How STUDIO THO Blends Culture and Hospitality

(Above image: Fishbar by STUDIO THO. Photo by Aman Shakya)

STUDIO THO, a small design firm based in Savannah, Georgia, exemplifies the power of design through storytelling. Its practice is rooted in hospitality, curiosity, and a deep connection to Vietnamese culture. As a small design firm the studio works to create designs that foster human connection, create memories, and leave users with a lasting impression.

As IIDA’s 2026 Will Ching Design Competition Winner, its project Fishbar blends the soul of the American South with the coastal nature of the Mediterranean, creating a sense of belonging for those who enter. The design transports you to a space that's warm, intimate, and grounded. Whether crafting the intimate, transportive world of Fishbar or building spaces rooted in empathy and storytelling, STUDIO THO’s team sees design not simply as aesthetics, but as a way to enhance human experiences.

In this conversation, STUDIO THO’s founding principal, Chi-Thien Nguyen, IIDA, shares his pathway to design, the foundation of STUDIO THO, and what it means to win this year's Will Ching Design Competition.

How did you find design?

Growing up in Vietnam, I spent my summer afternoons following my father to work at the Institute for Cultural Exchanges between Vietnam and France, where he was the director. I’d sneak into the tech booth of the institute’s small theater company and watch the artists bring stories to life. I didn't know it then, but those moments in the dark were my first true exposure to the world of storytelling, one of STUDIO THO’s key focuses in design.

Seated man with round black glasses, wavy dark hair and faint mustache, wearing a gray blazer and dotted shirt under warm red lighting. — **Chi-Thien Nguyen, IIDA**
Founding Principal
STUDIO THO

Image courtesy of Chi-Thien Nguyen

How have your cultural background, travels, or sense of place shaped the way you think about design?

My perspective on design is defined by a Vietnamese cultural upbringing and an American professional ripening. You can see it in the name of our practice, STUDIO THO. It’s named after my grandmother Tho, whose name means “longevity” in Vietnamese. As a community matriarch, her secret weapons were her empathy and hospitality. I’ve adopted that same empathetic lens to fuel my curiosity as a designer. We even look at the English word Tho”, as in “although”, meaning a shift in perspective, as part of our ethos. We use that empathetic curiosity to look at challenges differently, designing spaces and stories that truly have Tho: longevity.

Fishbar feels intimate, transportive, and full of playful coastal details. How did you create a hospitality experience that feels highly designed, genuinely welcoming and a little unexpected?

The trick to Fishbar was to purposefully un-design. After spending time in the South of France designing a museum for the Savannah College of Art and Design's (SCAD) Lacoste campus, we wanted to translate the effortless nonchalance of the Mediterranean coast into our hospitality experience. I told our branding team, Get messy. It should feel like a chalkboard sign at a mom-and-pop shop.” Every physical element was curated to be a soft whisper rather than a shout, grounding the visual landscape with raw textures, artisanal woodwork, and a monochromatic palette. Lighting was critical; we favored warm pools of light over bright strips, keeping the ambiance low so people naturally lean in. To balance that deep intimacy, we punctuated the space with playful surprises, starting with the oversized fish lantern that acts as a whimsical beacon to the street.

Warm, dim restaurant interior with a curved marble bar, glowing tabletop lamps, rattan pendant lights, booth seating and set place settings. — Will Ching Design Competition juror **Mari Balestrazzi** describes Fishbar as, "Warm, intimate and playful. The space exudes an attention to detail and a focus on guest experience."

Photo by Aman Shakya

Warm-lit restaurant interior with a woman in a leather jacket arranging a table and a bespectacled man in a black blazer looking down. — Behind the Scenes of STUDIO THO Fishbar.

Image courtesy of Chi-Thien Nguyen

As a small studio, how do you approach projects differently than a larger firm might?

Our approach is defined by intimacy. We operate much like the small theater company I grew up watching at my father's institute, where everyone is hands-on and focused entirely on bringing a specific narrative to life. Our size gives us the unique luxury of remaining intensely personal. We lean heavily into the empathetic hospitality my grandmother modeled. We build worlds one ink stroke at a time, and our scale allows us to stay right there in the tech booth with our clients from the first sketch to the final lightbulb, ensuring every space we design is shaped by genuine empathy and care.

What does it mean for you and STUDIO THO to be this year’s Will Ching Design Competition winner?

STUDIO THO just celebrated our second anniversary, and Fishbar is actually one of our very first completed projects. We have always believed our size is our greatest asset, allowing us to be agile, intensely curious, and deeply empathetic with every client. Winning the Will Ching Design Competition feels like a celebration of our intentional intimacy. It tells us that our commitment to hands-on storytelling truly translates into the spaces we create, and it proves that a small group of people working closely together can design experiences that have true Thọ: longevity.

What are you most optimistic about for the future of STUDIO THO—and for the future of design?

I am optimistic about empathy and acceptance. When we stay intensely curious about how different people live and gather, the narratives we build become so much richer. As interior designers, we are given the profound privilege of designing the physical backdrops for all the key milestones in someone's life. Knowing that our work will hold those enduring human moments is exactly what keeps us inspired for the future. We are not simply building spaces; we are memory makers.