Candy

The magazine from Candy & Candy A/W 2010

The arT of design

Please telephone for a private inspection tour with an expert Edmiston broker

Espen Oeino exterior, Newcruise interior design, installed by Gehr of Germany Exceptional sun deck with huge sunbathing terrace, glass swimming jet pool and bar, elevator to all interior decks Full-beam, forward facing, split-level master suite on the main deck Three further doubles on main, VIP on the upper and twin cabin on the lower deck Highest green certification, ABS ES, RINA Green Star + VSY, 2010, 61.8m/203ft, 12 guests, €59.5m James Auld: +377 93 30 54 44, jfa@edmiston.com Cornelius Gerling: +377 93 30 54 44, cg@edmiston.com

LO N DO N :

+44 20 749 5 5 15 1

MONTE CARLO: +37 7 93 30 54 44 NEW YORK:

+1 212 792 5370

ANTIBES:

+33 493 34 68 98

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Edmiston – World leaders in yachting SALE & PURCHASE NEW CONSTRUCTION CHARTER MANAGEMENT

Not offered for charter or sale to U.S. residents while in U.S. waters.

The spectacular 62 metre Roma is appearing at the Monaco Yacht Show

TO SEE ROMA COME TO MONACO

the tRIFLOW QUADRO SYSteM Triflow ConCepTs launChes The Quadro sysTem, a revoluTionary 4-way waTer-delivery sysTem supplying noT only hoT and Cold waTer, buT filTered Cold and insTanT filTered hoT waTer aT 98ËšC. This applianCe inCorporaTes a high performanCe swiss-made filTer CarTridge. The filTered waTer is delivered Through a dediCaTed waTerway in The spouT To avoid Cross-ConTaminaTion. a spring Child loCk safeTy feaTure ensures The hoT filTered waTer is only aCTivaTed wiTh inTenT. Triflow ConCepTs enCourages a healThy and susTainable hydraTion soluTion wiTh a minimal Carbon fooTprinT. The Quadro Comes in a range of meChaniCal as well as eleCTroniC models.

visiT us aT 100 % design, sTand b20 from 23 - 26 sepTember

At Candy & Candy we pride ourselves on delivering the ultimate in design, style and quality, while constantly providing innovative and unique solutions in our drive for perfection. Above all, we offer uncompromising attention to detail in each and every one of our projects, and in this magazine we take the opportunity to showcase how important this is to the universe of Candy & Candy. We look at how even the smallest specification has been created, designed and applied with both exciting functionality and hallmark style as we examine the finishes at One Hyde Park (and the services available to residents there).

We discover how design inspiration can evolve from detailing on a classic car; and we feast our eyes on beautiful jewellery — fabulous examples of intensive crafsmanship. Speaking of feasts — and a man who embodies attention to detail — Heston Blumenthal tells us all about playing with his food and describes his ambitious plans for his brand new restaurant in London’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel, next door to One Hyde Park. We welcome you to our world, and hope you enjoy reading this issue.

CHRISTIAN CANDY

&

NICHOLAS CANDY

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Eye Candy The sexiest bespoke jewellery, most artistic handmade shoes, sofest cashmere, and the collectable artist with a penchant for stuffing

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Studio Inside the world of Candy & Candy’s creative directors. We look at the details from which they take inspiration – LA decor, classic car grilles, the curves of a stag’s antlers…

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Dress: Valentino; boots: christian laboutin; ring: graff

PUBLISHED for CAnDy & CAnDy By SHoW MEDIA LTD 1-2 Ravey Street, London EC2A 4QP 020 3222 0101; showmedia.net

State of Luxe Exploring the ultimate detailing of the world’s most expensive apartments at One Hyde Park: hand-matched marble, chilled ceilings and a view to kill for, says Simon Mills

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Cover photography ChrIS DUNLop Colour reproduction by fmg (wearefmg.com). Printed by Granite Colour (granitecolour.com). All material © Show Media Ltd, except where stated. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited

Editor Joanne Glasbey Art Director Martin Perry Art Editor Jonathan Bailey Chief Sub Editor Chris Madigan Picture Editors Rachel Lucas-Craig, Anna Wilkins Sub Editors Sarah Evans, Gill Wing Associate Editor Lucy Teasdale Managing Editor Katie Wyartt Creative Director Ian Pendleton Executive Editor Peter Howarth Advertising Julia Pasaron +44 (0) 208 741 8967

East Meets West Bill Prince describes the growth of the mighty Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and explains why it offers the best service in town

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Exhibition Pieces Distinctive masterpieces from the world’s most prestigious contemporary jewellery houses

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Boom Time A supersonic private jet is straining to be launched, offering super-speedy travel in high comfort: game, set and Mach 1

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Heston Blumenthal The master of the food universe talks about pushing the boundaries of scientific experimentation, anger management, and his brand new London restaurant

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It’s a Man’s World How Candy & Candy turned a regular Mayfair mews house into a contemporary take on the Sixties party pad, complete with pool, vertical garden and champagne wall

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Status Apparatus A life of luxury has long been reliant on superb service; Rob Ryan looks at its history and reveals how One Hyde Park reinvents the traditions, and sets new standards

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raising the Bar A sybarite’s heaven: an awesome decorative home bar in which to stash your stylish crystal ware and favourite liquors

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Hyde Park Promenade The most exclusive fashion choices prove that dressing up is a walk in the park

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Personal Passions The renowned couturier Bruce Oldfield describes his love of playing the piano

Warh l A younG OLGA BeRLuTi Took A skeTcH from THe pop ArTisT And Turned iT inTo Her firsT sHoe When Andy Warhol visited Berluti’s bespoke shoe store in Paris in the early Sixties, he knew just what he wanted.

