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PAGE 152

A GULF COAST SHOWHOUSE


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MAY 2008 IDEAS AND CONCEPTS
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DESIGN SECRETS
Installation_B&G 4/7/08 5:58 PM Page 104

For the most part, two design heads


are always better than one. And
Brett Sugerman and Giselle Loor,
who head up the boutique firm
B+G in Hollywood, are living proof
of that. He’s the offspring of Florida
design royalty, architect Barry
Sugerman and late interior designer
Penny Sugerman. She’s a tastemak-
er through and through who has
been in the industry since 1995. Both
have been part of South Florida’s
design community for more than a
decade as heads of their own
studios, but it was Home of Fine
Decorators (now Fine Design) that
brought them together for the first
time in 2001. Years later, after team-
ing up for numerous projects for Fine,
they decided to take a chance with
their own firm in 2006 and opened
B+G to focus on high-end residential
work and executive class commer-
cial projects. Just seven months
ago they took another plunge and
got married.
“We certainly mean it when we
say relationship is a key word at our
firm,” says Sugerman. “Not only are
Giselle and I a couple, but our firm is
like a small family, and every project

Cool Warmth
is a team effort.”
That approach has served B+G
well. In just over a year and a half, the
firm has amassed an impressive
portfolio of projects in Florida,
California, North Carolina and
Colorado. One such recent case is Sophistication and texture take over in a
the California home of a developer
with whom Sugerman and Loor had
Los Angeles pied-à-terre
previously collaborated (both for his
business and personal properties).  DESIGN BY BRETT SUGERMAN & GISELLE LOOR
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERHARD PFEIFFER TEXT BY LUIS R. RIGUAL
Right: In the dining room, a Macassar
ebony table is topped with an ebonized
branch sculpture from JF Chen. On the
left, a selection of the homeowner’s signif-
icant art collection, which Sugerman and
Loor helped to add on to during the
design process. Above: Giselle Loor and
Brett Sugerman.

104 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE | MAY 2008


Installation_B&G 4/7/08 5:58 PM Page 105

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE | MAY 2008 105


Installation_B&G 4/7/08 5:59 PM Page 106

“Our approach was to treat the interior envelope as a sculpture.” — Brett Sugerman
Installation_B&G 4/7/08 5:59 PM Page 107

The residence, a 6,000-square-foot California Mediterranean in the tony


enclave of Westwood in Los Angeles, seemed tailor made for B+G’s brand
of cozy, cool and contemporary.
Sugerman and Loor, along with Janet Patterson, were involved from
the get-go, which allowed them to make important
decisions about space planning, lighting design
and material selection with the project architect,
Amy Shock. That collaboration proved crucial in
the end as it gave the designers the leeway they
needed to fully execute their vision, an esthetic dic-
tated by the homeowner’s personality and his love
of art and sculpture.
“We wanted it to be contemporary but not
cold,” says Loor. “Nothing austere, but inviting. A
balance, really.”
Setting the tone for warmth is the palette that
permeates the residence — various tones of cream
and soft yellow that seem to glow ethereally — and
the dark walnut slabs used for flooring. The home-
owner insisted the design esthetic not betray the
house’s distinctly Mediterranean style and that
there be continuity in terms of palette, materials
and finishes inside and out. Sugerman and Loor
created an interior punctuated by surprises in the
form of architectural detailing. The living room is a
perfect example. Here, the wow factor comes from
an elevated fireplace reconfigured to read like an
installation without a traditional mantle, but rather a
series of overlapping planes that incorporate cedar
limestone, painted plaster and bands of chocolate
walnut. A B+G hallmark in this room is the ceiling,
which was outfitted with a geometric pattern
integrated into the lighting configuration, a feature
that doesn’t sacrifice height for detail but instead
provides both.
To a large extent, the adjoining dining room is
a continuation of the living room and therefore
maintains the same temperament as it relates to
materials and finishes. A square Macassar ebony
table with eight leather armchairs envelops diners
more organically than would a traditional rectangu-
lar setup. A Parisian pendant chandelier by Boyd
was chosen for its jewel-like qualities.
The approach to art selection was an interest-
ing one. Besides incorporating much of the home-
owner’s own collection, Loor and Sugerman
borrowed more than half a million dollars worth of
paintings, photographs and sculpture from La
Louver Gallery in Santa Monica simply for presen-
tation purposes. Their choices were so right on, the
client ended up purchasing a large percentage of
the art. The resulting collection is a dynamic mix of
photography, sculptural objects and paintings that
further solidifies the mission of the design. Every space in the house tells a Above: A hallway vignette on the home’s second floor with a console by Bill Soffield
story with color and texture and the artwork is the exclamation point. from Baker, a carved stone sculpture, a two-leg floor lamp by Holly Hunt and a
canvas in black and white. Opposite: The focal point of the living room is an elevat-
“All in all our approach was to treat the interior envelope as a sculp- ed fireplace that incorporates a series of overlapping planes made with cedar lime-
ture,” says Sugerman, “and to provide surprises along the way.” Adds Loor: stone, painted plaster and walnut. The carved teak spheres at the forefront provide
“It’s like putting on a great outfit and then adding some red lipstick. It makes a sculptural anchor in the room.
all the difference.” 

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE | MAY 2008 107

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