Reinventing London: The New Breed Of Designersat the Super-Prime

London's modern-day HNWs have different top priorities and needs for their houses-- and fresh new designers are stepping up to fulfill the difficulty with ingenious approaches, composes William Cash.

Every years-- or generation-- London sees a brand-new type of interior designers or 'developer-designers' who stick out and talk to an aesthetic voice, whose vision mixes easily with the architectural zeitgeist. While most HNWs have heard of Candy & Candy (or a minimum of their Monaco superyacht), Finchatton, or a bespoke company like Fenton Whelan, these 'developer brand name' companies are all now related to as well established. In other words, they've made lots of cash developing in London's super-prime market, which until recently was up 40 percent considering that 2009.

Nevertheless, following punitive stamp duty walkings, London's super-prime market is down 20 percent. 'Billionaires are shunning the London high-end residential or commercial property market, with sales of "incredibly prime" ₤ 10 million-plus homes in the capital collapsing by 86 per cent over the previous year,' the Guardian reported in October. The paper mentioned figures from Land Registry which revealed that just five properties were offered for more than ₤ 10 million in the 3 months to August 2016, compared to 35 such residential or commercial properties in the very same quarter the previous year. Outside London, no residential or commercial property cost more than ₤ 10 million.

As constantly in the property development service, such cost falls have developed brand-new opportunities for designers who are tuned into the frame of mind of HNW customers, and more significantly are not caught financially with a slate of costly super-prime tasks and developments on their books. HNW customers seeking to buy 'off-plan' have various concerns-- such as desiring a two-bed lateral flat with sufficient entertaining area to host twenty for supper, instead of a six-bedroom ₤ 11.5 million super-home.

The previous couple of years have the introduction of numerous under-the-radar individuals who are reinventing the rules of interior decoration and of what it means to develop a designer 'brand name' today. Leaders consist of Katharine Pooley and Helen Green Design, which are following in the custom of the fantastic London interior designer brand names such as Colefax & Fowler.

What is most striking about such iconic 'designer' brands is that, on the whole, customers came to them because they desired their hallmark look. Colefax & Fowler originated what is understood today as 'country house design', providing a refreshing mix of contemporary chic and classic chintz that stripped away the chaotic gloom of Victoriana. But the brand-new type of designers is moving far from the signature brand look. Instead, their customers desire provenance, originality, artisan-craftsmanship, quirky architectural details. These designer-developers have a philosophy of style that transcends the visual into the practical.

Edo Mapelli Mozzi of Banda is passionate about the phase set of modern city life. For each Banda task, 'designers, artisans and contractors are carefully picked to make sure the houses we produce an appeal to the pertinent market. We intend to surpass expectations in regards to the quality and service in the homes we deliver.'

Banda's acutely in-depth bespoke work reflects the most profound aspirations of HNW clients today and society's altering architectural tastes and domestic style. Edo, who was brought up and educated in England, has actually adopted the title of Noël Coward's 1932 play Design for Living for his branding functions. 'At Banda, our houses are built for life,'

he states.

With twelve years' experience, Edo and his group utilize their deeply embedded 'market intelligence' (i.e. relationships with representatives and buyers' agents) to source quirky residential or commercial properties, typically with some industrial heritage or architectural provenance. Using a team of 'artisan-craftsmen' and designers, the Banda idea is to only put its name to a development that has 'an initial identity' and will 'make its own mark'.

The Banda Design Studio is unusual in that it provides a genuinely 'full service' experience for HNWs, from interior design to architect's designs, through to the dressing of all reveal apartments within developments. The most talked-about designers of each generation are more than mere designers: they provide a window into the soul of our times and the Way We Live Now. Some 95 per cent of Banda's work is 'speculative development'; the other 5 percent is a private commission or job work.