He also knew that Alessandro Berluti’s store, first opened in 1895 when the Italian established his business there, was the specialist for unorthodox luxurious leathers, dyes and patinas. Berluti’s hallmark slim, long, comfortable creations were worn by rich, famous and fashionable men about town — as they are today. Characteristically, Warhol decided to sketch the pair he wanted; Olga Berluti, the store owner’s daughter, set about interpreting the drawing. The resulting elegantly chiselled loafers she created were adored by Warhol. Then, 20 years ago, the design was developed as a ready-to-wear line and named the Andy loafer, in homage to the artist. It’s still available today, alongside the bespoke service that always puts the customer at the heart of the creative process. berluti.com

WORDS Joanne Glasbey / PHOTOGRAPHY Tif Hunter

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G M G R coutuRe jewelleR glenn Spiro cReates pieces as special and unique as his clients You know that the best recommendations are those delivered word-of-mouth, by people you trust. Rightly, they want to share with a discerning few and keep their finds to themselves. But we’re divulging the name Glenn Spiro, whose company G International is ‘a real couture jeweller’ to a select group of private clients. Spiro trained in the workshops of Cartier and other top names from the age of 15, opening his own business seven years later.

Now G International tracks down stones, designs and makes all its own pieces, some of which are sold through leading jewellery houses. But the main attraction is the bespoke side. Arrange a private viewing for expert advice to create pieces that are beautiful, sexy and unique, using the finest stones, latest jewellery technology and metallurgical techniques. Or, as Spiro puts it: ‘If you want the best of the best, come to me.’ +44 (0)20 7135 3535

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WorDS joanne Glasbey / pHoTogrApHY tif hunter

DGrosmangin/MCMorazzani

Mémoires de Femmes . Mémoire du Monde

Sundersand: A breeze of summer colours, sparkling stones and infinite delicacy.

A magical moment. adler, jewellers since 1886 GENEVE . GSTAAD . LONDON 13, New Bond Street +4420 7409 2237 . MOSCOW . HONGKONG . TOKYO

www.adler.ch

oPTi N

cashmeRe expeRts LORO PIANA Go to the ends of the eaRth to find the most exquisite YaRns

Over six generations, Italian company Loro Piana has supplied the finest cashmere to the most discerning customers, and in the process has become the world’s greatest purchaser of fine wools. The search for excellence begins with the selection of raw materials. The most precious cashmere is sourced from China and Mongolia, where baby cashmere, known for its exceptional fineness (13-13.5 microns compared with 14.5 for the best traditional cashmere) and sofness is gathered from the underfleece of the Hyrcus goat kid. Loro Piana specialists annually set out from Beijing and Ulan Bator to remote areas to meet goatherds and negotiate according to ancient traditions. When you consider that the underfleece of 19 kids is used to make one sweater, and 58 for an overcoat, it makes them very precious indeed. And it’s the sofest fabric you’ll ever feel. babycashmere.loropiana.com

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WORDS Joanne Glasbey / PHOTOGRAPHY tif hunter

Savills.

Properties of distinction.

Whether buying property as an investment or as a home, Savills offers some of the most desirable properties in the world.

Our unrivalled expertise covers all aspects of property services.

Savills. Advice that gives advantage.

Ned Baring Associate Director +44 (0)20 7409 9998 +44 (0)7967 555 788 nbaring@savills.com

savills.co.uk

‘Flight oF Fancy’, 2009 © Polly Morgan, courtesy oF haunch oF Venison

D NCE MAC BR contemporary artist POLLY MORGAN FinDs a strange pLayFuLness anD Beauty in Death Pretty and macabre, charming and intriguing – these contradictory words describe Polly Morgan’s oeuvre as well as her personality. Her tantalising taxidermy possesses the dark humour of Roald Dahl; she embalms naturally expired birds, foxes and mice with an exquisite beauty similar to that of an Egyptian death mask. Elevating animal-stuffing to a fine art, Morgan’s tiny birds float heavenwards on brightly coloured balloons, foxes curl up serenely in huge champagne glasses and a kingfisher rests its head on a prayer book. Collected by art aficionados and rock’n’rollers such as Kate Moss, Morgan’s star is in the ascendant. Her ‘flying machine’ piece, ‘Departures’ sold for £85,000 in 2009. Her solo exhibition ‘Pyschopomps’ at the Haunch of Venison gallery, was inspired by mythical creatures that guide souls to the afer-life, and her visions confirm her place in the innovative post-YBA world of contemporary art. pollymorgan.co.uk

WORDS Lee sharrock

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Access to the world’s most exceptional properties.

Knight Frank is widely recognised as the most successful international agency in the marketing of prestigious properties worldwide.

Your personal contact: New Homes Rupert Dawes T +44 (0)20 7629 8171 KnightFrank.com

London Residential Eliza Leigh

Country Property Andrew Hay

International Property Paddy Dring

STUDIO The CANDY & CANDY design Team Takes inspiraTion from around The worLd and cLose To home

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Chandelier Hanging majestically over the vast dining table in the Candy & Candy interiordesigned apartment at One Hyde Park is a bespoke chandelier that, literally, outshines all else in the room. Its 220 delicate pieces were individually handmade in porcelain, painted in pearl and gold lustres, then painstakingly suspended one by one from the ceiling on fine rods.

