As London Design Festival returns this month (14-22 September), it’s the perfect opportunity to take a look at the hotels, restaurants and businesses of SW1 that have design at their very core
Knightsbridge design hot spots
The numerous events, exhibits and host venues organised for Brompton Design District showcase the unique feel of Knightsbridge – a cultural centre for design, renowned for its relaxed elegance, mixing old-school class (from institutions including Harrods to heritage luxury brands such as Crockett & Jones) with a forward-looking design ethos.
Jane Withers, curator of Brompton Design District, has introduced thoughtful themes that, this year, focus on learning as a lifelong process. This naturally chimes with Sarah Myerscough, whose eponymous gallery is a pioneer of modern, sculptural craft and is sure to be an LDF highlight. She describes the gallery’s aesthetic as ‘showcasing craft-based design which requires a high level of commitment to perfecting a skill over time, starting with a passion for material’.
This year’s show will celebrate some of the most exciting designer-artists working in wood today. ‘I have tried to show the different ways they engage with the material, from burning, oxidising, carving and constructing as a very elemental and authentic response to the material itself.’
The area’s seemingly effortless style is no better demonstrated than at the Knightsbridge Hotel, where founder and creative director Kit Kemp espouses her refreshing design philosophy. ‘Every space is much like creating a piece of art where every canvas is different from the next – that’s the joy of it for me, it’s why I love doing it,’ she explains. ‘The design process depends on lots of things – function and natural lighting and scale. You have to take each space on its own merits. Hardly any building is perfect, so you have to enhance the things that are good and negate those that are not. And that’s easy to do with colour and shape. After getting all the necessary things in, it is all about making something interesting, not too serious and arousing curiosity and capturing the imagination.’
It is also crucial to her that all the senses are brought into play – it’s not simply about making things look good but also considering their touch and feel too. ‘They are all are important,’ she says. ‘A hotel needs to be a bit more theatrical than a home for super impact and capturing the imagination. Texture is so important to the final aesthetic, as all our senses are asked to be fulfilled. I’ve found fabric walling creates a cocooned feeling of wellbeing; it absorbs the sound and adds warmth yet is very hard-wearing and lasts.’
Inspiration can be found everywhere –¬ from YDF Interiors, who push the boundaries with their team of multidisciplinary architects and interior designers – to the Paradox Museum, which offers a playful take on how design can alter our perceptions with ingenious trompe l’oeil spaces to explore. Pioneering design applies not only to the architecture and our shaped environment, or the beautiful objects that fill our homes, but also the clothes we wear. Harvey Nichols remains a destination for style lovers the world over, and looks every bit the part, and looks every bit the part. That’s Knightsbridge in a nutshell – well turned out, with exceptional taste at its core.
Words: Mark Hooper
