THE JOURNAL
Ilse Crawford in the Netflix series Abstract: The Art of Design. This deep thinker on buildings and interiors leads Studioilse, whose recent London projects include community kitchen Refettorio Felix and the Kantor Centre, a special needs school for children. In 2024 she created a collection for Edelman, an ongoing collaboration with the luxury leather brand (which has a showroom at the Design Centre) focusing on her ‘human-led’ approach. Where does human-focused design project begin?
“W
A brief? A Pinterest board? A handful of fabrics and some tear sheets? For interior designers, Bunny Turner and Emma Pocock of Turner Pocock, it starts with a conversation: “We go to great lengths to really drill down into our client’s lifestyle to make sure that we create spaces that really deliver to their needs – and sometimes that involves making sure that they’re really realistic about what those needs are,” says Turner. Continue down this line of inquiry, and there’s an intersection between interior design and psychology that offers a rich seam for a happy outcome. Conversely, though, too much visual stimulus at an early stage can distract from a client’s wider ambitions and instead push a conversation to the way things look, rather than the way they feel.
“INTERIOR DESIGN IS ABOUT CREATING SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE DON’T
KNOW THEY WANT – AND YOU CAN ONLY DELIVER THAT BY ASKING THEM”
“Everybody and every building is different, as is
the way clients use spaces,” says the interior designer Harriet Anstruther. Do they have kids? Pets? Is it used full-time? “I’m not the person who’s going to be living in it, so interior design is about creating something that people don’t know they want – and you can only deliver that by asking them. AI will never do that.” It’s an approach she shares with Scarlett Hessian,
founder of Studio Hessian, who recently designed the Los Angeles offices of LuckyChap (the Hollywood production powerhouse founded by Margot Robbie, her husband Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara). “Interiors that foster real emotional connection start with understanding how someone actually lives; how they move through their day, what rituals anchor them, what objects hold meaning; it might be the need for a quiet corner to drink coffee in the morning sun, or a generous dining table that draws people in for long, unhurried meals. These personal details are the foundation, and everything else builds from there.” Because logistics are at the heart of meeting the
specific requirements of a client and maximising the opportunities provided by a space, interior architecture has become such a vital element in a successful project. Yet for Hessian it goes deeper than just a floorplan.
ABOVE TOP: The vibrant mix of pattern, texture and colour in this family room by Studio Vero includes Pierre Frey’s embroidered patchwork ‘Charlotte’ fabric on the ottoman, and stool fabrics from Turnell & Gigon ABOVE BOTTOM: An informal basement room by Turner Pocock, whose human-centric approach means dedicating care and attention to a clients’ real needs
-39 -
e spend 87% of our lives inside buildings – and how they are designed really affects how we feel, how we behave,” said
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