Inspiration for the piece, designed by Haberdasherylondon in conjunction with Jasmin Rowlandson for Candy & Candy, was a flurry of leaves caught in a gust of wind, reminding diners of the apartment’s proximity to the royal park. ‘I wanted each leaf to be full of its own movement and energy, so that when seen in its entirety, the chandelier has an ephemeral, transient quality — a moment of captured motion,’ explains Rowlandson. ‘The interplay of light and shadow creates another dimension, allowing the piece to command the surrounding space with the pattern of shadows it casts.’ haberdasherylondon.com

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HaberdasHerylondon; Jasmine rowlandson

An intRicAte light sculpture BASeD on Autumn leAveS BRingS nAtuRe inDooRS At one hyDe pARk

joURNey candy & candy cReative diRectoR martin kemp finds inspiRation fRom the inteRface of old and new in la ‘Since first visiting Los Angeles 18 years ago, I’ve been continually astounded by the city’s creative vibrancy. The fearless juxtaposition between old designs, such as ornate lamp posts, and modern architecture has consistently influenced my work when refurbishing old buildings with 21st-century elements. LA is full of hidden gems. I’ve spied beautifully engraved ceramic swirls hidden under a restaurant canopy – perfect inspiration for a rug or cushion pattern – and a magnificent black iron house gate, that could be replicated to spectacular effect in a room screen. I also love the vintage cars. The metallic shades of blue and silver paintwork look stunning in furniture with polished nickel or chrome detailing.’

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Sterling Silver Centerpiece with “Osmenia”Pearl Insets From the Buccellati Unique Collection 45cm x 38cm

33 Albemarle Street - Mayfair, London WIS 4BP - Tel. 020 7629 5616 MILANO, VENEZIA, FIRENZE, CALA DI VOLPE, CAPRI, PARIS, MONTE CARLO, LONDON, MOSCOW, NEW YORK, ASPEN, BEVERLY HILLS, TOKYO, OSAKA, HONG KONG, SYDNEY WWW.BUCCELLATI.COM

sigurd ressel cHair

 s tag a n t l e r s

‘I’ve collected classic furniture since my first design job in London, including original pieces by Eames and Le Corbusier.

My favourite is this Sixties Falcon chair by Sigurd Ressel, which I found in an East End antiques warehouse. The seat is hung from its frame like a hammock.’

‘From a young age, I was fascinated by my godfather’s stuffed animals, birds and stag heads. Since then, I have collected a few pieces and my favourite has to be the vast antlers that loom over my staircase at home. I’m still on the lookout for a huge polar bear rug.’

 art deco tea set ‘I love Art Deco design in general and tea sets in particular. Over the years, I have picked up two or three sets, and this example is my most recent from Greenwich market in London. I love the strong Thirties form and silver detailing.’

tHe collector candy & candy cReative diRectoR mat carlisle is an avid gatheReR of the quiRky and chaRacteRful  odd cups and saucers

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 ta x i d e r m y

 J a pa n e s e pa p e r c u t t i n g

‘Another piece from my taxidermy collection, this beautiful morpho didius butterfly sits alongside other butterflies, beetles and spiders on my bathroom wall.

I bought it while on holiday in the Amazon jungle and love its bold iridescent colours.’

‘I first saw examples of paper cuttings at a Japanese design exhibition while at university.

I managed to find an artist in Greenwich from whom I've been buying them ever since. Their subtle 3D quality means they move as you walk past them, and the intricate workmanship that goes into each piece is astounding.’

JAKE GREEN

‘Since learning during my degree course that we owe the design of the teacup and saucer to the great British architect Robert Adams, I’ve been fascinated with them. For years, every “lost and lonely” one that has caught my eye in a junk shop has been added to my collection.’

9.87 CARAT D/IF WHITE DIAMOND OVAL RING 3.86 CARAT FANCY INTENSE PINK OVAL RING 3.04 CARAT FANCY INTENSE GREEN RING

LONDON PALM BEACH MOSCOW DOHA DUBAI +44 (0)20 7499 2200 www.davidmorris.com

MERCEDES-BENZ 500SL This Mercedes has an ageless style that remained almost unchanged for three decades. Its subtle curves make a masculine car almost androgynous; suitable for both men and women. The bulbous bonnet and chrome grille remind me of Fifies US aeroplanes, while its colours (silver, midnight blue and walnut) consistently appear in my designs. From top to bottom, the manufacturing is excellent – there aren't many cars that can claim to be able to travel 250,000 miles before any major engine work is required!

Mat Carlisle

INSPIRATION J E N S E N I N T E R C E P TO R The 1974 Convertible is very rare: only 50 were made in right-hand drive. My uncle used to own the hard-topped version. As a child I was fascinated by the striking, animalistic design features. The chrome grilles are like shark gills, while the metal crease on the rear lends it a lithe pantherlike power. It’s a handsome car, deserving of its nickname, the 'Gentleman’s Express'. I love the classic British sports car colour scheme of smoke silver and burgundy and the steel alloys, which look like ninja stars. I wouldn’t care if this car had no engine – it wins on aesthetics alone.

