When designing a home around contemporary art, especially if the art is an impressive one, the house should rise to the occasion in more ways than one. In this case the owner of this Victorian house in London owned a dramatic collection of contemporary art so instead of creating a home that recedes to the background, Architect and designer Shalini Misra created a home with drama just enough to not shy away from the art and with character enough to serve as blending element. The result is a balanced combination of drama and glamour.
A mixture of black and white play a protagonist role in the Interior Architecture. The contrasting colors are beautifully used. We can see them on ornate stair railing and on the Rhombus pattern tiles on the raised ground floor. The transformation of the Interior Architecture was pretty impressive and left only to professionals. Since the house needed to be enlarged to accommodate the owner’s art collection, doorways were widened to facilitate the view of the art. The basement was dug deep to create an extra 418 square meters for a swimming pool, gym and spare rooms. As well as the staircase was relocated to move clockwise between all floors. This last move was inspired by Vastu Shatra principles- a traditional Hindu system of architecture meant to bring harmony into the home.
How amazing is this impressive view of the staircase. Beautiful white marble, velvety stair runner and ornate railing combined with an edgy but still traditional rhombus floor. It’s a somewhat over the top interior design. Though a kind you can live with thanks to the classic references and neutral tones. I say, I’ll take it.
In the open floor plan kitchen, the walls were reinforced for large-scale paintings and life-size sculptures.
Love the wall marble walls in the bathroom and the chic brass overmount sinks.
The kitchen has an impressive overscale steel and brass island.
Photos by Michael Sinclair
