Gi Paoletti Design Lab

What Gi Paoletti Design Lab does

Gi Paoletti Design Lab is a privately held, boutique commercial interior design and architecture studio founded on April 23, 2007 by Gi Paoletti, who previously spent 15 years at large architectural firms including NBBJ working on high-end corporate interiors, Silicon Valley campuses, and mixed-use developments. The firm provides full-service design under one roof: architecture, interior design, interior decorating, permit documents, and construction administration. Its core technology stack consists of industry-standard architectural software; no proprietary technology, AI systems, or APIs are disclosed. There are no patents, no third-party integrations, and no software products — the firm sells human design services, not technology.

The firm's primary segment is hospitality and food service — restaurants, bars, nightclubs, wine bars, and jazz clubs — with a documented portfolio of 30+ named projects across the San Francisco Bay Area, including Epic Steakhouse, Noir Lounge, Maven, Per Diem, Homage, Scotland Yard, Stock in Trade, Barrique, and Rootstock. Secondary segments include cannabis retail (Stiiizy flagship and Union Square locations, Velvet Cannabis, Union Station, Flight Cannabis, Flower Power, Stash Dash, and Vertosa's infusion labs), corporate and commercial offices (Rice Daubney HQ, TNT, Wyndham Destinations resort properties), high-end residential, and specialized facilities (Regional Medical Center Helistop). International work has been executed in Australia and South Korea.

The business model is project-based professional services billed per engagement. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and varies by project scope, complexity, and square footage. The firm acquires clients through referrals, portfolio visibility, direct outreach, press coverage, and an educational blog on construction costs, ADA compliance, and design. The go-to-market is sales-led direct client engagement — no recurring revenue, no SaaS component, no channel partners. Headcount is 1-10 employees, making this a principal-led practice where firm capacity is fundamentally constrained by the founder's direct involvement and a small extended team.

Name

Gi Paoletti Design Lab

Legal name

Gi Paoletti Design Lab

Website

https://gpdesignlab.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Gi Paoletti Design Lab is a boutique San Francisco-based commercial interior design and architecture studio serving hospitality, cannabis retail, corporate, and residential clients with full-service design-to-construction administration under one roof.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Design and Architecture Services: Project-based professional services revenue from providing comprehensive interior design, architecture, interior decorating, permit documents, and construction administration for hospitality, retail, and residential projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Gi Paoletti Design Lab is a boutique commercial interior design and architecture studio providing full-service design-to-construction delivery for hospitality, retail, cannabis, and residential clients. Its core offering consolidates architecture, interior design, interior decorating, permit documentation, and construction administration into a single engagement, supported by 3D rendering and visualization capabilities. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco with a secondary office in Los Angeles, serving clients primarily across California with selected international projects.

