CREATIVE UNITY

How a lasting friendship and a passion for hospitality design serve as the fi rm foundations for interdisciplinary practice AvroKO

- HONG XINYING

Before it became a multinational firm, AvroKO started as a creative collaboration between friends. Co-founders Greg Bradshaw, Adam Farmerie, William Harris and Kristina O’Neal met during their undergraduate years at Carnegie Mellon University. “We would pop into each other’s studios and critique our self-propelled projects; this was the beginning of realising that we love to work together,” recalls Harris.

After branching out to pursue their individual careers, the group reunited in New York for an interdisciplinary project; its success propelled the inception of AvroKO in 2001. The firm’s name is a portmanteau of their respective studios: Avro Design, which was founded by Bradshaw and Farmerie, and KO, a practice led by O’Neal and Harris. The firm now has offices in New York, San Francisco, London and Bangkok, and has also launched a branding arm, restaurant and bar group as well as a furniture and lighting design company. Harris, who helms the regional projects from the Bangkok office, looks back at the studio’s early years and its milestones.

What’s the starting point of any project?