Robert J Di Leonardo has created elegant interiors for several major hotel chains as well as award-winning designs for restaurants

If the design is market-driven, rather than design-driven, the effect will be the right image and a successful property. Our goal as interior designers is to help our clients achieve their bottom line - to help them succeed by design," says Robert J Di Leonardo, who founded Di Leonardo International in 1971.

Headquartered in Rhode Island, US, Di Leonardo International initially focused on residential design. The company then added business interiors as part of its services and in the mid-1970s moved into restaurant and hospitality design.

In 1976, as part owner of an elegant Rhode Island restaurant called Capriccio, Robert Di Leonardo became involved with restaurant design operations and management. For the design work on this property, Di Leonardo was awarded the 1977 Hexter Award for Outstanding Interior of the Year. This recognition led to other important design commissions in the hospitality industry.

Di Leonardo made a commitment early in the development of the firm to specialise in design for the hospitality industry including hotels, resorts and restaurants. Over the next eight years, Di Leonardo was involved in more than 400 hospitality projects from California to the Caribbean.

Di Leonardo has created designs for many of the major hotel chains - Hilton, Stouffers, Ramada Renaissance, Westin, Omni Radisson, Sheraton, Rosewood, Ritz-Carlton, Marriott and New World Hotels, as well as award-winning designs for restaurants from coast to coast.

To date, the many projects which have been completed by Di Leonardo International include not only hotels and restaurants, but also resorts, airports, universities and health-care facilities.

Under Di Leonardo's direction, the firm has become internationally recognised in the design and hospitality industry, with more than 1,000 successful hotels and restaurants throughout the world. The firm's clients include hotels and resorts such as The Fountainbleau Hilton, the Royal Lahaina Resort in Hawaii, Ocean Dunes, New World Hotel, Hong Kong and the Radisson. Di Leonardo also maintains an office in Hong Kong and has more than a dozen affiliate offices located throughout the world.