Martin Kemp

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Chris Brooks; theslshop.Com; Jensen interCeptor renovated By Bespoke aUto developments, ClassiC-Cars-for-sale..Com

Candy & Candy’s CReative diReCtoRs debate whiCh of theiR CLASSIC CARS has the most influential styling

STATe oF HAND-MATCHED MARBLE, CHILLED CEILINGS AND SHIMMERING SILKS - THE FABLED INTERIORS OF ONE HYDE PARK ARE POETICALLY SUMPTUOUS

WORDs Simon Mills / PHOTOGRAPHY Julian Abrams

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previous page 'The Flower of Life' chandelier by Willowlamp. above, from top Entrance hall enhanced by Candy & Candy interior design, key features include bespoke metallised wall panels by Based Upon and bespoke chandelier by Haberdasherylondon; reception room enhanced by Candy & Candy interior design, with decorative highlights such as a bespoke Otoro chandelier inspired by the lozenge shape of the pavilions, bespoke metallised wall panels by Based Upon and Tai Ping silk rugs

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Ta k e a To u r of One Hyde Park and it is not just the build quality, the standard of materials and finishes used throughout, the panoramic views, the state-of-the-art technology or the luxurious furnishings that thrill. Even the language that pervades the building has been taken to a different level and to really understand the gorgeous poetry of this spectacular project a whole new vocabulary has to be learned.

Let me introduce you to a few choice phrases from the Candy & Candy (development managers of One Hyde Park) lexicon: ‘comfort cooling’; ‘interstitial blinds’; ‘away mode’; ‘privacy fins’; and ‘chilled ceilings’.

Chilled ceilings, for instance, are not, like, really relaxed sections of overhead plasterwork, but an ingenious ingredient of a precision temperature control system that comes as standard in every bedroom in each apartment at One Hyde Park. Within each bedroom the ceiling comprises hidden cold ‘radiator’ panels which chill the surrounding air.

This cold dense air gradually sinks down, cooling the owner to his desired temperature. This is significantly more comfortable than traditional air conditioning and saves One Hyde Park residents from noisy whirring fans, draughts and dust.

Another really genius elemental component is that under each polished stone floor, fitted under floor heating comes as standard in all bathrooms. Add to this the heated towel drawers and rails, de-misting mirrors, in-built plasma screens and intelligent mirror and you have the most luxurious bathroom experience in London.

This new phraseology is very necessary in this rarefied environment because of the groundbreaking nature of the build. The builders themselves had to take an intensive course in Candyspeak too, with every construction worker, crafsman and labourer attending a lengthy induction process which outlined the meticulous standard of quality that would be expected of them whilst on the job, before they were

MeiréundMeiré

SUPERNOVA A tap with sculptural qualities. A solitary unit that impresses its environment with ever changing reflections of objects and colours through its facets and polygonal surfaces. SUPERNOVA was created by Sieger Design. Aloys F. Dornbracht GmbH & Co. KG, Köbbingser Mühle 6, D-58640 Iserlohn.

The SUPERNOVA brochure is available from Dornbracht UK Ltd., Unit 8 & 9 Bow Court, Fletchworth Gate, Coventry CV5 6SP, Phone +44 (0) 2476-717129, Fax +44 (0) 2476-718907, E-Mail enquiries@dornbracht.co.uk, www.dornbracht.com

left, from top Master bathroom with sunken his and hers basins, heated towel drawer and de-misting mirrors; rain shower with full ceiling-to-floor polished and honed stone; fitted kitchen enhanced by Candy & Candy interior design; study enhanced

by Candy & Candy interior design, key feature includes bespoke metallised map of the world designed and handcrafed

by Based Upon

allowed to lif a trowel or fill a bucket.

Just to prove they had taken it all in, there was a test aferwards, too.

In order to satisfy themselves that the residences would function perfectly as sumptuous and practical living spaces, Nicholas and Christian Candy had builders construct an experimental, real-sized apartment on an industrial estate in North London at a cost of £1.5 million to ensure that every last detail, finish and function was viewed and tested.

These rigorous production values are immediately evident in the dazzling invention of the stuff you can actually see – the Bob Dylan artwork that, at the pip of a handheld zapper, smoothly and silently drops down from a concealed position in a wall cavity to hide a flat screen television in a bedroom and does so until it is perfectly flush with the wall face – right down to the details you don’t even notice until they are carefully explained to you.

The way that those aforementioned, patinated copper ‘privacy fins’ on the exterior of the pavilions, scientifically angled by architect Richard Rogers to optimise the views out of each apartment whilst at the same time ensuring other residents are unable to see in, do their job is a wonder in itself.

But the angles also set the tone for other godly details.

Afer having raised those ‘interstitial blinds’ (defly sandwiched between sections of low ion triple-glazing and which react automatically to sunlight) to take in the widescreen view of the park from a window in, say a rear-facing study or a bedroom, your eye might fall to the foot of the window frame and the heating grille on the floor adjacent to it.

Not only are the window frames mitred and angled to match the privacy fins outside (and, indeed the general rake and the ship-like prows of the four pavilions as a whole) but also the grille panels and floating skirtings. It’s a tirelessly linear approach that confirms that no corners have been cut anywhere here.

Take the way the bathrooms were put together. The basin, bath and vanity units are all crafed from opulently veined, highly polished marble imported

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from a number of quarries sourced all over the world. The standard way of using this precious material is to take chamfered, square-edged lengths and butt them up at right angles against each other creating a serviceable but rather ugly series of seams and a slightly untrue finish.

The Candy & Candy way of doing marble bathrooms is a bit different. Each piece of marble is precision cut off site by a quarry crafsman and then identified with an individual barcode. On arrival in London, the expertly mitred sections are identified by said barcodes and put together using finely tuned, highly skilled cabinet-making techniques. The resulting continuous stone plinth is a thing of proper beauty; tactile and seamless with even the painstakingly matched up veins of the marble flowing in apparently natural rivulets around the corners.

