Interior Design - Levitt Bernstein

Interior Design Portfolio

We believe that good design has the ability to elevate practical and mundane buildings and spaces into places of delight and enduring quality – creating better places to live, work and socialise.

We are committed to creating interiors that give a lifetime of pleasure with an emphasis on people led, inventive design. From our design studios in London and Manchester, we work on housing, education, arts, commercial and health projects of all shapes, sizes and budgets across the country.

Our expertise spans from research and space planning to the specification of furniture and fittings, including those for technically complex facilities such as laboratories or lecture theatres. Putting people at the heart of our work, each of our projects is different but the driving force behind every one is the desire to create an environment that is beautiful and functional.

Many of our projects also involve the sensitive restoration and refurbishment of listed buildings; and we have significant experience of working in historic contexts – always striking a balance between respecting architectural heritage whilst meeting modern day requirements and expectations.

Our interior designers work independently on standalone commissions, or together with architects as part of a wider design process. This holistic approach ensures that interiors are considered from the outset, thus creating a coherent visual identity for the space that users can inhabit and enjoy.

“UCL Laws has, at long last, a home fit for our world-leading research, teaching and social enterprise. The project has given the Faculty more than a building: it’s given us an inspiring environment in which our whole community can come together.”

Professor Piet Eeckhout, Dean, Faculty of Laws

Faculty of Laws, UCL Camden, London University College of London With increasing numbers of staff and students requiring improved facilities, our design fully integrates a Grade II listed former Union Headquarters and the adjacent mid-20th century Gideon Schreier Wing. A new naturally ventilated atrium between the two buildings provides access to all levels and a welcoming, legible heart to the faculty. We have also added multi-purpose teaching/seminar spaces on the lowest floors, with new offices and support spaces on those above. Portland stone unites the street façade and references the predominantly Georgian context. On completion, the building achieved a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.

“The highly creative plans Levitt Bernstein produced for the building have seamlessly married the much-loved traditional spaces with bright, modern facilities, giving our Faculty a home that reflects and respects its heritage, while also supporting and driving its forward-thinking, global agenda.�

Professor Dame Hazel Genn, Project Sponsor, UCL Laws

School of Management, UCL Tower Hamlets, London University College of London This new satellite facility on Level 38 of One Canada Square is inspired by the School’s interface between business and academia. The floor is split with one half providing high specification teaching spaces, including two Harvard style theatres and numerous break-out facilities; and the other half a range of office and workspaces. These are organised into distinct ‘villages’, each defined by an informal array of cellular rooms looking out onto shared workspace. Across the floor, broken geometries create informal spaces for serendipitous meetings, encouraging collaboration and interaction at every turn.

“More than just providing the highest quality facilities in an operational sense, our new home in One Canada Square reflects our strong focus on innovation, technology, analytics and entrepreneurship, with communication and collaboration encouraged at every turn.�

Bert De Reyck, Director, School of Management, UCL

“By using broken geometries across the whole floorplate we’ve created informal spaces and shared breakout areas which allow for serendipitous meetings between students and faculty, with the aim of sparking unexpected conversations and shared creative thinking.”

Matthew Goulcher, Managing Director

A new concierge, cinema room and gym provide high quality, functional spaces for Aberfeldy Estate residents to work, socialise and exercise within minutes from their homes. Importantly, these facilities are accessible to all residents, whether they live in private sale or socially rented homes.

Throughout, we have created an industrial aesthetic in-keeping with the trading heritage of the local East India area. Opulent details and sumptuous textures add a sense of luxury – this juxtaposition forming distinctive spaces with identity, that residents can claim and inhabit as their own.

“Aberfeldy Village is quickly transforming into a vibrant new neighbourhood around a significant new London park at its heart.

Housing of all types and tenures has been carefully designed to support development of this mixed, sustainable community – both now and in the long term.”

Ben Ffoulkes-Jones, Project Director, EcoWorld

Aberfeldy Estate Tower Hamlets, London Aberfeldy New Village LLP

“Soapbox illustrates what true collaborative design is all about. We’ve been able to work closely with Islington Council and the young people who will use the building on every aspect – from the first overall design concepts through to the material selection, colour palette, lighting and Soapbox brand itself.”

Jo McCafferty, Director

Soapbox Islington, London London Borough of Islington We were invited by the London Borough of Islington to design a space for a new youth project, encompassing the existing youth provision as well as creating new spaces to engage young people.

The new project is located within an existing 1960s building.

We designed a new frontage, including a pleated façade, to give it street presence and worked closely with both the youth workers and young people that will use the space to develop the internal layout.

On the ground floor, a dance space can be opened up to create a large gathering area with a juice bar. In the basement, there are two music studios with dedicated control rooms, as well as a flexible spill out space, classroom, DJ suite and editing room. The layout is flexible above all else, allowing the project to adapt as needed.

