TEXAS HEART
LLW Architects
Inner-city revitalization and preservation planning are at the heart of this Texas-based firm, which focuses on the preservation and enhancement of significant and unique structures.
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Volume I Spring 2011 $24.95 USD $26.30 CAN
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Titans Service of
Memphis-based architectural firm LLW Architects, Inc. integrates new-school business strategies with top-notch customer services, making LLW a standout hospitality architectural firm for over 20 years. by Marylyn Simpson
Keeping up with the highest of industry standards and providing superb customer service to it’s clients has become this architectural firm’s calling card for almost two decades. Since 1993, LLW has focused their business efforts on hospitality architecture, a rapidly expanding field within the architectural industry. Paul E. Lague, founding partner of LLW Architects, Inc., started out his architectural career in the hospitality industry 28 years ago. He and then co-worker and co-founder, Dell Livingston, decided to combine their knowledge and skill levels, along with their numerous connections within the industry, to establish their own hospitality architectural firm. While there is no denying the intense competition in their field, Lague says that what truly sets them apart from their architect contemporaries is LLW’s commitment to their clients by providing them with the highest quality in the industry along with personal customer service. “There are a lot of hotel architects out there who do what we do all day long. It’s not rocket science, but here’s what separates us from the other architectural firms. We provide a level of service to our clients that we believe goes far beyond what other architects do in the industry,” Lague said. “We strive for quality drawings and we strive for customer satisfaction. Whether it’s a phone call, a question that they have, or a problem that needs to be resolved, we strive for instantaneous response time to their needs. Ultimately we know that customer satisfaction is really what it’s all about.” As a hospitality architectural firm, Livingston and Lague know that their business is not about offering a product, or a specific tangible item that their customer can procure to set them a part from their competition. Their top-notch level of customer service and business-to-client communication are what have built the firm’s world class reputation and made it what it is today: a go-to firm within their field.
THIS SPREAD: Hampton Inn and Suites on Beale Street, Memphis, Tenn. Bordering the legendary blues alley, this hotel has plenty of views of Downtown. The ground level has retail that ties the hotel to the local community. The lobby and breakfast area features dark woods and comfortable chairs.
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Knowing the wants and needs of both clients and travelers is the first step to maintaining successful client relationships. From the overall attractiveness of a building to the shower’s water pressure, Lague creates a useful and efficient hotel so that travelers will choose these hotels over the next. “You’ve got to design with the hotel customer in mind,” said Lague. “You’ve got to know that there’s a wide variety of hotels out there for everyone to choose from. So our goal is to provide a product beyond the standard basics that you find at a hotel. It’s got to feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. It’s not just having hot water for a shower anymore, you’ve got to be able to provide all the amenities that the most sophisticated travelers expects.” Another equally important element, in addition to providing superior customer service THIS PAGE: Hampton Inn and Suites, Mobile, Ala. Use of traditional materials, stucco, wrought iron, and brick in a transitional design helps tie this property to the downtown environment. Balconies are prevalent on two streets which are on the Mardi Gras parade route. OPPOSITE PAGE: Homewood Suites, Daphne, Ala. A small site, adjacent streams and wetlands forced the design to a more urban and compact footprint. Grouping windows and minimizing floor transitions allows for this seven story T- shaped building to fit better into its environment without being over powering. Following hotel franchise requirements for a gabled lodge was challenging with a compact vertical design. The two-story breakfast area, with three different lighting levels, makes guests feel like they’re in their own home.