Looking at each unit, you’d swear it had been hewn from a solid block.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves here – rhapsodising over fixtures and fittings and air conditioning systems, revealing too much of the inside before we have taken time to appreciate the splendour of the exterior.

These rigorous production values are immediately evident in the dazzling invention of stuff you can see To do this properly, let’s imagine that you are arriving at One Hyde Park, as a proud new owner of an apartment, for the very first time.

The first impression you get of the four pavilions as you approach, especially from the Hyde Park Corner end, is just how sensitively they sit in amongst their neighbouring buildings.

Bowater House, the grim and unloved Fifies carbuncle that stood on the site until its demolition in 2006 (so pig-ugly that Mies Van Der Rohe and Ernö Goldfinger actually had a heated argument about it as they passed it in a London taxi) all but blotted out the view into the lush green of the park land from

The First European Residences at Mandarin Oriental Unrivalled Location & Views - Iconic Architecture by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners - Exclusive Interior Design by Candy & Candy World Class Leisure Facilities - Legendary Service by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group - Acclaimed Art by James Turrell

Experience the Exceptional

Experience the Exceptional at One Hyde Park by appointment info@onehydepark.com +44 (0)20 7590 2340 A Candy & Candy project

from top Master bedroom enhanced by Candy & Candy interior design: key features include Tai Ping silk rug and bespoke bed and bedside tables by Mark Asplin Whiteley; dining room with bespoke chandelier by Haberdasherylondon and bespoke cabinet and dining table by Mark Asplin Whiteley. Tableware supplied

by Harlequin Tabletop§§

the Knightsbridge side, but the glass and bronze, open-sided construction of the One Hyde Park development, not only lets light flow through and around it, but also provides a counterpoint to the red brick of the Mandarin Oriental hotel next door, the Burberry flagship store opposite and the iconic brownstone of Harrods down the road.

This is no happy accident. Architect Richard Rogers shaped the pavilions to allow for oblique lateral views from Knightsbridge to the south and the park to the north, the height of each varying, creating a roof-profile responding to the existing inconsistent heights of its immediate neighbours.

Considering the subtle cleverness of this concept as your car pulls up to the grand drop-off area of the building, you can’t help but admire the granite driveway, the handsome, modern ironmongery of Wendy Ramshaw’s new Edinburgh Gate and gasp at artist James Turrell’s light installations, handing your keys to one of the discreetly efficient door staff and watching your vehicle descend to the secure underground car park via the car lif.

Now begins a long, loyal and trusting relationship with the front of house.

There are no naff name badges at One Hyde Park. And no need for too many introductions either; the Director of Residences will already know who you are, while housekeeping staff, doormen and car valets are trained to have a Rolodex-like memory for names and a way of second-guessing your demands that verges on the clairvoyant.

Alternatively you may arrive at One Hyde Park directly from Knightsbridge, over the calming water feature which leads to the pedestrian entrance and you enter into a magnificent reception area, maybe wandering into the adjacent Park Library for coffee, as a dedicated member of The Residences at Mandarin Oriental Team presents you with your key and swipe cards, originally given to you in a special suede-lined, Anya Hindmarch bespoke leather box when you moved in.

At this point, you can allay yourself of all safety concerns. Security, just like the effortlessly immaculate manners of the building, is highly tuned but almost

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invisibly discreet the sleek number plate recognition service an excellent example of this. Needless to say, any packages arriving at the address will be scanned at reception before delivery.

Inside the building, take a glass elevator to your apartment floor, letting your personal staff members travel via a separate system of lifs and tunnels and enter your property using a diplomatically located side door (dependent on the size of your apartment); apartments are ingeniously designed to make the coming and going of staff all but undetectable.

This is very much a Candy & Candy sort of detail, the design team loves a secret door and a hidden panel. Recent Candy & Candy projects have included entire walls that slide to reveal secret vaults, panic rooms and hidden floor panels over secure storage spaces.

Now you enter your apartment.

The perfect temperature has been maintained thanks to the preprogrammed ‘away mode’. You walk past the Bulthaup kitchen, marvel at the pre-installed, integrated audio visual entertainment system with its Cat 6 and fibre-optic cabling, and take the

You experience the smell of leather, the touch of cashmere and suede, polished exotic wood floors and doors luxuriously long walk towards the park-facing end of your apartment.

The fabled, Candy & Candy-kite marked ‘polycentric experience’ now engulfs you, sensory-overload style. In the Candy & Candy interior-designed apartment you experience the smell of leather, the touch of cashmere and suede, shimmering silks, polished exotic wood floors and doors, and rare marbles.

You call down to the concierge to order champagne, flowers and book a massage in the private spa . A press of a button and 1.2 tonnes of glass door glides back electronically to reveal the lush majesty of the view over Hyde Park.

You are home. You have arrived.

Simon Mills is a Contributing Editor of GQ

Heritage for future generations. Own the legacy.

Experience the Exceptional

Experience the Exceptional at One Hyde Park by appointment info@onehydepark.com +44 (0)20 7590 2340 A Candy & Candy project

WORDs Bill prince

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gRowing FRom its AsiAn Roots, MANDARIN ORIENTAL is now A woRLdwide hoteL phenomenon

e w M a e E s s e T T T s

H i s to r i c a l ly and culturally attached properties will always be part of the fabric of a city,’ says Christoph Mares, Mandarin Oriental’s operations director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. ‘If you wish to be successful beyond being merely a good hotel, you have to ingrain yourself into the local fibre. If you can manage that, you've achieved something very unique.’