Dating from 1873, Devonshire Park has long been an attraction for the south coast.

However, the facilities were in need of significant revitalisation and so we were appointed to carefully restore the listed theatres; enhance the tennis facilities and provide a new conference building. Throughout, our goal was to preserve the heritage significance of the site, whilst creating modern venues and facilities.

The original interior design was recreated as far as possible by researching historical photographs. In the auditorium, the cork floor has been replaced, teak panelling repaired and refinished, and its shaped plaster balcony fronts and sweeping ceilings have been restored. New seats are more comfortable and elegant. There are more permanent spaces for wheelchair users and companions.

“This is an extremely exciting project that will bring more people to Eastbourne, provide even better facilities for residents and support the sustainability of the park for future generations.�

Councillor David Tutt, Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council

Devonshire Park Eastbourne Eastbourne Borough Council

“The development of Devonshire Park is a wonderful project for us that unusually combines our skills in masterplanning, landscape design and work with listed and new buildings in a heritage context.�

Mark Lewis, Associate Director

Wish Tower Eastbourne Eastbourne Borough Council We were commissioned to design a new landmark destination restaurant in Eastbourne for an internationally renowned chef. Located adjacent to a listed Martello tower, our objective was to maximise the stunning seafront views, whilst respecting the local heritage. We have designed a glass façade with an exposed timber structure. Inspired by the nautical context, the interior space can be reconfigured to respond to the weather, with wind breakers and covers to protect diners from the elements, and deep overhangs providing shading from the summer sun. A dramatic larch timber roof form provides the building’s signature.

“By combining the old and new with sensitivity and ingenuity, we’ve transformed this into a modern yet informal space for students to enjoy.”

Matthew Goulcher, Managing Director

UCL Union Gower Place Camden, London University College London This project united three disparate adjacent buildings, one of which is Grade II listed, to provide new student union facilities.

Centred on the concept of ‘found spaces’, we retained elements of the existing buildings and combined them with new interventions to create a raw, industrial feel. The previous laboratory has been modified and extended to form a new social circulation hub alongside a basement venue, bar, café, rehearsal rooms, dance studio, media suites, as well as offices and meeting rooms.

“The imaginative scheme has transformed the former bookshop, pub and laboratories into a facility that is greater than the sum of its parts.�

Education Design & Build Magazine

The first phase of this large, complex project delivered a new foyer building, featuring an open informal performance space at its centre and a range of other flexible spaces to support education, outreach and conference programmes. Phase two involves sensitively restoring the listed building and second Victorian hall, refurbishing backstage areas and creating new spaces for learning and creativity. The atmospheric cellars will also be carefully converted into recording studios, and an underground venue will extend Bristol Beacon’s diverse musical reach even further.

“The transformation will touch tens of thousands of lives. Our audiences and the children that we educate will benefit immensely from the new facilities. We’ll also boost the Bristol economy by tens of millions of pounds each year.

Louise Mitchell, Chief Executive, Bristol Music Trust

Bristol Beacon Bristol Bristol City Council

“It’s wonderful to be working on such a fantastic and far-reaching project.

It’s required patience and dedication – I started working on the Bristol Beacon project in 2001 – but it’s one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever been involved with and I can’t wait to see phase two completed.”

Mark Lewis, Associate Director at Levitt Bernstein

King Square Islington London Borough of Islington At King Square, a residential project in LB Islington, we oversaw the finishes consultancy and furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) design for 42 private sale homes, including fit-out and styling of the show apartment. This is all part of the King Square Estate in LB Islington, which is being redeveloped by Pollard Thomas Edwards.

We selected both contemporary and period furniture, combined with timeless, high-quality materials, including marble and white oak. The design was inspired by 1960’s interiors, connecting the history of the estate, which was originally completed in 1965, and this new phase.

Our masterplan for the regeneration of the High Road West Estate in Tottenham was created in collaboration with AStudio and S333 Architects. We designed a cluster of mixed use buildings wrapped around a new civic square, alongside a new library and sports building and a mix of 1,800 new homes. The tallest tower includes a restaurant, bar and microbrewery at its base and extensive shared space for residents at upper levels connecting to external garden terraces. Our interiors team led the design of these communal areas, bar and eateries to ensure they are spaces that residents and visitors would enjoy.

“This exemplary collaboration project is underpinned by cutting edge expertise in designing new vibrant neighbourhoods. In particular, Levitt Bernstein brilliantly embraced the numerous constraints of a dense and complex urban site and the expectations of multiple stakeholders.�

Olivier Soulier, Deputy Managing Director, Linkcity

High Road West Haringey, London Linkcity and London Borough of Haringey

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