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Wednesday, Feb 19, 2025
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Orange County Architect Nicholas Nicola on Montage Cay

Nicholas Nicola saw an opportunity for new guests at a luxurious Caribbean Island to feel like Indiana Jones.

Guests at Montage International’s private 53-acre island retreat in the Caribbean, scheduled to open next year, will be arriving by boat or seaplane, where they’ll be greeted on the island by a stone arch.

“It’s such a cool visual, and it adds to that drama, that Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom type of feel as you come in on a pretty fast boat on the open ocean,” Nicola told the Business Journal. “Then you slow down, and you come around the break, and you turn the corner, you see like this stone arch. It looks all ancient.”

Nicola, who has worked at several of OC’s biggest architectural firms, is the architect for Montage Cay, located in the Bahamas about 193 miles east of Miami. It is not only the first resort of its kind for Montage International, the Irvine-based owner and manager of high-end hotels, it’s also the beginning of Nicola’s independent venture.

He opened Nicola Office of Architecture (NOA) last February in Rancho Santa Margarita with the idea of pushing the boundaries of architectural creativity and innovation.

“We aim to tell the stories of tomorrow through design,” the company states on its website.
Montage International was founded in 2002 by Alan Fuerstman; last February, Montage received a new investment from Luxor Capital Group, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and BlackRock Inc. The company’s boutique spinoff brand, Pendry, opened its first OC property under the helm of Fuerstman’s son, Michael Fuerstman, the company’s creative director. Montage International was recognized in 2023 with a Business Journal Family-Owned Business Award.

The Montage Laguna Beach, which the firm manages, is ranked No. 27 on the Business Journal’s list of Hotel Meeting Rooms with a total of 35,000 square feet of meeting and events space (see page 25).

Footprints All Over Orange County

OC residents can spot Nicola’s handiwork at multiple spots around the county from the Lido House in Newport Beach to Avenue of the Arts in Costa Mesa.

What drew him to architecture?

“It’s one of the few things in this world where you can take a dream, or a spark of an idea, and you can make physical space out of it,” Nicola said. “It’s that perfect marriage of art and science.”

After graduating from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2006, he landed his first job at the Friedmutter Group in Newport Beach, where his first project was to help develop The Cosmopolitan resort in Las Vegas; he was told “you’re responsible for a billion dollars, so don’t mess it up,” he said, laughing during an interview.

He later moved over to the Los Angeles office of ZGF, where he worked on the world’s tallest children’s hospital in Chicago. After a few years, Nicola ended up back in OC with Taylor Design focused mostly on healthcare projects. His most notable moment was winning the contract to build Kaiser Permanente’s center at Antelope Valley based on his team’s exterior design of the building.

From there, he jumped to the design studio at Ware Malcomb in Irvine for two years. Eventually, he landed at Gensler Newport Beach in 2016 as a senior architect when the Montage project came along.

“I learned how to work very, very fast,” Nicola said. “As with any project, and especially hospitality, change comes within every minute.”

His Name’s on the Door

Montage in 2020 partnered with Sterling Global Financial to develop the resort and originally contracted with architectural firm Gensler.

When Gensler’s contract ended with the Montage, Nicola decided to start his own firm and pitched his proposal to Sterling.

“This was in my lap, and I (couldn’t) pass this up,” he said.

“There are two milestones for being an architect that I would say. One is to get your license… and the other is to have your name on the door.”

The Montage resort is in its fifth year of design, development and construction. As master architect, he said everything funnels through him.

“It’s a big-name brand with Montage and I’m riding the wave with it,” Nicola said.
Nicola’s work has been so impressive that Sterling has hired him to design another of its resorts: the Briland Club Residences & Marina on Harbour Island in the Bahamas.

5-Star Island

Montage Cay, a private retreat in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas, will have a collection of 22 oceanfront estates and 16 villas, ranging from 3,200 to 8,000 square feet, plus 25 condo-hotel units and six over-the-water bungalows.

A new Montage hotel will feature 40 ocean view suites.

Along with access to seven different beaches, there will be a 47-slip deep-water marina that can accommodate vessels up to 110 feet. Montage is also building a water sports and recreation center for guests to explore the natural environment.

Montage Cay is still under construction and aims to have a phased opening starting in 2026, according to Nicola.

“Alan (Fuerstman) knows how it should operate, in his vision of how Montage should be,” Nicola said about the Montage founder. “So, you will recognize the level of service.”

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