Originally formed from the 1974 convergence of two Southeast Asian hospitality legends, The Mandarin in Hong Kong and The Oriental in Bangkok, today Mandarin Oriental's group of hotels encompasses over 10,000 rooms in 27 countries – not only in Asia, but in Europe, the Americas and elsewhere.

Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona opened recently, and others will follow in new territories such as the Middle East (Abu Dhabi and Doha) and Russia (Moscow).

There are developments in the services Mandarin Oriental offers too: most of the hotels now have spas (the group's first spa opened in Bangkok in 1993); and luxury residences are ofen attached to the hotels. In all there are 26 properties, with 16 more in development.

The first to open in Europe came at the start of what Mares calls the group’s ‘acquisition cycle’ at the turn of the century, when Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park (formerly known as the Hyde Park Hotel) opened at 66 Knightsbridge in 2000. And it’s fair to say that it, too, can lay claim to being unique. Sitting at the ‘golden T-junction’ formed by Knightsbridge and Sloane Street, it is in many ways the very definition of a luxury five-star hotel in a world capital.

Originally opened in 1889 as a gentleman’s club, what was at the time London’s tallest building was converted into a hotel 10 years later. It quickly became a social landmark, its distinctive red brick and Portland stone exterior soon recognised as the pleasure palace to which generations of royals would come to take tea and entertain. (In their youth, the Princesses Elizabeth and top to bottom The original Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong; Amelia Earhart and a fellow aviator on the roof of the Hyde Park Hotel

It quickly became a social landmark, recognised as a pleasure palace to which generations of royals would come to take tea and entertain

Margaret learned to dance there – the original sprung dance floor still remains.)

Its second ‘rebirth’ came just under a century later, when Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, powered by an energetic leveraging of its Far Eastern assets, acquired the property in 1996. Following its complete renovation – costing £57m – the building reopened in 2000 as Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park. By offering something distinct without being overly idiosyncratic, it represented something of a sea change in the way city-centre hotels have traditionally interacted with their local communities (ie, little if ever at all). And how it achieved this has become entwined with the very notion of what makes a great hotel.

Firstly, it moved in on the capital’s dining scene every bit as vigorously as it did its lodging business, with newly created Foliage and The Park restaurants, the former overseen by a Michelin chef, to offer destination dining even to those who had no further than a taxi ride to travel.

Secondly, it installed a celebrityhaunted bar that made non-residents look again at the wisdom of drinking in a hotel. And, finally, it redefined what the term ‘urban relaxation’ meant to a new generation of tired and harried business warriors by installing an award-winning spa designed by ESPA founder, Susan Harmsworth. With its brave and dextrous use of space and lighting, The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, London became a serious benchmark against which other inner-city hotels were forced to test their own wellness offers.

‘People were astounded with what we’d done,’ says Mares, who was the resident manager at the time of the launch. ‘It was a very traditional hotel and yet we put in an adventurous, vibrant and contemporary food and beverage operation. For the whole of London it was a surprise. And especially for the hoteliers around us.’

The surprises were to continue. Not content with having a dining room with possibly the best view in London, the Park Terrace was opened a few years ago as a seasonal, al fresco dining extension. The effect was dramatic. As Mares puts it: ‘When you stay here, you

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This ‘city within a city’, complete with valet parking, gym and concierge, has scaled new heights in meeting the demands of high-net-worth individuals

accustomed elsewhere — has been resolved with no less sense of largesse: each and every one of the apartments will be expertly managed by The Residences at Mandarin Oriental Team, on an exclusive service contract.

‘Mandarin Oriental currently have three Residences at Mandarin Oriental in operation primarily in the US; New York, Boston and Las Vegas. Aside from One Hyde Park: The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, London, we also have plans for Residences in Taipei and Macau,' explains Mares. ‘Afer all, it is a customer base that is very similar to our own. Anticipation of guests’ needs is a key component of our service delivery, and our freehold owners still have the same requirement for serviced support – security, housekeeping, travel and engineering – all of which we can provide.’

Sir David Tang, the globe-trotting Hong Kong businessman best known for launching Shanghai Tang stores (one of which stands nearby on Sloane Street) understands better than most Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park’s unique appeal.

Indeed (as the adverts featuring Tang, Helen Mirren, Bryan Ferry et al confide) he’s a ‘fan’ of the group.

Sir David’s in no doubt as to the happy serendipity of the two developments uniting: ‘Mandarin Oriental has become more and more famous because of its neighbouring development, One Hyde Park.’ he says. ‘It is also incredibly close to the two iconic department stores of London: Harvey Nichols and Harrods.

Therefore, wives and girlfriends of businessmen love staying in the hotel.’

Sir David is also convinced that its unique service element can only grow stronger from these present alliances: ‘I think the Asian concept of service that's permeated all the Mandarin Oriental hotels in the world — the idea that nothing is too troublesome for guests — makes them all special. And being a Western company rooted in the Orient is a distinctive combination that makes the brand stand out.’ All of which explains Sir David’s legion of fellow fans.

