DE S IGN CENTRE EMMA PREST
After a decade working for the likes of Rose Uniacke and Hollie Bowden, Emma Prest established her small south-east London interior architecture and design studio in 2024. She majors in spaces that are layered with atmosphere.
What inspires you? I spent much of my childhood living in and travelling around different countries, and that early exposure to new places and local craftsmanship has stayed with me. I find that I’m always drawn to materials, objects and techniques that feel rooted in their context.
What’s the thread that runs through every scheme, regardless of the aesthetic? Attention to detail, but not in a way that feels strict. I often think the best interiors are those that don’t feel like they’ve been designed at all, which is quite the trick.
What projects are you working on at the moment? A full renovation and basement dig-out for a period home in Dulwich, a mansion block apartment in Little Venice and a townhouse in Notting Hill.
Is there any business advice you wish you’d known when you started out? To be comfortable with change and uncertainty. It’s part of what makes the work interesting – you never quite know where the next project will come from, how it will evolve or where it might lead.
What’s your latest discovery at the Design Centre? August + Co. I’ve recently sourced a range of beautiful textured fabrics from them.
GEORGE MORGAN
Stints at India Mahdavi and Veere Grenney put George Morgan in good stead to launch his eponymous London-based studio in 2022. A Courtauld Institute of Art graduate, he is quickly becoming known for interiors that are contemporary in spirit, yet rich with historical references.
Describe your style in three words. Prada, Pawson, Ponti.
What inspires you? I love design from the 1920s and 30s and have scrapbooks filled with pictures of furniture and lighting by the likes of Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Royère and Pierre Chareau. It is the first truly international style.
Do you have a specific starting point for a project? With most of the buildings I work on, I end up doing a lot of work to take them back to their original form – especially in London where buildings have lost their way in years of thoughtless adaptations.
What projects are you working on at the moment? The major renovation of an old stable house in Clerkenwell. The design is something like JFK Jr’s apartment in Ryan Murphy’s Love Story meets Giorgio Armani’s Milan apartment by Peter Marino. I’m also working on an apartment in Milan for the creative director of a cosmetics brand, for which I’ve sourced tons of mid-century Italian furniture.
What’s your latest discovery at the Design Centre? Dedar, from which I sourced almost all of the fabrics for my Milan project. The quality is fantastic and the colours are unbelievable – we used their mohair velvet in a chartreuse for the sofa.
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