and top of the line hotels, is keeping at front of mind the technological advances in the industry. Lague and his team are always in search of the latest technological advances. He explains that the firm’s cutting-edge technology is pivotal in allowing LLW to stay one step ahead of the competition. “We know that the hotel developer is more sophisticated today than they were ten years ago,” he said. “They’re demanding a quality product. They’re assuming that we’re going to be using the most current and up to date materials, design methods, and information technology that we can put our hands on and incorporate those aspects into the drawings so that they’ve got the latest products in the industry. With today’s technology we’ve got to stay on top of all the advances made in our technological world to keep an edge on the
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traveling public and give them what they want.” Currently, LLW’s clientele base reads like a Who’s Who of internationally recognized hotel chains. From Hilton Worldwide to Starwood Hotels and Resorts, LLW has extensive experience and an award winning background in providing the best architectural designs. Boasting unique interpretations of chain hotels, LLW incorporates their own unique brand of design into each building. Whether it’s fusing the exterior of the building with it’s urban surrounds like with the Hampton Inn and Suites in Mobile, Ala., or creating a highly energetic lobby that illuminates the hotel’s interior, drawing attention to the architectural detail of the hotel like in the Hilton Garden Inn in Portsmouth, N.H., LLW prides themselves in their ability to bal-
ance a sense of creativity and individuality with each hotel, while satisfying the brand’s prototypical requirements and regulations of each hotel chain. Having built hotels throughout the United States, as well as the Caribbean and Mexico, LLW shows no signs of slowing down. They are anticipating the opening of their latest project, Hilton Garden Inn in Tuxtla, Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico in Spring 2011. Modern with a sophisticated urban feel, the hotel compliments the design of the adjacent Convention Center and restaurant which is part of a $40 million new development. While North America has been LLW’s bread and butter, as Lague puts it, they hope to invade the Asian and South American markets, expanding their international reach.
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“We’re still all about North America because that’s our bread and butter but we know the North American market is slow and we’ve got to move into some other areas just to stay ahead of the pack,” said Lague. Thanks to the current economic climate, the North American market has provided LLW a new set of challenges to overcome. From the plummeting construction industry to the slowed down services industry, LLW reassessed their priorities and returned to their roots, remembering that in the end, it’s all about the personal and professional customer service a client receives that can make or break a firm. Taking an aggressive approach to staying afloat during the recession, LLW strives to give their clients more for their money by providing additional complimentary services
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that they would have normally charged for in order to give themselves an edge against their competition. Their aggressive strategies seem to have proven successful, helping them to weather the economic storm and according to Lague, “has allowed our firm to continue to be in business because we know we have a quality product to provide and we’ve got a list of clientele that is dedicated as much to us as we are to them.” As an established architecture firm, LLW provides the best services to their clients. Measuring LLW’s success by the reputation the firm has cultivated in the last two decades, Lague credits the firm’s expansion not to advertising, but to old-fashioned, word-of-mouth strategies such as referrals and repeat clients. “When we get the word-of-mouth referrals, it means a lot and our reputation continues to prevail from each of those referrals,” Lague said. “Without our good reputation we’re not much. Our reputation means everything. We continue to strive to give our clients the best service we can and we’re only as good as the last project that we completed. Every time we start a new job, we think about what aspects of the previous hotel design we can improve on to satisfy our clients even more. For us, it’s all about customer service. That’s really what we are.” ALT THIS SPREAD: Hilton Garden Inn, Portsmouth, N.H. Located in the heart of historic downtown. Use of classic brick and stone with a modern interpretation. Large storefront windows at the main level are inviting. Lobby bar and lounge has large storefront windows overlooking the streets. Even though the indoor pool and spa is located in the basement level, there is plenty of light and interest. All photos courtesy of LLW Architects.
PRIDE CONSTRUCTION Pride Construction was the general contractor on the 123-room Hampton Inn and Suites at Corolla, N.C. The project was designed by Paul LaGue of LLW Architects and consisted of a three-story concrete block and precast plank structure with EIFS and Hardiplank exterior walls, totaling 94,000 sq. ft. and a cost of $8.8 million. Located on the remote Outer Banks of North Carolina, there was no available local workforce so all labor had to be imported. Throughout the 12-month construction time, it was evident that Paul Lague had extensive hotel construction experience. LLW Architects have continued to be an important player in the hotel architectural marketplace and Pride Construction continues to enjoy their great relationship with this quality firm. For more information please visit www.prideconst. com or call 901-854-8683.
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