RENOVATIONS are all the rage in Kingston these days while, on the north coast, luxury villa designs are being shaped by the need to accommodate much larger groups.

That’s the view from Ryan Battick’s chair as principal architect at his firm, Mosaic Architects.

Battick’s perspective is shaped by decades in the profession. After a stint working for an architectural firm in London, he returned to Jamaica in 2015 to complete his master’s degree at the University of Technology, Jamaica.

In 2021, with knowledge gained from working at a number of firms in Kingston, he launched Mosaic Architects. His team now includes four architectural designers and the company is making a name for itself as “designers of Caribbean luxury”.

Mosaic has done designs for projects including a mixed-use development in Kingston’s ‘Golden Triangle’; a 67-unit apartment complex of unparalleled design; a 1,350-square-foot cabin in the Blue Mountains; luxury villas across Jamaica; and spectacular renovations of both residential and commercial spaces.

The Jamaica Observer had a chat with Battick about the latest trends in architecture.

Jamaica Observer Ltd (JOL): Building or renovating a property is a significant investment. How do you ensure that the design you choose will stand up over time?

Ryan Battick (RB): The most important thing, in my opinion, is you have to really understand the elements of timeless design. There are some architectural masterpieces that were built 100 years ago and still could stand up — design wise — to some buildings that are built today. However, you may build something five years ago and it looks outdated already. The most important thing is to avoid trying to be too trendy.

Good design is usually a lot less about decoration and a lot more about function. When you really dig into timeless architectural icons, you can see where the decisions made around the design were not just decisions to make them look good, but were decisions around what’s functional, what’s effective. Yes, there’s some level of decoration, but it’s not the only thing.

JOL: What is happening in architecture in Jamaica right now?

RB: If we’re looking at Kingston, what we are seeing is more renovations. Instead of spending money on a luxury apartment or a penthouse apartment, people are becoming more interested in getting a standalone home — with a lot more space — for possibly the same price and renovating it.

For north coast villa projects, these villas are becoming larger. People are filling the niche of hosting larger groups. We’re seeing a lot more luxury villas that are on the five-plus bedroom side.

If the villa is going to be used for a family home or as a second home, sometimes a staff kitchen, staff quarters is not necessary. But now, a completely separate side of the house, or even a separate building for a staff kitchen is definitely being requested a lot more. That’s because the villas are being designed directly for short-term rentals.

People see the value in separating out the cooking and the cleaning out of the house or pushing it to a side of the house where it’s just completely separated by itself. Guests don’t have to smell the food being cooked or hear the laundry being done. Everything can happen without the guests realising what’s going on behind the scenes. It’s a hybrid between a hotel, a villa and a home.

It does affect how you lay out the spaces and the things that you include in the property. And that’s definitely becoming much, much more common; because people see the value and people see the demand.

There is also a huge demand for real luxury, new-build villas. We have a big stock of existing luxury villas but they have very traditional Jamaican architecture. If you’re looking on the market for a contemporary, modern, seven-bedroom or five-bedroom, 10,000-square foot villa that can host a celebrity or somebody wealthy who’s hosting a group, there aren’t many new-build options. Those properties, they can command high nightly rates. Because of that, we’re seeing a big push for people who have property on the north coast to supply that demand.

JOL: What about trends in private use?

RB: With the global economy and the global political sphere, a lot of Jamaicans who are at retirement age are coming back to Jamaica, and that has affected the architecture and development greatly. Now you have developers catering to a market that wants services, they want a certain quality, they want a certain space and they’re willing to pay.

JOL: Are local architects able to deliver as expectations get higher, not just from homeowners but from developers?

RB: As an industry, we are forced to become much more professional. One of the big trends in architecture over the past 10 years is the change in the players that are in the real estate game. It’s not just a guy who has a piece of land and wants to put up four or six apartments. Now we have financial institutions getting into development, and it’s about a professional approach to architecture and design and project management.

There are legal implications, liabilities, investors’ money on the line. But what it does, though, is it brings more money into the industry, and you now can provide better quality products.

With more sophisticated clients and buyers, you have to offer more. You have to do it right. You have to make sure that what you’re doing is really high-end and can start to compare to the other Caribbean islands. We’re going in that direction. We have a far way to go, but it definitely does encourage everybody in the industry to step up their professionalism.

The stunning design for The Hills Apartments in Kingston .

Inside view of the completed Thai restaurant on Lady Musgrave Road in Kingston.