Bill Prince is the deputy editor of GQ this page The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park has two façades: one on Knightsbridge, one on the park

Hulton ArcHive/Getty; SHutter Stock

are not “at” Hyde Park, you are in it.’ It was also a move that reunited the new century’s first big London opening with the property’s history. When the original Hyde Park Court became the Hyde Park Hotel, it changed its address from Albert Gate to 66 Knightsbridge and switched its entrance from the rear of the building to the front – at the request of Queen Victoria, who forbade advertising of any kind in her royal parks. Since then, rather than use the marble staircase, flanked with balustrades, that beckons visitors in to the hotel from Knightsbridge, only selected VIPs have been able to use the special ‘royal’ park entrance.

When it was decided to close The Park and Foliage restaurants for refurbishment in May 2010, the hotel needed to find a chef worthy of running a new eatery to serve in the interim. In stepped Daniel Boulud, celebrated interpreter of French and American fusion cooking. The result is Bar Boulud, a gastronomic triumph with an authentic charcuterie counter as well as a seasonal bistro menu. And when the new Dinner by Heston Blumenthal restaurant opens in December, London-born chef Heston Blumenthal will bring his innovations to the kitchen.

The experience of staying at the hotel could be compared to a residency at the buildings that have sprung up next door to Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park recently – the most valuable property development ever witnessed in the capital, or the world – One Hyde Park.

The brainchild of luxury developers and designers Christian and Nicholas Candy, this ‘city within a city’, complete with valet parking, gym, spa and concierge, has scaled new heights in meeting the demands of high-net-worth individuals seeking the same sensation of serenity matched with service for which the nearby Mandarin Oriental is world renowned.

The Candys’ vision is a landmark development; a 21st-century solution to a 21st-century problem: how to enjoy the best a city has to offer without the burden of running an entire household from which to do it. This key dilemma for the super-rich — how to ensure the standards of service, staffing, security and maintenance to which they have become

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as The onLy Thing you Can'T buy more of is Time, a PrivaTe SupeRSOnic jet shouLd be ToP of your wish LisT. weLCome To The wonderfuL worLd of maCh 1

J e t m a n u fac t u r e r s h av e a saying: if it looks right, it flies right. The Aerion private jet waiting on the runway at Chicago Midway certainly does the first. As you and your seven guests board (the Aerion has room for more but, hell, they can get their own supersonic jet), there’s time for a glass of whatnot while the pilots complete their pre-flight checks. At 12 noon, the twin Pratt & Whitney engines, usually fitted on planes twice the Aerion’s size, kick in with a powerful thump, taking to you 147 knots — standard speed for takeoff — as the front wheel leaves the ground. Some 15 minutes later, 130 nautical miles away, you level out at 45,000f over Lake Huron. The plane continues to speed up, to Mach 0.98, until it hits the Canadian border. Hold tight. Throttles forward and — BOOM — you break through the sound barrier. Mach 1. At 167 nautical miles on, Mach 1.5. The Aerion flies more than

right. It flies very, very fast. During the two hours it takes to cross the Atlantic, the flight attendant serves lunch to you and your colleagues. As the jet reaches Ireland, it slows to Mach 0.98. The pilots prepare for the approach to Farnborough. You finish your Stateside calls as the employees there leave work, and the interior LED lights dim. Touchdown is at 10.45pm UK time, five hours and 42 minutes afer leaving Chicago. Still time for a nightcap.

Paris–New York takes four hours; London–Dubai five.

‘If you look at what the airline industry has done over the years, we’ve built bigger planes, roomier planes, planes with longer range, but the last frontier we’ve not pursued is speed,’ explains Brian Barents. ‘We don’t have a civilian supersonic transport. That’s not progress. We need more speed.’

Barents is vice-chairman of Aerion, a start-up based in Reno that very much intends to develop that

O M TIMe

WORDS Tom Cheshire / illuStRatiOn Pandayoghurt

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CloCkwise from left Flight attendants line up outside a scale model of Concorde in 1960; a Candy & Candy exterior design of a Bombardier Global XRS; the elegant and luxurious interior, designed by Candy & Candy, of a Bombardier Challenger 605

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In the US and many other countries around the world, commercial aircraf are prohibited from flying at Mach 1 overland, because of the sonic boom (the noise produced in passing the sound barrier) they create on the ground. In 2008, the Federal Aviation Administration updated its guidelines, ‘to provide guidance on noise limits to manufacturers that are considering designs for supersonic aircraf’. But a wholesale amendment to the rule is ‘certainly not imminent’, according to Cowart, not until boom-reducing technology has been demonstrated. For manufacturers, it’s a catch-22: ‘You’ve got to convince regulators that you can deal with their concerns using new technologies,’ says Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at Teal Group. ‘But to create those technologies, the investors need to feel that regulators will be understanding,’ he adds.

With this in mind, Aerion has taken a rather different approach. ‘Our business plan assumes that we will have to fly using today’s rules,’ explains Barents. The Aerion will fly close to, but not over, the speed of sound over land, and above it over water. Nor is the company spending on new technologies. The main enabling feature, the jet’s Natural Laminar Flow, which gives a ‘smoothing’ of the front edge of the wing and so reduces drag, has existed since the Fifies. The plane will be built using conventional techniques, and off-the-shelf engines and materials.

