Home and commercial interior designer David-Michael Madigan is a big booster of loft living, Santa Ana, eco-friendly design and China, where he does much of his work these days.
Southern California developers, architects and designers are helping the newly wealthy Chinese emulate Orange County homes.
Madigan works out of his three-story Santiago Street Loft in Santa Ana, where residents live on the top floors and work on the bottom. He keeps his flooring line and fabric samples on the first floor. He’s putting in a video conference system to communicate early in the morning with China.
Madigan knows the lofts intimately. His company Trio Design Group designed the lofts’ interior for Miami-based developer Lennar Corp. Some of the design elements include an exposed sprinkler system, stainless steel appliances and a pull-out pantry.
Trio is winding down its current projects. His partner in Trio, Donna Gott, is venturing out on her own, and Madigan’s latest company, David-Michael Design Inc., employs six people and is going forward.
He graduated from the Fashion Institute for Design and Merchandising. The Lusk Co., an early OC developer and design company, where he worked for 10 years, served as Madigan’s training ground. He wore a tie in those days. But today, even when he travels to China, Madigan’s casual. That’s how they expect the funky American designer to dress, he said.
He also has occasional design segments on KTLA-TV and writes a column for Orange County Home magazine.
Madigan, who also owns a historic home in Floral Park, is a fan of Santa Ana and its evolution as an arts community.
“It’s like Melrose use to be in the 1980s,” he says.
He used art from various Santa Ana artists to adorn the loft’s model homes. He boasts about the hidden treasures such as Nina Mont & #233;e Spa and the museums and that the train station across the street will get you anywhere you want.
The Business Journal’s Sherri Cruz recently sat down and talked with Madigan. Following are his edited comments.
What are you working on in China?
We are working on the design of four new housing communities throughout southern China. These communities are on par with masterplanned communities here in Southern California such as Shady Canyon, Coto de Caza and the more upscale areas of Ladera Ranch.
Each of these communities has varying amenities, but the common element is that they have golf courses and clubhouses. Three of the communities are designed around a large lake for water recreation, and offer a wide range of housing choices: high-end detached homes, upscale townhome living and mid-rise condos.
Within these communities you will find upscale shopping centers, hotels and gated access. We have about five years of work ahead of us in China, with many more projects slated to follow.
Who are working with?
We are working alongside Bassenian Lagoni Architects of Newport Beach,they have a huge presence in China,along with three other architectural firms, one in San Diego and two in China. At this time, about 50% of my work is in China.
What projects have you worked on with Lennar?
I have been working with Lennar for about the past 10 years. We have worked on everything from high-end, mid-level and first-time buyer new home communities. We also have provided them with sales office designs, commercial office designs and mid-rise housing community designs which include the residences, lobby, recreation room and public spaces.
How has the real estate market changed in California?
Having worked in the design industry for more than 21 years, I have seen the market peak and fall about four times now. Currently, we are in a major adjustment within the housing market, both for new construction and resales.
When I started out my career in the 1980s, I was employed by one of the most respected, high quality development companies in Orange County’s history, the Lusk Co. The real estate market at that time was setting new highs in the cost of housing. The boom continued for most of the 10 years that I was employed with Lusk. Then it fell abruptly in the mid-1990s. This collapse in the housing market was a huge awakening for me. I don’t think that I ever saw so many companies connected with the real estate market go under. Thankfully, Lusk was well prepared to weather the storm.
Today’s real estate market is a close parallel to what we experienced in the mid-1990s. We are in the typical market adjustment cycle, which through the years is graphed in what looks like a wave. I never fear this cycle,what goes up must always come down.
With a lot of my work being in the ultra high-end home design market, I am seeing this market correction affect this demographic very little. These buyers are more frugal with their investments, which obviously is the smart thing to do. But for the most part, they do not feel the pinch like the rest of the markets.
Southern California’s real estate market will always eventually rebound as many people are willing to pay a premium to live here.
