University Club Renovation
Hota Design Studio was recently contracted out to do a renovation to the University Club which is located on the 27th floor of the Riverplace Tower Building. The renovation included the addition of several offices, two “touchdown” meeting rooms and the bar. During the renovation, Hota Design was able to reuse existing wood trim, wood panels, glass doors and sidelights in the reconfiguration. Here is a sneak peek of some of the new gathering and meeting spaces that were created. Next for these spaces will be artwork! Check back soon for images of the new bar.
JU Marine Science Research Institute Complete
Second to last…..This past year I will have put to rest the very last projects ever conceived at my previous firm. To me these projects are bitter sweet. In a sense, they offered me the ability to hold on to the memories of my former employer all the while serving as a catapult into my new venture.
After many years of fundraising and an extensive design process, Jacksonville University completed its [intlink id=”138″ type=”post”]Marine Science Research Institute[/intlink] in late 2010. Located on the banks of the St. Johns River, this 30,000 square foot building serves as a hub for many groups directly involved with the research and care of our precious St. John’s River.
With the owner’s vision of creating a sustainable building, the goal of the design team was to achieve LEED Silver certification. However, due to the team’s insatiable desire for environmentally responsible design, the JU MSRI building was given [intlink id=”15″ type=”category”]LEED Gold certification[/intlink].
Welcome to Hota Design Studio
Well it’s about time. Yes, it has been a long time coming, but we wanted to make sure we would survive our first year on our own before investing in our website. We never thought it would take so much effort to get this thing going but luckily we were able to enlist the services of a very talented agency, Brown Dog Creative. They were able to pin us down and help us focus on the necessary evils to keep this thing moving forward. It hasn’t been easy. There have been many times our efforts gave way to billable work; prolonging our launch date. Nonetheless, we have launched the website and couldn’t be more excited.
Now for those of you, who aren’t familiar with us, let us introduce ourselves. Hota Design is a collaborative Interior Design Studio established in 2010 by partners [intlink id=”276″ type=”page”]John Perez and Jose Cardenas[/intlink]. Both of us are Registered Interior Designers with a combined experience of over 20 years in both residential and commercial design. We are both products of the College of Architecture at the University of Florida with a Major in Interior Design and have spent many years working together within their previous Architectural Firm.
Throughout his professional career, John has specialized in many project types including Medical Office Buildings, Tenant Improvement, Government and Military, Hospitality and Corporate interior design. John is not only a professional member of the International Interior Design Association but is the current President of the North Florida Chapter.
Jose has experienced projects ranging from residential to religious facilities to restaurants and higher education including two [intlink id=”15″ type=”category”]LEED Gold[/intlink] buildings. He is a professional member of both the International Interior Design Association and the American Society of Interior Designers.
The goal of our studio is to return to our grass roots efforts and processes of design; to incorporate our clients within our design process through close interaction; to put the pencil in their hand and allow their participation to become the catalyst for our collaboration. With this, we hope to reinterpret our client’s vision with meaningful, effective design solutions only to be measured by the success of their built environment.