Conversations with Brian Mcgrory

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Mcgrory.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
It actually all started in Scotland where I was born, my life in whole has taken me on many geographical moves and re-incarnations, so to speak. But ultimately design, creating environments and experiences, whether that be for a client or one of our own homes has always been the true cells of my DNA.

Having started out in the hospitality industry in restaurants / hotels in Glasgow, to SF, to NYC then to LA it all been this wonderful, wild, unexpected and ,at times challenging, ride!

I guess in summary and not going to deep – I started out, after graduating from College with a Diploma in Marketing & PR, was Front of House Manager for a 5 Star Luxury Hotel, Bar & Restaurant in Glasgow….Here this taught me on the importance of landmark preservation mixed, blending contemporary design with the old and the importance of creating a vibe with all the elements of lighting, music, art, fabrics, form etc Back then in 1999 it was a real exciting time in Glasgow with all the arts, it was thriving! Glasgow School of Art Degree Show with Jenny Saville then to al the bands – Franz Ferdinand, Travis, Belle & Sebastian then all the cool Scottish DJ’s.

From there I had my eyes on working in the USA / NYC……….ironically my 1st move to the USA was SF, I had religiously been every year to NYC where my father’s family lived so was very well adversed to the NYC insane life of buzz, the arts, the people, the unstable pulse that it had, back the to me NYC was thriving of all levels, especially in the nightlife, design & hospitality world with Flamigo East, Bar’Do, Florent, TriBeCa Grill,
Ian Schaefer had just opened Teh Hudson Hotel. OK back to my 1st stop of SF, well I had read Amsted Maupins whole chronicles of Tales of the City and I was like this sounds fun,,,,,,so I got my visa and moved to SF ultimately working in the hospitality business……..now fast forward a year and a half later and then I decide to move to NYC, there is where all the dots will start to connect as it’s really a long story, wonderful & wild NYC aspiring life stories. some may say cliched but more to me was really the a story / life of making your dreams come true for me, personally, it was staring off my owns business(es) – 3 restaurants / bar, meeting all me friends + family, my husband and then designing / building our homes so this is where truly my design career begins or maybe my destiny when we moved to LA over 8 years again and launched our full design and development business……….Studio JBD Inc

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Hell no, I think I referenced this in my prior question……..No it’s not meant to be easy breezy, if it was it would be too boring, we constantly need to be pushed, it makes us evolve….especially in design as it’s an ever changing business every, the way we do things, materials to use, craftsmanship, clients, costs…….Yes we can be known for one things bit I think we at STUDIO JBD we are known for being a one stop shop from full design on Interiors as well as hardscape + landscape, to project management + construction.

Struggles……I would say the main part in what we do is building your team, knowing exactly where to source items from, negotiating costs, knowing your marble fabricator or millworker is going to deliver on time, on budget….triple checking everything……..we do a lot of custom work, so that has to be merticlious, we work with many high-end clients / celebrities so see need to always be on top of our game. I always tell James we are only good as our as out last job, all our job we get are always from word of mouth FYI. We also work notable lightings designers etc and there is always an issue for example – when ordering anything from Europe lighting based that is ceramic – it always comes cracked despite the most amazing packing! We just did these special glaze custom wall sconces from a Parisian fabricator, 6 months lead time and came cracked…………..So I think. / know now is this field we have to coved all bases and look at all case scenarios as behind the scenes, unbeknownst to cleints, we are fixers………..I always say to our team it’s 20% design and 80% management!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Most of our work was learnt out on the field – all hands on. I used to work for the AVROKO restaurant group in NYC. They were an incredible architect, design and restaurant owner firm. Here I really learnt about the importance of lighting, they really brought back the Edison Bulb for that beautiful glow, as a doe from that they had the known importance of design from hisorty with reference from library card drawers – for wine notes, Locke boxes for their whine club……Then when we started of our own restaurant group we were design and build also – HIGHLANDS was our 1st which was a Scottish Gastro Pup- Huge Success, obviously the name explains the concept / experience….Here we work with a lot of cool artists / designer from Scotland – Timirious Beastie, Brontë Moon – Hermes and McQueen use there fabrics – then it had a whole Arctiectrual Slavage design element to it…..we were thrifting around to find the most unique pieces from Old Iron Pillars to these old MEtal Sqwaue Windows from an old NY Times building, the we did Mary Queen of Scots – Highlands on Steriods with full immerse design from the tile, the Mpontieth Paid Wrapped Banquest to the mirrored ceiling……then WHITEHALL, I think one of my favorite places as design – industrial, yet warm, open, airy and clean with a nod to English Parks and Industrialisms – this was a fun West Village neighborhood staple! Our regulars were Daniela Day Lewis, Madonna, Bono, Allen Communing, Amanda Siegfried – I can now say they wen there as was many years ago!

While doing this my husband and I would be designing our own houses – we built this incredible Lakehouse upstate NY – this was a real departure for us as was very Scott Mitchell / Calvin Kline with a slight rustic narrative – this house was featured in AD, LUXE, BELLE to name a few…….from there we worked on our own residential projects………… my 2nd favorite would her been Brooklyn Townhouse we did.

Then bringing us to current time, when we moved to LA we bought this diamond in the rough, we tend to always go for the worst house on the best block, this was a 1920’s Spanish Colonial….Here is where we were like OK it’s time to do this for a living we had the knowledge and vast experience on design, construction, project management, local law and permits etc so that is when we launch Studio JBD from there we work with ,many clients in Los Feliz, Santa Monica, Bel Air, Palm Springs and Aspen.

We LOVE working in LA as has the best showrooms – The Future Perfect, Stahl + Band, Reummler, Apparatus, BBDW, Mehrban Rugs, LGS Studio………..

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
1. get an amazing reliable team around you on the construction side or a GC who you can trust. I just got my GC license!

2. Don’t let clients talk you into a design direction you know instinctly is not gonna work out…….stay true to who you are and your vision, usually your 1st design draft is the right one.

3. Know the importance of “You are never as good as your last job”……Drive it home from start to finish.

4. As a designer – try and understand the construction side and how framing is done, the process etc It really helps have another eye on the job.

5. Always site verify measurements, materials + have the client sign-off on all materials being used and the extra dye lot in upholstery for example……

6. Have fun with it, get to know the new AI software to create real life immerse experiences – it’s incredible as give the client a TRUE representation of the planned design / concept.

7. Dream big. – a collab with Crate and Barrell, Launch Your Own Furniture Line. James is about to launch his outdoor accessories Line – Sense + Vision. I am on constant awe of what Kelly Westler has created and Jake Arnold have created. For us the LA/CA design esthetic is really where we resonate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.studiojbdinc.com
• Instagram: @studiojbdinc

Image Credits
James Houston