ADC & Tuneu: Designing Atmosphere-First Hotels and Clubs

Aaron David Clarke and Marta Tuneu, founders of the interior design studio ADC & Tuneu, are profiled in a Designer of the Day feature. The studio, with bases in London and Barcelona, specializes in membership clubs and hotel interiors, prioritizing atmosphere. Their most ambitious project to date is Stradom House in Kraków, Poland, a 14th-century monastery and church complex transformed into a hotel while preserving its historical significance. The designers explain how the building influenced their design language. Currently, they are working on Casa Lucera, a new private members' club founded by former leadership of Soho House, scheduled to open in November 2027. The club, focused on the US market, aims to redefine contemporary hospitality with member-led experiences. Clarke and Tuneu emphasize the importance of their library of rare books and archival material, which they use to find unique references beyond the internet. They cite Dimore Studio as a source of creative envy, having interviewed them in 2014. They express a desire to eliminate WhatsApp distractions to protect creative time. In their personal preferences, they choose marble over concrete, townhouses over high-rises, remembering over forgetting, ghosts over aliens, and light over dark. Their work is driven by a passion for food, which they consider a constant source of inspiration for hospitality design.