PROFILE
COLLECTIVE CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN www.collectiveconst.deslgn.com / Headquarters: Plantation, Fia. / Average home price: Starting at $1 million

From a dream mansion to luxurious cabins to cleanly designed condominiums with innovative finishes, Collective Construction and Design has the background and experience to offer them all. Award-winning interior designer Eloise Kubli is president of Collective Construction and Design, licensed by Florida as an interior designer and a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers. She also is certified by the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications.

Kubli’s projects range in style from the elaborately decorated traditional interiors of a majestic mansion with 40-foot ceilings in Canada to the clean sophistication of two units on the 20th floor of a 1970s-era high-rise condominium building in Florida that were merged into one. Those units were totally gutted. “There was nothing that remained except the shell,” Kubli declares.

2010 ASID Design Excellence Award - Residential Traditional over 5000 sq. ft.
2010 ASID Design Excellence Award - Wildcard Category: Lanai

SITE SPECIFIC

The versatility of Collective Construction and Design - which was founded in 1983- also includes the homey warmth of a log cabin in Colorado. “I’ve worked on some amazing homes out there,” Kubli recalls. “We call it ‘parkitecture.’ The logs can be 54 inches in diameter. It’s astounding. That for me is what being a good interior designer is about ‑ being able to design spaces that are site-specific.”

She does not impose a consistent personal style on projects. “I work on all kinds of projects, everything from a small condominium to the mega-mansions,” Kubli says. “Most of my work is word-of-mouth. I have clients I’ve worked with for 30 years, from the very beginning of my career. That’s a great feeling, to have that kind of relationship, that kind of trust, that kind of respect back and forth.”

Kubli usually works with vendors she has used for years. “It’s not just about being a good interior designer, but having the people skills, the relationships, with not only your clients, but your vendors,” Kubli emphasizes. “When I make a phone call, my vendors jump for me. It’s because of our long-term relationships. They’re professionals and they respect me, and I respect them.”

2010 ASID Design Excellence Award - Residential Traditional over 5000 sq. ft.
2010 ASID Design Excellence Award - Wildcard Category: Lanai

UP-TO-DATE

Kubli owns Collective Construction and Design with her husband, Arthur Kubli, a general contractor who works mostly on commercial construction projects. Its employees stay up-to-date on the latest trends and technology. “We are always taking classes in continuing education,” Kubli says. “We travel frequently to learn from history and learn about the new innovations.”

Kubli praises the employees of Collective Construction and Design. “You cannot do this work without an incredible team of people behind you,” she emphasizes. Despite their efforts, Kubli finds she is always having to prove herself. “I find that even with this body of work that I’ve done, clients always feel like, ‘You’ve done that — prove that you can do for me what you’ve done for others,” she says.

With such detailed, custom work, frequent communication with clients is a necessity. “We are very good at keeping an open communication with our clients and our vendors, and certainly e-mail is a big way that we do that,” Kubli explains. “We put all our documents on proposals so there’s no misunderstanding. We include the pricing — what it includes, what it does not include — with pictures and actual samples. We are very clear with what the design intent is.”

2010 ASID Design Excellence Award - Residential Traditional over 5000 sq. ft.
2010 ASID Design Excellence Award - Wildcard Category: Lanai

FINDING THE DESIGN

Determining the interior design that a customer wants can be tricky, especially when the customer is unsure about it. “Most of my clients will have some type of direction, a vague idea of what they want,” Kubli says. She uses photos from the Internet to help clients define the look they are seeking. The mansion and condominium projects required much input from Kubli.

“The clients came to me with a sense of style, but it was me who took them on the journey to actually select the pieces, the furniture and design them,” she remembers. “Both jobs were extremely custom projects, where everything to the lighting was custom-designed. It’s just a matter of me getting inside their head to interpret. They’re looking to me to be the designer, the symphony conductor of the whole project.”

Collective Construction and Design strives to provide value for its clients. “We do more than what we’re paid for,” Kubli insists. “We still have a passion for what we do. I think that’s so important — to have that desire to make people happy.” ■

2013 ASID Design Excellence Award - Renovation: Residential under 5000 Sq. Ft
2013 ASID Design Excellence Award - Condominium/Apartment: over 2,500 Sq. Ft.