Edo has actually been developing 'character' homes in areas like Battersea, where he has actually had significant success converting an old bakeshop. 'A great deal of our business design has been producing prime lateral flats outside the standard zone 1 area,' he says. He mentions that in areas like Nine Elms most two-bed flats range from 900-1,300 sq ft. Think kitchen area dinner for four-six if you squash around the table. 'So you can't entertain.'

His two-bed flats tend to be 2,000-3000sq ft. In one flat he had a 'bedroom that had his-and-hers dressing spaces, a huge restroom with an entertaining area where you could have twenty for dinner or 40 for a beverages celebration. However it's a two-bedroom flat. Which doesn't exist on the market.' When Banda took these 'two-bed prime lateral' flats to market, all offered in 24 hours. 'We produced something that is not cookie-cut, is not what everybody else is producing.'

Edo states his customer focus has constantly been based on listening to what 'owner-occupiers' want, rather than the sales pitch of representatives. 'We know there is a need from these sorts of downsizers, people in their early fifties whose kids have matured, have left home. They need a spare bed room however they do not require a five-bedroomed house any more. But they still desire the space they had.' Many likewise have an office space.

Another leading example of the leading brand-new type of designer is Andrew Murray, creator of Morpheus London style. I first met Andrew in May at the MIPIM exhibit in Cannes, where he had welcomed me to a special lunch party. Andrew is likewise a co-partner (with Simon Davis) of the Rosebery, Britain's most exclusive double-decker private box bus-- more like a private luxury yacht decorated like a Mayfair club than your normal bus.

I asked him how a designer today can get the balance right in between being a high-end 'brand name' (like the Rosebery) and at the same time keep being special and private as a company with private commission work. The response is that Morpheus is rooted in artisan design work. His mom was an interior designer and his daddy 'extremely creative', and this is the typical DNA style aspect to all its jobs. Andrew began off as a cabinet-maker and joiner, practically self-taught. 'This has been vital because I know how things are made, and I understand how things need to flow,' he states. 'So, coming from that artisan background, the business developed as my exposure to luxury home progressed.'

Andrew's vocation started at Canford School in Dorset, which had an excellent woodworking department. 'I set up my business when I was still at school,' he states. 'I embellished an office block when I had to do with sixteen and utilized people from school, which was rather fun. So it evolved from there.'

Clients started asking him suggestions on all aspects of the design task-- not just the cabinet he was making. 'I understood none had a complete, and they were constantly at a little bit of a loss. So they were having this lovely piece of kitchen cabinetry made, however whatever else didn't actually match, and the arrangement of service wasn't there. It was really historic. It was really in the old school. And so I saw an opportunity to provide the sort of end-to-end service.'

Morpheus is now one of the most sought-out design firms in London, with customers all over Europe (thus the trendy however discreet lunch celebration at MIPIM). It wasn't always so attractive, though: his very first big job was the conversion of a large home in Stockwell in which the dance act KLF utilized to live. 'Then I associated a developer in Mayfair who had a portfolio of 60 houses-- leasings. I had to do with 25 then, and I took control of the development management of their maintenance, archive, refurbishment-- so it led from there.'

The next relocation was to establish his own visual style-- putting the Morpheus imprint on projects without them becoming more about Morpheus than the customer. 'I look extremely much at the function of space. Our designers do the interior decoration and the stylising, however I do the function, the circulation, the function. Which was coming through really highly then, and I think that's what led to success and led to growth.'

What makes Andrew the option of moguls, UHNWs and City tycoons who desire their houses to stick out however also remain under the radar design brand-wise is his understanding of who the extremely finest craftspeople are. 'I can still go onto a site and state, "Actually, make it like that. It's much more commercial." So Morpheus is a style home, but we are also so much more than that-- we understand commercial realities. If a client states, "I've got four homes that I desire you to design," I'm not even going to look at the design until I've comprehended the industrial service case. And I'm going to go, "Who's going to buy it? Why are they buying? What do they desire?" And after that that will lead the design.'