The Commercial Interiors UK Lifetime Achievement Award 2025, sponsored by Panaz, celebrates the extraordinary career of Amanda Rosa, founder of Amanda Rosa Interiors, and remembers her late husband, Ken McCulloch, hotelier and founder of the Malmaison Group.
Together, Amanda and Ken built experiences. They transformed the idea of a place to stay into something more human, more stylish, and far more memorable. Their work combined hospitality and design in a way that forever changed how we think about comfort, character, and atmosphere.
In 1986, they transformed a row of Glasgow townhouses into One Devonshire Gardens, a hotel that exuded warmth, elegance, and individuality, long before the term “boutique hotel” had even entered common use. Then, in 1994, they launched Malmaison, converting a former church in Edinburgh into a hotel that brought design, atmosphere, and personality to the wider market. It was bold, stylish, and entirely original.
In 2004, they founded Dakota Hotels, a collection that continues to set the standard for understated luxury. Each property, from Glasgow to Manchester, carries Amanda’s design DNA: calm, confident interiors that don’t chase trends but create timeless mood and flow. Her work has always centred on making people feel at ease, spaces that breathe, balance, and endure.
Ken’s perfectionism and charisma defined him as a hotelier. He understood that hospitality was about creating a feeling people remember, and that belief, combined with Amanda’s intuitive design, shaped an enduring creative legacy. His passing in 2024 was deeply felt across the industry, but his influence, and Amanda’s, continues through the brands, standards, and experiences they built together.
Amanda, who studied interior design at art college in Dundee, began her graduate career working alongside Ken. “I thought I was joining a big design firm,” she laughs, “but it was literally just him and me.” That partnership became the foundation for an enduring creative journey that would shape an industry.
From their earliest projects, Amanda and Ken challenged convention, blending bold, intuitive design with an unshakeable belief that hotels should evoke emotion and atmosphere. Their work redefined expectations, proving that luxury could be achieved through creativity, character, and warmth rather than excess.
Their first hotel project, One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow, introduced an entirely new sensibility to British hospitality, personal, characterful, and deeply considered. With Malmaison, they brought that boutique ethos to a wider audience, transforming empty city buildings into stylish, welcoming spaces full of personality.
The success of The Columbus Hotel in Monaco and the creation of the Dakota Hotels collection further cemented their legacy. Each project embodied Amanda’s belief in “simple ideas, brilliantly executed” design that feels effortless, human, and alive.
In conversation with Design Insider, Amanda reflected warmly on the dynamic that fuelled their creative partnership.
“Ken’s glass was always half full and mine half empty,” she smiled. “He’d bring me up when I was too cautious, and I’d steady him when he went too fast. We were on the same wavelength, he’d plant the seed of an idea, and I’d take it for a walk.”
Their working relationship was defined by trust and curiosity. “We had fun, it was joyful and a bit crazy at times,” she said. “Ken had foresight; he’d know when something had gone too far down the wrong road and take us back to that original spark.”
Amanda also recalled Ken’s courage during the conception of Malmaison:
“He said, ‘If we’re banging our heads against a brick wall, move the wall.’ That’s exactly what he did, creating style and value from what others overlooked.”
Reflecting on Ken’s legacy, Amanda shared:
“He was brave and utterly committed. He gave people opportunities, built careers, and taught me not to be afraid of change.”
Today, Amanda continues their shared ethos through her Glasgow-based studio, designing with intuition and calm confidence. She reflects on how her career has been shaped by collaboration, saying she feels “lucky and grateful to have worked with so many talented designers on exciting projects with very special clients.”
“If you can do the simple thing brilliantly, you’re halfway there,” she concluded. “It’s not only design, it’s everything: the music, the service, the coffee, the atmosphere. When all those things feel right, you’ve done your job.”
Although Amanda was unable to be with CIUK for the Annual Luncheon, her Lifetime Achievement Award was warmly accepted on her behalf by her close friend Lesley Osborne, presented by Rollie Attard, CEO of Panaz.