What’s it like to be a designer in this market?
For my company, this market downturn has not affected us greatly. With the diversity in work,high-end homes, hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, commercial, model homes and country clubs,we are fortunate to be able to re-focus our efforts on a specific area of the market at times like these. Working in China definitely provides us with added security.
In Southern California, homebuilders have squeezed many companies that specifically design model homes. With their profit margins greatly decreased, this has caused them to take on an overload of jobs to make up for the lost profit through volume.
During the 21 years I have been working in the design industry, in most cases, I have seen less than a 20% increase in the design fee a homebuilder is willing to pay for a model home’s interior design. Compare that to the doubling, almost tripling of the builder’s home prices within that same period and you see a huge unbalance. The increase of building materials, land costs, and labor must be taken into consideration, but for the most part, I feel that the design firms are being squeezed. Don’t get me wrong, there are companies that do compensate designers fairly.
What is development like in China?
Development in China is dominated by Chinese developers, mainly working with design teams from the mainland U.S. A developer for the most part must be well connected, usually within the government, in order to acquire and develop land. China now is blossoming, opening up to greater commerce and new developers are slowly coming out of the woodwork. If you were to travel to China and visit one of the new home communities you would be amazed at how much they resemble the design trends here in Southern California. Actually, I think that you would think you were in Orange County. Two developments we are working on are aptly named “Orange County” and “California City.”
What is unique about China?
Chinese people are more hospitable and polite than in any country I have ever worked in or traveled to on vacation. They pride themselves in treating their guests like family and go out of their way to make sure that you are comfortable. In meetings, there is always someone there to attend to making sure that you have hot tea or water at all times. If you need to use the restroom, a member of their staff will actually escort you directly to the door to make sure you find your way there. It is an insult if you do not allow them to assist you as this gives them great pride.
Money goes a long way,$45 will buy five people a great dinner complete with drinks and dessert. In the larger cities, it is amazing to see the diversity of the architectural styles. Skyscrapers of glass and steel stand next to a centuries old section of a village.
The biggest challenge in China is having large sums of money wired out of the country to the U.S., about three to four months in some cases for the first transaction.
Describe China’s idea of design.
China has never had masterplanned communities. They love to emulate OC’s essence. When Chinese developers are in OC, they tour through as many new home communities as they can fit in, not one detail goes unnoticed. These designs are then adapted to their lifestyle in China, but still with a very Western look and appeal. Within their homes you will find two kitchens,a Western kitchen upfront for the aesthetic look and a wok kitchen in the back that has a large, heavy-duty ventilation hood. Oddly, the Western kitchen does not get used that often as the Chinese do not cook with ovens, commercial ranges or microwaves. The Chinese don’t bake, they wok. But that beautiful Viking double oven and range stands there in the kitchen. It represents progress.
Describe some of your design elements in the Santiago Street Lofts.
One of challenges I had at the lofts was that most units had bathrooms that are in the center of the space with no access to a window for natural light. I implemented modern interior windows within these bathrooms that provide natural light into the bathrooms without having to turn on a light during the day.
The lofts are naturally open and filled with natural light, so this interior window application allowed the abundance of natural light in the space to flow into the bath. My solution not only saves energy, but also adds the beauty of natural light into an otherwise dark interior room.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Antique shopping, garage sales, thrift shops. I love to dig through piles of things. When in Europe I love to walk by historic buildings that are being demolished or remodeled and dig through the debris in the dumpster of flatbed truck. Sometimes I do get funny looks from people, but the treasures I find are well worth it.
I love to drive through historic neighborhoods and cities to take photos of architectural details. I have a search engine on my computer that pulls up any historic home that comes up for sale. I then look through the photos provided or plan to visit the open house for further design ideas. I get many of my design inspirations from nature. The form and structure of old trees, rock outcroppings, bark and moss patterns, leaf shapes, seed pod shapes and all colors related to these items. This is how I designed the color palate for my signature flooring lines.
