DE S IGN CENTRE
Each WOW!house room was utterly unique, telling
its own story through cutting edge art (an AI artwork titled ‘Generated Petals’ by Sarah Meyohas hung in the entrance foyer), beautiful antiques and the very best in contemporary furniture and furnishings sourced from the Design Centre showrooms and beyond, but as you walked from one to the next, what struck you was the cohesion. Outside it may have been a temporary structure (it will be stored and reused for subsequent exhibitions), but once inside you felt you were wandering the rooms of a fabulous mansion owned by someone of bold, eclectic, exquisite taste. A collector, a patron of artists and craftspeople, an aesthete, and a home maker. WOW!house did many remarkable perhaps the most
things, but remarkable of all was that this
temporary installation did feel like a home. Far more than a showcase of
individual design talent and the
latest products and trends, it was a masterclass in the transformative power of good design. Given a white box, the designers layered and juxtaposed, complemented and clashed colour, pattern, furniture and objects to create rooms that by turn seduced (Rayman Boozer’s exotic, pattern-filled Principal Bedroom), calmed (de Le Cuona’s meditative, textural Living Room with its colour palette drawn from the landscape), and lifted our spirits (Kit and Minnie Kemp’s smile-inducing Day Room). There was sound and music too. Luxury Italian
fragrance brand Dr. Vranjes infused each room with its own unique scent, while contemporary conceptual sound artist Peter Adjaye created an extraordinary, unifying musical landscape of different influences that filled the house. No wonder then that WOW!house was declared
a triumph. “Prepare to be WOWed,” blazoned Elle Decoration UK; BIID, (the British Institute of Interior Design) described it as “room after room of imaginative wonder,” and US-based ADPRO named it a “a 17 Room Wonder.” Social media lit up – Instagram impressions soared over 500,000 – and thousands of design professionals and enthusiasts from near, far and overseas visited in person, thrilled by the unique opportunity to experience spaces made by some of the world’s biggest and most exciting design stars. And those design stars themselves were equally thrilled – “here are all these designers who you’ve looked up to, heard of, but never managed to see, all in one place,” enthused Kit Kemp, while GP & J Baker’s managing and creative director Ann Grafton said, “the rooms are truly beautiful. WOW!house is a fantastic representation of the standard of our industry.” The final visitors stepped through architectural practice Mamou-Manu’s fantastical mandala-strewn
facade on 30 June. The WOW!house may have been dismantled, its contents repurposed and reused, but its legacy lives on. The project raised vital funds for, and awareness of,
Centrepoint, the leading charity for homeless young people. It provided a platform not only for the designers and brands, but also for a whole host of makers and artists such as wood carver Henry Neville Wood, designer Alexander Lamont, and Tollgard. It inspired and set trends – established and younger designers (Brandon Schubert,
THE WOW!ROOMS Colefax and Fowler Drawing Room by
Phillip Hooper and Emma Burns of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler ● Day Room by Kit Kemp and Minnie Kemp of Kit Kemp
Design Studio ● de Le Cuona Living Room in collaboration with United in Design ●
Freddy van Zevenbergen,
Stephanie Barba Mendoza, Linda Boronkay, Minnie Kemp and graduates from United in Design) alike embraced a highly curated, layered style of decorating ensuring that this is a look that’s here to stay. And, perhaps most important of all, its beauty sparked joy. The countdown to WOW!house 2023 begins…
Dining Room by Freddy van Zevenbergen of Lambart & Browne ● Drawing Room by Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylen ● Drawing Room by Rui Ribeiro Studio ●
Dressing Room by Richard Moore of Martin Moore ● Entrance Foyer by Shalini Misra ● GP & J Baker Morning Room by Rita Konig ● House of Rohl Bathroom by Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead of 2LG Studio ● Julian Chichester Library by
Turner Pocock ● Morris & Co. Courtyard Bedroom by Brandon Schubert ● Pierre Frey Salon by Linda Boronkay ● Principal
ABOVE: Morris & Co. is the custodian of the William Morris legacy, and for the Courtyard Bedroom, Brandon Schubert embraced the power of pattern, making the historic designs relevant to a contemporary audience. OPPOSITE: A selection of WOW!rooms. Each one had a story to tell and designers worked closely with renowned makers and international design houses to create multi- layered spaces. A kaleidoscope of different styles, colours, patterns, textures, craftsmanship, art and objets, the styles ranged from inviting comfort and a meditative retreat to dramatic globetrotting fantasy and romance
Bedroom by Rayman Boozer of Apartment 48 ● Schumacher Garden Room by Duncan Campbell and Charlotte Rey of Campbell-
Rey ● Study by Stephanie Barba Mendoza ● Tissus d’Hélène Bedroom by Joanna Plant ● Architectural Facade by Mamou-Mani
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