Launched in 2013, Pophouse is a WBENC-certified boutique interior design studio headquartered in downtown Detroit. The women-owned-and-led firm recently unveiled its new 5,000-square-foot headquarters in the city’s historic Capital Park district. With much to celebrate this year, the firm also led the much-talked-about transformation (and comeback!) of Saksey’s Detroit, an elevated downtown cocktail experience.
“When we started, our specialty was really workplace design, and that still rings true. However, we’ve diversified quite a bit in the past few years and have started to take on quite a bit more hospitality and retail work,” says Anna Okerhjelm, studio director at Pophouse. “Some of the similarities between any of the work we do really lies in crafting an experience. Whether it’s going to be a corporate workplace or a restaurant or retail space, we try to do a deep dive into the personas and people that will be interacting with the space, and what they’re looking to get out of it. How do we inspire them? How do we tie into the culture of the organization we’re working with, or the restaurant, or the brand? Bringing that full circle and embodying that within the interiors is so important because, ultimately, we want to build spaces that people want to be in and that they’re drawn to.”
For Saksey’s narrative, the team first dove into the bar’s historic roots. “It’s a Gilbert family celebration,” says Pamela Janisse, senior interior designer at the firm. “Dan Gilbert’s dad had a bar in the ’60s in Detroit of the same name, and it was known for being a little risqué.” The reimagined Saksey’s is located below another one of Pophouse’s designs, Gilly’s Clubhouse on Woodward Avenue — a sports bar opened by Dan and Jennifer Gilbert to honor the memory of their son, Nick Gilbert. “Both spaces really pay respect to their family,” Janisse says.
When it came to Saksey’s interiors, the team, drawing on the maximalism of the 1960s, set out to create a lounge that was not only a departure from the taproom upstairs, but that also felt “a little bit exclusive but still approachable,” Okerhjelm says. It began with a discrete, alley-accessed entry. “We purposely didn’t treat the back-of-house corridor that you walk down,” Janisse says. “That’s part of the experience.” The unassuming entrance leads guests down a cinder block stairway to, as Okerhjelm calls it, “a surprise and delight” moment.
Once inside, guests are transported to a bygone era, and greeted by lush and luxurious finishes. The Pophouse team considered every detail in elevating the refined lounge, from the lighting (how would it make you look and feel?) to the volume of the music and the placement of the speakers (was it too loud?). “We really tried to design the space from the guests’ perspective,” Janisse says.
Furniture and fabric selections were carefully chosen, keeping in mind the utility, functions, and operations of the bar. Sumptuous velvet seating and drapery add an element of drama to the intimate room, as does a bold cheetah-print runner in the entry and a suggestive wallcovering behind the bar that nods to the original Saksey’s. All of the gorgeously contrasting patterns and moody palettes found throughout continue an air of mischief and indulgence. “You feel like there are no rules down there,” Janisse says. “It feels like you can be whoever (you want to be) in this space, and that was really driving all of our selections.”
Bolstering the gloss and glamour of the ’60s, the entire perimeter of the room was lacquered — an application not regularly seen in Detroit, and one of the designer’s favorite features. The ceiling was mirrored to create a larger feel, while the seating, with its organic and enveloping shapes, was chosen to be flexible and modular, so it can seamlessly shift and move for better conversation and community within the sophisticated yet playful scene. “Everything we picked had a purpose and a why,” Janisse says.
She explains that when designing a place like Saksey’s, it’s all about the guest, and adds that guests should feel considered and hosted. Okerhjelm agrees. She notes: “It has to be a feast for your eyes, as well, and you have to feel like you want to spend the time to be there and linger for a while — which this space does really well.”
MORE INFORMATION: pophouse.design, sakseysdetroit.com
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