When a client recently asked Kristofer Keith to design a hip gastropub on the cheap, Keith did what he does best: improvise.

He found inexpensive cedar fencing and stained it darker for a rustic interior look. He salvaged old bricks for other design elements. And he even made chandeliers out of empty beer bottles.

Working on a budget of just $250,000, Keith was able to transform a staid, 2,000-square-foot strip mall storefront into a new Hollywood eatery called Stout with a style all its own.

Attorney Charles Lew, a co-owner of the restaurant, said that Keith’s work surpassed his expectations, though the partnership could be challenging at times.

“‘I would point at something and say, ‘Kris, how is that going to work?’ and he’d look at it, flap his arms around and say, ‘Don’t worry that will look great.’ As an attorney with investors I can’t flap my arms around and tell investors, ‘Don’t worry it will look great, write me another check,’” said Lew, who has developed other hotspots such as Crown Bar. “I don’t think anyone else in the business could have done a better job – period.”

It’s efforts like these that have the hospitality world talking and have catapulted Keith’s Hollywood-based Spacecraft Group to the top of L.A.’s competitive hospitality design world.

Since 2001, Keith has opened 12 spots, mostly in Hollywood, with four others under construction and another four soon to break ground. Some of his better known work includes lounge Bar Delux, and restaurants Ortolan; the Bowery; and Kitchen 24, honored last year by the American Institute of Architects of Los Angeles.

A hallmark of Keith’s business is his unorthodox style; he comes up with designs by touring a space and taking a mental “snapshot” of the finished project.

Though Keith’s loose style may differ from other designers, he stakes his business on a claim that not one of the restaurants, lounges and clubs he’s designed has gone out of business. It’s a strong distinction in an industry subject to rapidly changing trends where designers can have short-lived stints at the top.

Even more noteworthy, Keith, 40, is on a hot streak during a decidedly slow time in the industry. He chalks it all up to his multipronged business, which handles everything from permitting, graphic design, construction and even the design of a client’s Web site, in addition to traditional design work.

“When people come to me they can hand me the keys and go on vacation and come back with a restaurant. If I am involved, it opens and it is still open and they are busy,” he said.

Knocking around

Keith, who holds a bachelor’s degree in furniture design from the University of North Carolina, moved to Hollywood in 2001, leaving behind Charlotte, N.C. There he had worked as a sort of jack of all trades, building furniture, restoring Victorian homes, and designing a handful of hair salons and a nightclub.

Keith realized he’d found his calling after designing a Charlotte nightclub called Tonic in 1998. He enjoyed going to the club and experiencing the fruits of his labor. But Charlotte was confining, so he jotted down a list of six big cities he’d consider moving to, including New York, San Francisco and Chicago. One by one, he found reasons to check each off of the list, until only Los Angeles remained.

He moved to Hollywood but it was tough to get work, with most restaurateurs and club owners choosing to go with an established handful of designers, including Dodd Mitchell, who had cornered the scene earlier this decade.

Keith decided to focus his business solely on commercial work, turning down homes because he wanted to design public projects. He pitched people, but initially didn’t find any takers. He had to take on odd jobs, such as home remodeling for friends, to make ends meet.

“I had no money. I would just work. I had a tool box and (design software) AutoCAD and was working from home,” he said.

Keith got a break in 2002 when he met restaurateur Andre Guerrero, a former chef. Guerrero asked Keith to design his new Sherman Oaks restaurant, Max, on Ventura Boulevard. The budget was only $45,000, so Keith did it all himself, from designing and building furniture to constructing the interior.

“I really enjoyed it,” Keith said. “I had lived through the frustration of seeing other people get all the jobs.”

Guerrero and his partners worked out a plan to pay Keith back over two years, an important income source while Keith’s business was getting off the ground. Guerrero, happy with the results, began referring Keith to others.

“Some designers want only the most expensive materials and aren’t able to change their design if necessary,” said Guerrero, who later tapped Keith to design his BoHo Restaurant in Hollywood, which opened earlier this year. “The thing that is great about Kris, he will find solutions.”

After finishing work at Max, Keith soon got another gig nearby, which he finished a year later. And then through Guerrero he met actress Jeri Ryan, who was opening a fine-dining French restaurant, Ortolan. Ryan and her partner’s budget was $500,000 and Keith’s design was his most lavish yet. The space is clad in white, with tufted banquettes and a row of crystal chandeliers. It opened in February 2005.

“I get calls (from people) saying it is one of the most beautiful restaurants they’ve ever seen,” said Keith.

Though the phone didn’t start ringing off the hook instantly, Keith said, the pace of work quickened, and he started churning out projects over the next couple of years. He designed the Bowery, La Buca, La Grande Orange Café and others.

In 2006, he opened an office on Selma Avenue in Hollywood, outfitting it with a stocked bar and a pool table to look like one of his designs.

“You are hiring me to design your restaurant or cool bar, so my office should feel like that,” he said.

Up-to-the-minute

Today, Spacecraft employs 30 people, including architects, engineers, graphic designers, construction workers, and furniture makers. With project budgets ranging from $200,000 to $2 million, the company may gross as much as $6 million before the year is out. Next year, Keith hopes to hit $10 million.

Because the hospitality design business is one of fads and up-to-the-minute designers, Keith said his unwillingness to repeat designs or hang his hat on a signature look has given him longevity. Others agree.

“He thinks of it as an installation and does not repeat himself. That’s really hard to do,” said Ana Henton, a designer and partner at Silver Lake’s Mass Architecture and Design Inc., which has designed downtown restaurant Casa and Intelligentsia Coffee in Venice.

That differentiates Keith from Mitchell, according to Henton. “You walk into a Dodd Mitchell place and you know it’s a Dodd Mitchell place,” she said.

Keith considers Mitchell, designer of dozens of projects including several Sushi Roku restaurants, Falcon and the Crescent Hotel, a rival.

“He has his business I have mine. He does his thing I do mine,” Keith said.

Mitchell did not return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment.

Keith said that he’d like to expand by branching out into the hotel design business. He said it would allow him to take on projects with bigger price tags, though he admits that’s not likely soon given how the recession has crushed the hotel business. He once was commissioned to redesign a hotel, but when his relationship with ownership deteriorated, he left the project.

Keith said that he’s walked away from other projects and turned down work, too. He believes it’s a part of a strategy that will help him remain a long-term leader in the field.

“If I don’t get a good vibe, why do I want to get involved with a project? I am going to get emotionally involved. Why do I want to spend a year of my life only to be disappointed?” he said.

Spacecraft Group

Headquarters: Hollywood

Founded: 2001

Core Business: Restaurant design and construction

Employees: 30 (up from 20 last year)

Goal: To expand into hotel work and become the dominant hospitality design company in Los Angeles County

The Numbers: Projected 2009 revenue of $4 million to $6 million