Working Order

The office is the star of a seven-storey home in Notting Hill.

Words: Helena Madden

WHEN HIGHLY SOUGHT-AFTER interior designer Katharine Pooley revamped the Notting Hill home of an international client, the office became a priority. It’s not only one of the first rooms seen upon entering the house but also where the owner, a car and guitar collector, spends eight to 12 hours a day. The space lives within a whitestucco, seven-storey mansion that’s hundreds of years old. Pooley’s thoughtful, contemporary approach juxtaposes the building’s heritage with the owner’s particular passions.

Carpet

Gold lurex fabric has been woven with dark blue for the custom silk rug. The metallic accents are meant to evoke the drift marks made by a racing car – a subtle nod to the owner’s automotive collection. The palette extends beyond the ebonised wood doors of the study, where the same hue is used in the living room for continuity.

Desk

Pooley worked with the joiners at Halstock to create a bespoke wooden desk, which has a blue veneer paired with antique brass inlays. Drawers built into both of the wide legs help keep the client’s technology organised. The team left the central section of the piece open to show off the thin, statuesque legs of the chair – also accented with antique brass – just behind. The desk faces the doors, positioned for a grand reception when business partners drop by for a meeting.

Shelves

The dark walnut shelves have brass and suede inlays in the back of each nook. Pooley sourced many of the objects on them herself, including the petrified-wood bookends, the tiger’s eye sculptures and the antique books. The owner displays his guitars on the shelving that runs along the side of the room opposite the window. Automotive design served as some of the inspiration here, too: the lower cabinet handles reference the shape of a McLaren’s headlights.

. Y R A E L ’ O E C I N A J D N A N E D D A M A N E L E H : T X E T R A B E D I S . N E H C S A T , I L O Z Z I R , S T C E T I H C R A N R U B K C A L B , D L A N O D C A M S E M A J : Y H P A R G O T O H P

Tabletop Tomes

American Equestrian Design, US$55

It’s one thing to create a gorgeous barn, but if its equine occupants don’t appreciate it as much as you do, the point has been missed. Blackburn Architects has become known for engineering breezy stables that keep horses cool in summer and warm in winter. Strategic siting moves air through the spaces and allows for natural light to infuse what might otherwise be dark corners. The firm has also become expert at creating stylish, cosy spaces for the humans, as well as grooming and veterinarian stations within the structures. This tour de force of stunning stables takes you through New England and horse country in the South to projects in the West and Midwest.

Workstead: Interiors of Beauty and Necessity, US$65

Interior-design firm Workstead’s projects combine Danish minimalism with the leather-and-wood accents of American design traditions. As a result, its homes and condos feel both contemporary and practical, balancing light-filled rooms with tranquil-yet-functional layouts. For one project, a Victorian-style mansion in upstate New York, the team added a modern pavilion structure; for an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Workstead redesigned virtually everything, adding oak cabinets to the kitchen and new furniture to the living areas. The studio’s lighting collection, such as the otherworldly Orbit chandelier and the geometric Hieroglyph pendant, pepper the pages. Those who want a small piece of the design practice’s look can purchase these fixtures separately online.

Gilles & Boissier, US$65

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Koichi Takada: Architecture, Nature and Design, US$75

Of all of Takada’s designs, perhaps the best known is the undulating wooden gift shop he created for the National Museum of Qatar, which graces his monograph’s cover. Inspired by the crystal-filled Cave of Light nearby, it’s indicative of Takada’s larger oeuvre, which always considers a building’s responsibility to the environment. Because the Sydney–based architect uses only natural materials, there’s a sense of comfort and ease to his work that’s a welcome antithesis to the glass-and-metal boxes of most contemporary architecture. He’s looking to the future, too. One of his most significant in-the-works projects is a residential high-rise that will incorporate more than 1,000 trees and 20,000 plants. Should it pan out as planned, it just may set a new standard for sustainable living.

Kuma. Complete Works 1988—Today, US$200

There’s no question that Kengo Kuma has significantly changed the shape of contemporary architecture – in particular, his preference for natural materials over manmade ones. Like works from peers Shigeru Ban and Tadao Ando, Kuma’s projects are wide-ranging and take stylistic risks. While he’s now most celebrated for his design of the monolithic, cedar-panelled Japan National Stadium – the centrepiece of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics – he began his career with small-scale projects in rural regions such as Tohoku and Shikoku. In the mid-1990s, he worked on a villa in coastal Shizuoka, where a layer of water covers the terrace, connecting the bay views to the home itself. This retrospective includes 500 photographs and sketches depicting every facet of the prolific Japanese designer’s creative process.