The Design Firm without Borders

Creating stunning works that are impressive both for their geographic range and diversity of style, the London-based Michaelis Boyd Associates is the hospitality-focused design firm to watch. In the past year or so, partners Alex Michaelis and Tim Boyd have trotted the globe turning out impressive projects: the solar-powered Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge made of local materials in Botswana; cleaver-accented restaurant Pots, Pans, and Boards in Dubai for Michelin-starred British chef Tom Aikens; and a glam redo of London's famed members-only Groucho Club. (They've also found time for pro-bono work, creating a housing complex for military pensioners in Nepal.) In a few months, they'll debut the modernist Soho Farmhouse in England's Oxfordshire as well as the industrial-chic Williamsburg Hotel, with a rooftop bar, in a former water tower factory in Brooklyn.