Designers are an eclectic bunch. Not everyone shares their visions or ideas. But Miranda Meyer is different. Since founding her own corporate and mixed use design company back in 1998 she’s watched a constant stream of customers beat a path to her door. The reason is simple she says – great design and great client communication. Miranda Meyer Interior Projects (MMI Projects) make huge efforts to really understand what their client needs. 

“MMI is a company driven by passion, I think it’s fair to say. We distinguish ourselves because we have a service that is second to none. Our clients satisfaction is our pride and joy and we live the interior of each project with the developer. It becomes part of us and that is a very important distinction between MMI and the competition.”

Meyer originally studied at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and completed her studies in 1984. She started a teaching career but switched to interior design quickly – the design itch simply would not leave her. “The company has just been on a roll since 1998 with growth every year from a small company to one of the top interior design companies in South Africa and internationally. I have always taken my career in my stride and made sure I have natural growth without pushing development too much. I think my breakthrough came in January 2000 when I was selected to do a new corporate look for British American Tobacco which took over the Rupert International group.”

Clients want quality and value for money
Since 2000 Meyer has steadily added to a growing client base which now includes high profile blue chip names like Vodacom and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. But it wasn’t until Meyer started her own design development company and built the first development that the residential interiors side of her business took off – with a bang. That was when one of her designs, Nautica, a beachside development in Mossel Bay, won the Best Interior Design Award in the prestigious International Property Awards 2006. “This inspired me that there was a market for residential developments and a few huge contracts followed such as the Lagoa Azul golf development on the stunning São Tomé Island and Metsi Pepa and Gondwana game reserve developments, plus G Towers in Nigeria.”

MMI plan every project with a very tight budget says Meyer. Meyer also designs for individual residential projects, though that is more a sideline these days for her business she says. “Money is not there to waste and we are proud to give our clients value for money. It is difficult to design for, let’s say, individual residential clients, as this is a very time consuming process. A house that is planned for an individual must be designed around their personality and therefore we need to spend a lot of time with the client to get to know them and their lifestyle to be able to produce the best design. So we are very selective with individual clients. However our main focus is residential developments and corporate and mixed use developments such as hotels, apartments and offices.”

Beating the downturn
But with much of the global business world battling recession and credit worries, how is Meyer coping? “The new economic downswing has not influenced my company at all as we decided to go for the Africa market about three years ago. Now after three years, I would say 90 percent of my projects are international and mostly in West Africa. We work in Nigeria, São Tomé Island and Mozambique. To be honest, we don’t really feel the downturn as Nigeria is in a totally different league to the rest of the world.”

 Meyer says her company will also not straightjacket themselves with any specific style as each project is created around the design brief she and her clients plan together. “However, I think our own design style tends towards classic contemporary, it’s a style that has always been a winner with most of my clients. In Nigeria, for example, we have more of a glitz and glamour style that is very successful there. Nigerians are, in my experience, the happiest people on earth who enjoy the good things in life and are also prepared to pay for the best. They love good style and good quality fabrics and they love glitzy interiors.”

Nevertheless Lagoa Azul in São Tomé is one project which emphasises Meyer’s own closely held design values in particular. Lagoa Azul is on an amazing island – and Meyer’s client gave her an open design envelope.

“The new projects we do in Nigeria, especially Harrow Park and Aluko & Oyebode, are all premium projects. If I have to be subjective though I must choose my own development, Nautica, as the one that stands out which gave me the most joy and pleasure to do. I was the developer and my company was contracted to do the interiors. It was so much fun to be my own boss at that time, and make my own decisions.”

MMI is now a household name in Nigeria and Meyer says she has already landed 18 new projects in Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria. “Our recent success in new projects is the new Towers for Asset Management called Wilmot Point. It will be three towers for mixed use with an anchor tenant MTN plus a 200-bed hospital.” Additionally Meyer says she is opening offices in Lagos, Abuja and São Tomé as part of MMI’s up-coming five-year plan. “To work in Nigeria has been the best decision in my career. They are the most amazing people I have ever worked with.”

A clear, direct approach
New clients, of course, are always welcome. Meyer says that she has a very straightforward approach to client needs, as well as all the usual business terms and conditions. “We set our terms and client obligations straight in the very first client meeting. The most important bit is to know who you are and what your likes and dislikes are. Then we set about articulating the brief.”

Most clients do know, more or less, what they want says Meyer. But they need her to clarify and articulate it – and within budget. “I think the most amazing part of any project we do, whether it’s big or small, is the sheer joy and satisfaction afterwards from our clients. That puts all our hard work into perspective. It’s extraordinarily satisfying.”