Product overview

Gi Paoletti Design Lab is a commercial interior design firm offering comprehensive design services under one roof. The company provides architecture, interior design, interior decorating, permit documents, and construction administration for hospitality projects including restaurants, bars, nightclubs, retail stores, cannabis dispensaries, and office interiors. Their portfolio includes specialized design services such as 3D rendering, ADA compliance consultation, and construction cost planning. The firm operates primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, serving clients from initial concept through permit acquisition and construction completion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial Interior Design Services Full-service commercial interior design engagement covering architecture, interior design, interior decorating, permit documentation, and construction administration for hospitality, retail, and commercial clients. Delivered as a single integrated scope from concept through construction completion.
• Restaurant Design Specialized interior design services for fine dining, casual dining, and fast-casual restaurant establishments, including space planning, concept development, and construction administration. Notable projects include Per Diem, Maven, Cadence, Dabba, Homage, Sol Food La Bodega, Sushirrito, and Tipsy Pig.
• Bar and Nightclub Design Design services for bars, wine bars, nightclubs, jazz clubs, and lounge venues, including specialized spaces such as recording-studio lounges. Notable projects include Noir Lounge, Barrique, Rootstock, Mr. Tipple's Recording Studio, Left Door, Scotland Yard, Stock in Trade, Underdogs Too, and The Beer Hall.
• Cannabis Dispensary and Consumption Lounge Design Specialized design services for cannabis retail stores, dispensaries, and consumption lounges, including MDC-compliant facilities and branded multi-location rollouts. Notable projects include Stiiizy (flagship Art Gallery Cannabis Emporium and Union Square), Velvet Cannabis, Union Station, Stash Dash, Flight Cannabis, Flower Power Cannabis Store, and Vertosa Cannabis & Hemp Infusion Labs.
• Corporate Office and Headquarters Design Corporate office interiors, international headquarters, and mixed-use development project design services. Notable projects include TNT Headquarters in Australia, Rice Daubney HQ in Australia, and Wyndham Destinations resort and office properties.
• Specialized Facility and Healthcare Design Design of specialized commercial facilities including elevated helicopter ports and healthcare-related infrastructure, demonstrated by the Regional Medical Center Helistop for Blackhawks project.
• Resort and Residential Interior Design Design services for private resorts, spas, and high-end residential properties, including the 56-Suite Private Resort in Nicasio and luxury private residences such as Piedmont Residence, Sea Cliff Residence, San Francisco Residence, and Sunset Residence.
• 3D Rendering and Visualization Services Professional 3D rendering and visualization services for project presentations, stakeholder communication, and design development, delivered as a dedicated offering shown under the Renders gallery.
• Permit Documents and Construction Administration Preparation of permit documents and ongoing construction administration services delivered as part of the firm's integrated design-to-construction offering, including ADA compliance integration and San Francisco permitting expertise.

Named customers34 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• AvroKO: AvroKO is a hospitality-focused design and architecture firm with deep restaurant, bar, and hotel interior design work. Directly comparable to Gi Paoletti's hospitality-centric boutique practice serving restaurateurs and operators in major U.S. markets.
• Roman and Williams: Roman and Williams is a New York-based architecture and design studio specializing in hotels, restaurants, and cultural spaces. Comparable boutique practice with a hospitality-first portfolio and integrated architecture-plus-interiors model.
• Rottet Studio: Rottet Studio is a hospitality and luxury interior design firm with a strong hotel, restaurant, and residential portfolio. Comparable in its integrated architecture and interior design offering for premium hospitality clients.
• Studio Munge: Studio Munge is a Toronto-based interior design firm specializing in hotels, restaurants, and bars globally. Comparable boutique hospitality design practice competing for similar high-end F&B and hospitality operator clients.
• Yabu Pushelberg: Yabu Pushelberg is an internationally recognized design studio working across hospitality, residential, and retail interiors. Comparable in serving global hotel flags, restaurant groups, and luxury residential clients with a design-forward boutique studio model.
• Electric Bowery: Electric Bowery is a California-based architecture and interior design studio with a hospitality-heavy portfolio of restaurants, hotels, and retail. Comparable boutique practice serving similar West Coast F&B and hospitality operators.

Emerging players

• Klein Design House: Klein Design House is a Bay Area-based interior design practice focused on restaurants and hospitality. Direct regional peer competing with Gi Paoletti for San Francisco restaurant, bar, and hospitality clients.

Broad incumbents

• Gensler: Gensler is the world's largest architecture and design firm with significant hospitality, retail, and workplace practices. Broad incumbent competing for the same enterprise hospitality, retail, and corporate office clients but at far greater scale and capacity.
• Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG): WATG is a global hospitality architecture and interior design firm with deep hotel, resort, and residential expertise. Broad incumbent serving many of the same resort, hospitality, and luxury residential clients as Gi Paoletti, including Wyndham-affiliated properties.
• HBA (Hirsch Bedner Associates): HBA is one of the largest global hospitality interior design firms specializing in luxury hotels, resorts, and restaurants. Broad incumbent competing for the same premium hospitality and resort design mandates at significantly greater scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/gpdesignlab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gi Paoletti Design Lab