Gensler has appointed Mathew Dalby as Design Director, Hospitality for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. His appointment, effective since early August 2026 and based in Sydney, marks the arrival at the American architecture giant of a designer with thirty-five years of experience in luxury and hospitality. The appointment reflects Gensler’s ambition to build a dedicated hospitality practice in a region considered strategic by international developers and operators.
A regional mandate for Gensler in Asia-Pacific
Mathew Dalby will take creative leadership of Gensler’s hotel, lounge and hospitality projects across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. His mandate includes building and growing local design teams, while connecting the group’s international network of studios and its research arm to operators and developers active in the Australian market.
A career spanning London, Hong Kong and Sydney
A graduate of the Jacob Kramer School of Art and Design between 1990 and 1995, Mathew Dalby began his career in interior design before joining YOO in 2011 as Design Director. There, he grew the interior design team from six to twenty-six staff across several countries, while developing brand standards for YOO2 and YOO Resorts & Residences. Over that period, the project portfolio he oversaw grew from $12 million to $150 million, with collaborations spanning international developers in the United States, Brazil, India and Japan.
In 2014, he joined Harrods as Head of Interior Design, leading the London department store’s in-house interior design studio, serving a wealthy private clientele on residential and property projects. Two years later, he became Head of Design & Delivery at Fenton Whelan, a London luxury residential developer, where he built and led an integrated design and procurement studio. There he delivered Greybrook House on New Bond Street, a £60 million (approximately €70 million) mixed-use scheme combining luxury apartments and a duplex penthouse, which won the SBID Award 2017 in the residential category. The project was delivered 18% under budget and eight weeks ahead of a 48-week schedule.
Returning to Australia in 2018, he took up the role of Principal Interiors at Rothelowman in Sydney, where he led interior design for major commercial, hospitality and multi-residential projects until 2020. This kind of trajectory, spanning architecture, engineering and hospitality, echoes other recent appointments in the sector, such as that of Pauline Escouflaire at Paris Society Hospitality.
StudioFAB and Basq House Byron Bay: proof by example
In January 2020, Mathew Dalby co-founded StudioFAB, a design and delivery studio operating in luxury hospitality, residential and branded environments, taking full responsibility for the project lifecycle, from owner briefing through to delivery. Among his notable work there, he led value engineering on a 250-apartment Build to Rent scheme in Crows Nest, Sydney, generating savings of AU$14 million, around €8.5 million, equivalent to 7% of the total project cost, without compromising specifications.
His most iconic project remains Basq House in Byron Bay, which he project-managed from concept through to completion of construction, for a value of AU$14 million, around €8.5 million. The property was awarded a Michelin Key at the inaugural Hotel Awards 2025 and features in Travel + Leisure’s ranking of the world’s hundred best new hotels. StudioFAB was also commissioned by Ovolo Group to develop its national design and technical standards playbook, rolled out across its entire Australian hotel portfolio.
Gensler, a global platform for hospitality
In joining Gensler, Mathew Dalby becomes part of an international network of studios and a research centre dedicated to assessing what genuinely works for the people who use the spaces the group designs. Gensler recently collaborated with Accor’s Luxury Design & Technical Services teams on the development of the Fairmont Manchester San Diego, illustrating the firm’s presence in high-end hotel projects internationally.
A philosophy: brand before material
For Mathew Dalby, hospitality is first and foremost a brand proposition before it is a design problem. This conviction has guided his work co-founding StudioFAB, where he cites two constant priorities: the client, in terms of how a space should make them feel and what the brand genuinely represents before materials are even discussed, and the team, by building structures where designers are supported, challenged and mentored. He notes that he welcomes conversations with operators, developers and project managers ahead of their brief being drafted.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
Gensler appoints Mathew Dalby as Design Director, Hospitality for Australia, NZ and the Pacific Islands.
Effective since early August 2026, based in Sydney
35 years of experience in luxury and hospitality design
Co-founded StudioFAB in 2020; delivered Basq House, Byron Bay (One Michelin Key 2025, Travel + Leisure Top 100 New Hotels 2025)
Developed Ovolo Group’s national Design & Technical Standards Playbook
Previous roles include YOO, Harrods, Fenton Whelan and Rothelowman
Mission: build Gensler’s hospitality design practice across the Australia-Pacific region
