Designing for Place, People, and Performance
DESIGN TALK
A conversation with Pria Rajput, Principal Designer & Strategist at Black Label Designs
Sochi is an interesting and complex hospitality market. Why did this project matter to Black Label Designs?
Pria Rajput:
Sochi is not a generic resort city, and that’s exactly why it interested us. It sits at the intersection of coastal leisure, urban life, and post-event infrastructure. You have guests arriving with very different expectations: some are there for relaxation, others for business, others for culture or sport.
For us, the project mattered because it required strategic design leadership, not just visual execution. The brief wasn’t “make it beautiful.” It was how do we reposition a hospitality asset so it performs better, culturally, experientially, and financially, in a market that’s evolving?
That’s where Black Label Designs operates best.
Pria Rajput:
Sochi is not a generic resort city, and that’s exactly why it interested us. It sits at the intersection of coastal leisure, urban life, and post-event infrastructure. You have guests arriving with very different expectations: some are there for relaxation, others for business, others for culture or sport.
For us, the project mattered because it required strategic design leadership, not just visual execution. The brief wasn’t “make it beautiful.” It was how do we reposition a hospitality asset so it performs better, culturally, experientially, and financially, in a market that’s evolving?
That’s where Black Label Designs operates best.
You often talk about “design as strategy.” How did that translate into leadership on this project?
Pria Rajput:
From day one, we took the lead by slowing the process down before speeding it up. We started with brand and spatial audits, not mood boards.
Our role wasn’t to decorate a building, but to:
Clarify the hotel’s identity
Define who it’s really for
Align space, operations, and experience to that reality
In hospitality, every square meter needs to work. If the brand is unclear, the layout becomes inefficient. If the layout is inefficient, operations suffer. And when operations suffer, ROI suffers.
So leadership, for us, meant asking the hard questions early, even when they’re uncomfortable.
Pria Rajput:
From day one, we took the lead by slowing the process down before speeding it up. We started with brand and spatial audits, not mood boards.
Our role wasn’t to decorate a building, but to:
Clarify the hotel’s identity
Define who it’s really for
Align space, operations, and experience to that reality
In hospitality, every square meter needs to work. If the brand is unclear, the layout becomes inefficient. If the layout is inefficient, operations suffer. And when operations suffer, ROI suffers.
So leadership, for us, meant asking the hard questions early, even when they’re uncomfortable.
How does BLD approach a global project like Sochi differently than a local one?
Pria Rajput:
We don’t export a style. We export a process.
When we work globally, whether it’s Sochi, Dubai, or elsewhere, our job is translation. We translate:
Local culture into spatial logic
Market conditions into brand positioning
Business goals into experiential design
In Sochi, for example, the mistake would be to lean too heavily into clichés, either hyper-luxury or nostalgic resort language. The opportunity is in restraint. In rhythm. In designing a hotel that feels grounded, contemporary, and confident without trying too hard.
That sensitivity only comes when you understand both global hospitality standards and local behavioural patterns.
Pria Rajput:
We don’t export a style. We export a process.
When we work globally, whether it’s Sochi, Dubai, or elsewhere, our job is translation. We translate:
Local culture into spatial logic
Market conditions into brand positioning
Business goals into experiential design
In Sochi, for example, the mistake would be to lean too heavily into clichés, either hyper-luxury or nostalgic resort language. The opportunity is in restraint. In rhythm. In designing a hotel that feels grounded, contemporary, and confident without trying too hard.
That sensitivity only comes when you understand both global hospitality standards and local behavioural patterns.
Public space seems to be a major focus in this project. Why is that strategically important?
Pria Rajput:
Because hotels can no longer survive on room revenue alone.
One of the biggest missed opportunities we see globally, and especially in emerging lifestyle markets, is underperforming public spaces. Lobbies that feel transactional. Restaurants that only serve hotel guests. Meeting rooms that sit empty.
In Sochi, we deliberately focused on public-facing zones:
A restaurant that locals would choose even if they’re not staying overnight
Flexible meeting and social spaces that can host business, culture, and community
Transitional areas that feel open and inviting rather than exclusive or closed off
These spaces do two things:
They generate independent revenue streams
They anchor the hotel into the city’s daily life
A hotel that locals use stays relevant.
Pria Rajput:
Because hotels can no longer survive on room revenue alone.
One of the biggest missed opportunities we see globally, and especially in emerging lifestyle markets, is underperforming public spaces. Lobbies that feel transactional. Restaurants that only serve hotel guests. Meeting rooms that sit empty.
In Sochi, we deliberately focused on public-facing zones:
A restaurant that locals would choose even if they’re not staying overnight
Flexible meeting and social spaces that can host business, culture, and community
Transitional areas that feel open and inviting rather than exclusive or closed off
These spaces do two things:
They generate independent revenue streams
They anchor the hotel into the city’s daily life
A hotel that locals use stays relevant.
How does interior branding fit into this broader business-led approach?
Pria Rajput:
Interior branding is often misunderstood as signage or graphics. For us, it’s how the brand lives in space.
In Sochi, branding is embedded in:
Spatial hierarchy
Light and shadow
Volume and proportion
How people move, pause, and gather
When branding is done at that level, it becomes timeless and, more importantly, scalable. That’s critical for owners thinking about future expansion or replication.
Pria Rajput:
Interior branding is often misunderstood as signage or graphics. For us, it’s how the brand lives in space.
In Sochi, branding is embedded in:
Spatial hierarchy
Light and shadow
Volume and proportion
How people move, pause, and gather
When branding is done at that level, it becomes timeless and, more importantly, scalable. That’s critical for owners thinking about future expansion or replication.
Finally, how would you summarize Black Label Designs’ role in the Sochi Hotel project?
Pria Rajput:
We didn’t come in to “design a hotel.” We came in to lead a hospitality transformation.
By aligning brand, space, experience, and operations, we helped shape a project that:
Speaks to its market
Serves both guests and locals
Supports strong return on investment
And remains adaptable for the future
That’s what meaningful hospitality design looks like now, and that’s the standard we hold ourselves to at Black Label Designs.
Pria Rajput:
We didn’t come in to “design a hotel.” We came in to lead a hospitality transformation.
By aligning brand, space, experience, and operations, we helped shape a project that:
Speaks to its market
Serves both guests and locals
Supports strong return on investment
And remains adaptable for the future
That’s what meaningful hospitality design looks like now, and that’s the standard we hold ourselves to at Black Label Designs.
About Black Label Designs
Black Label Designs is a Canadian studio specializing in hospitality, wellness, retail, and branding. Led by Principal Designer Pria Rajput, the firm merges strategy with artistry, creating spaces and brands that are both commercially smart and emotionally resonant.
Black Label Designs is a Canadian studio specializing in hospitality, wellness, retail, and branding. Led by Principal Designer Pria Rajput, the firm merges strategy with artistry, creating spaces and brands that are both commercially smart and emotionally resonant.
