Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) celebrated the holidays on December 14 with a party at the Hotel Indigo Los Angeles Downtown, a new property designed by the design firm’s local office. At that event, company ceo René Gross Kærskov, partners Kathleen Dauber, Darrell Long and Carlos S. Francisco Jr., and other colleagues also said farewell to partner Christiane Kaalund, who is retiring.
Kaalund joined HBA in 1988 at its Hong Kong studio, then moved to its Santa Monica headquarters in 1994. During her time with the firm, she worked on numerous hotels, casinos, residences, private spas and clubs. She was heavily involved in Wynn properties, designing five Wynn and Encore Wynn Casino Resorts in Las Vegas, Macau, China and Boston.
As partner, design director and project designer, she was responsible for conceptual FF&E design. She reviewed all HBA Santa Monica and select San Francisco projects for concept and aesthetics and acted as a resource and mentor for the designers on her team.
