The Society, an interiors-led hospitality design collective, has named Sandy Lu as its new Design Director. Lu takes the reins as the studio marks 10 years of creating story-driven and thought-provoking design and sets its sights on the next decade…
Lu will shape The Society’s creative direction and guide its vision across boutique and lifestyle hotels. She will mentor the design team and champion a studio culture built on collaboration and growth. Her priorities include deepening relationships with operators, ownership groups, and hotel brands, while expanding the studio’s work into higher-tier lifestyle projects, food and beverage, and branded residences.
“Sandy brings exactly what we are looking for: deep hospitality experience, a design instinct that fits everything The Society stands for, and a real commitment to the people she works with,” said Alissa Brandt, Vice President of Interior Design. “As we celebrate 10 years and look ahead to the next chapter, she is the right kind of leader who will help us build on what we’ve accomplished and take the studio even further.”
With more than 20 years in hospitality design, Lu brings experience across hotel and lifestyle interiors throughout North America, including work with brands such as Autograph and Le Méridien. Her career has taught her how to bring together the priorities of ownership, operators, brands, and design teams, while showing her how a strong interior design narrative can shape a property’s identity. She approaches each project by establishing a story at the outset and carrying it through every decision to the finished project. That same approach will inform her work at The Society.
“I’m thrilled to step into this role at such a meaningful moment for the studio,” said Lu. “The Society’s portfolio reflects a design philosophy I’ve held my whole career, which is that great hospitality design is about listening first. To the location, the operator, the guest. The result should feel like it belongs exactly where it is, and nowhere else. I’m excited to build on that foundation as the studio enters its next decade.”
As she assumes the role, Lu is also focused on strengthening how The Society presents its capabilities to prospective clients and developers, while continuing to build a collaborative studio culture centered on mentorship and connection. She sees those relationships, both within the studio and across the hospitality industry, as an important part of the studio’s evolution in its next decade.
Lu joins The Society from CHIL Interior Design, where she served as Hospitality Design Director for 10 years, overseeing design strategy and project leadership. Earlier in her career, she worked at Wimberly Interiors in Los Angeles after beginning her hospitality design career in Vancouver, B.C.
Main image credit: The Society
