delivering a seamless, integrated offer which is now further strengthened with Steve’s appointment.
“Our Interior Design offering has grown significantly and we now have more than 120 interiors staff working globally on projects of significance from sports hospitality for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 to the retail and entertainment giant American Dream in the USA. This is an exciting time for Steve to rejoin and help us continue to build and deliver an exceptional portfolio of work in the UK, Europe, India and the Middle East.”
Based in the Newark, Nottinghamshire studio, Steve will utilise his customer experience design skills to support the team across various projects and grow the portfolio of work.
“I have very fond memories of my time in Hong Kong so it’s fantastic to be back with Benoy. The interior design sector has changed dramatically over the last few years, with an even greater focus on customer experience and sustainable, eco-friendly designs. I can’t wait to get stuck in!”, added Steve about his rejoining the business.
