ABOUT US
Doug Washington Design is a full-service hospitality design firm specializing in the development of provocative, yet approachable, restaurants, hotels and retail spaces. We are a small, passionate core team working with a broader community of gifted designers, architects, aesthetes, and builders who aptly guide clients through every stage of a project in order to allow a space and vision to become fully realized.
PHILOSOPHY
Doug Washington Design is driven by our love for what we do. Our purpose and passion is to help our clients tell a story — whether through environment, experience or interaction. We believe that how a space makes you feel is more important than the collective sum of its parts. At Doug Washington Design, we focus on three entities: the client we partner with, the guests who will be inhabiting the space and the team who will be working in the space. We evaluate our success by how well we have satisfied the needs of all of these parties equally.
PROCESS
We help our clients see what is possible. This means spending a lot of time initially sitting quietly in buildings, getting to know them, studying the neighborhood around them and then getting to know the people who will inhabit them. We talk to our clients at length to learn about what they want and why they want it. We then tap into our pool of artists, builders, chefs, artisans and visionaries to hone our client’s vision, and ultimately create designs that add dimension to peoples’ lives. We appreciate that there are clients who want a very collaborative approach every step of the way, while others would like to simply tell us their vision, their budget and their timeline - and have us come back to them with a complete concept and design all the way down to the uniforms, the room keys and the music program. Either way, we view ourselves as an advocate and a partner to everyone we have the honor to work with.
CORE TEAM
Doug Washington
Doug is the creative force behind the Doug Washington Design team, with over 30 years of design and operational experience in the hospitality industry. Doug's foray into design began with the design of the first restaurant he owned together with his partner-chefs 15 years ago. The experience of designing a space for clients whose concerns he could not understand more implicitly launched his design career. He draws on his intimate understanding of the way in which spaces work and are inhabited by the people who move through them. Doug’s experience gained through previously owning and/or operating some of the most renowned restaurants in the Bay Area, helps him to understand the ideal intersection between form, function and finance. Washington believes that creating restaurants and hotels with an overarching sense of spirit, soul and generosity is the most important aspect of what Doug Washington Design does.
Daria Nikolaeva
Daria is dedicated to creating healthy, sustainable, energy-efficient, inspiring and functional surroundings to celebrate the intimate connection between people, nature and the built environment. She recently graduated from the MS Environmental Management program at the University of San Francisco with a concentration in Energy and Climate. With this knowledge, Daria monitors the company's practices to stay on track with California's sustainability goals and the planet's health. Additionally, she became a WELL Accredited Professional to put into practice the WELL Building Standard ideas to advance human health and wellness in buildings and communities. Daria holds a Master's degree in Architecture from the St.Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, Sculpture, and Architecture, Russia. She has 15 years of experience in commercial and residential architectural design in Russia and California and an internship in France. Besides, Daria worked for 5 years creating film and TV sets, which influenced her understanding of architectural design as a powerful and dramatic art of storytelling through space. Originally from St.Petersburg, Russia, with her extensive travel experience throughout the world, she brings a broad perspective and understanding of the deeper relationship between location and its local spirit and culture.
Her hobby is dancing, where teaching, performing and creating choreography help explore the art of communication with people, space, and the laws of physics.
Steven Eckler
In his role as creative associate at Doug Washington Design, Steven Eckler brings over thirty years of hospitality and design experience to the table. After studying philosophy and art history at Columbia University, Eckler’s love of wine and food took him to Northern California, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, where he opened and operated locations for famed restaurateurs Jeremiah Tower and Wolfgang Puck. At the invite of Danny Meyer, he moved back to New York to open Eleven Madison Park in 1999. In 2003 he partnered in opening Lever House Restaurant, working alongside renowned contemporary designer Marc Newson. In 2012, he pivoted into the co-working sphere as a partner in NeueHouse, the chic and influential workspace company. Steven worked alongside the design team at David Rockwell, and the original NeueHouse was an instant success. Most recently Eckler teamed with Lori Chemla in the creation of Carissa’s in East Hampton, NY. The project was singled out by the James Beard Foundation as a Best New Design winner in 2020. When not working on operating & designing in the hospitality sphere, Steven is an avid art collector and donator. He and his wife, Laura, live in Greenwich Village, NYC.
Anne L’Esperance
Anne possesses the rare combination of a gifted creative design mind while also being incredibly detailed and organized. Anne studied architecture at Portland State University. After working for multiple architects in the Seattle area she partnered with the founder of The Lightning Bar Collective to design Villa Royale Hotel in Palm Springs, and subsequently designed Azure Sky Hotel in Palm Springs as well as many other hotels and restaurants throughout the Western U.S. She is the Founder and Creative Director of her own, An Ellipsis Design. We are honored to collaborate with Anne on a myriad of different projects. When not working, you can find her dancing, doing yoga, spending time with her dogs, relaxing outdoors, driving the open road, and seeking out the sea.