Despite this, Aerion is still looking to partner with a manufacturer. Some are sceptical whether the company ever will. Cessna, which makes the fastest private jet currently available, the Citation X (top speed: Mach 0.92 Pah!), has ‘never felt there is a strong enough commercial argument to produce a supersonic business jet,’ says Marc Cornelius, in charge of EMEA media

relations at the company, believing subsonic to be a better investment. ‘The Citation X has a killer feature: it actually exists.’ Afer its original Quiet SST design, SAI hasn’t been active since, although Michael Paulson told Candy that the company is an ‘ongoing concern and the QSST project is pending’. Aboulafia notes that the trend at the high end of the market is towards larger, more comfortable jets in the $60 million plus price bracket, such as the G650 and Bombardier’s response to it, the M170, currently in development. ‘Right now,

‘In recent decades, the airline industry has built bigger planes, roomier planes, planes with more range, but the last frontier we’ve not pursued is speed’ the first-to-market stuff is going to have a tube like a Learjet, which isn’t acceptable for the high end.’

Barents isn’t fazed. ‘There’s only one thing you can’t buy in life, and that’s time. We are offering very competitive comfort, but the passengers will be in it for only half the time.’ The Aerion cabin is 30f long, has 6f 2in standing room and will be quieter inside than current business jets. And, for all its screaming speed, the jet will be relatively green, offering the same nautical miles per pound of fuel as current subsonic jets.

But do you really need to make any case — business, environmental or otherwise — for a private supersonic plane? BOOM. Hell no.

Tom Cheshire works for Wired magazine

hulton archive/getty images

speed. Its eponymous supersonic transport (SST) is still only in the design phase, but Barents reckons it could be on the stand at Midway as soon as 2017. Robert Bass, the businessman and philanthropist, is backing the company financially. It might not need the help.

Barents says that the company has received 50 letters of intent, each accompanied by a refundable $250,000 deposit. At $80 million a jet, that’s $4 billion in bookings — not bad for a non-existent plane. ‘Sooner or later the market will demand a supersonic airplane,’ says Barents.

‘We believe the first mover has a big advantage.’

Aerion is leading the charge, but other companies are working to create a new age of supersonic business travel.

In 2001, Michael Paulson founded Supersonic Aerospace International (SAI), partnering in 2004 with the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works lab to produce a design called the Quiet Supersonic Transport. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is also working on quiet supersonic technology and, in 2005, successfully tested a scaled-down working version of its SST, which reached Mach 2, in Australia. Takeshi Onuki, of the SST group at JAXA, is ‘planning to conduct a flight test with a silent supersonic technology demonstrator by the mid-2010s’.

And Gulfstream, maker of the world’s largest and most luxurious private jet, the G650, due for delivery in 2012, has been working on an SST for ‘a number of years’, according to Robbie Cowart, director of supersonic research there. But he admits the company is in ‘the foundational research phase’ and doesn’t anticipate an SST on sale for at least a decade. So what’s stopping these companies from producing an SST tomorrow?

‘The single largest challenge ahead of us is the speed limit that is in the sky right now,’ explains Cowart.

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WOrdS amy raphael / PHOTOGraPHY Jake Walters

three michelin-starred cheF and alchemist HESTON BlumENTHal is opening his First london outpost in december. prepare to be amazed

H e s to n B l u m e n t H a l d o e s n ’ t look like a mad scientist. Nor, for that matter, does he have the presence of a superchef. Here in a west London photo studio there’s something resolutely ordinary about him.

He’s not the boy next door like Jamie, nor a firestarter like Gordon. He is certainly not traditional or home counties like Delia Smith.

Heston is unique: a self-taught chef who reads ancient cookery books in his spare time, an inventive geek with the imagination of a classical artist, an experimental creative who believes food should be a holistic, multisensory experience. His menu at the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire includes – famously – snail porridge, salmon poached in liquorice, mock turtle soup from an 1850 recipe, and powdered Anjou pigeon from around 1720. Egon Ronay, the late restaurant critic, interviewed Blumenthal in 2007 and declared him ‘a great chef who will go down in history as the greatest culinary innovator, whose brain matched his palate.’

While Jamie chucks ingredients in the pan, Heston is the master of scientific precision. It is, he says, scientifically proven that the more excited you are about food, the better it tastes. And chefs don’t come

Egon Ronay declared Heston Blumenthal ‘a great chef who will go down in history as the greatest culinary innovator whose brain matched his palate’ more excited than Blumenthal. He could talk for hours about a 14th-century manuscript he came across by Taillevent, a chef to the Palais-Royal in Paris, in which a chicken is cooked and then brought back to life (he says it’s ‘shocking’ and ‘should never be done’, but there’s an unmistakable glint in his eyes).

He collects Tudor cookbooks and hangs out with food archaeologist Marc Meltonville from Hampton Court Palace's historic kitchens. In 2006 Blumenthal was even awarded an honorary Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship for activities ‘of significant development to the chemical community’.

Yet Blumenthal – shaved head (he has thick hair, but it only grows upwards), glasses, tall-ish, sturdy, crunching handshake, quick to smile – is disarmingly modest. The Fat Duck, which he opened in 1995, is one of only four restaurants in this country to boast three Michelin stars (the others are The Waterside Inn, also in Bray; Gordon Ramsay, Chelsea; and Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester).

The Fat Duck achieved the fastest three stars in British Michelin history – in 1998, 2001 and 2004 – confirming that Blumenthal’s cooking just keeps getting better.

And he knows how to do ‘Heston lite’ too: the Hinds Head, a working man’s pub in Bray that he bought and HESTON BLUMENTHAL, photographed exclusively for Candy

by Jake Walters in west London on 15 June, 2010, on a set styled

by Rob Nicholls

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are always chefs crossing over. We’ve got a prep kitchen across the road that runs from 5.30am till 10pm.

We’ve got 47 chefs for 42 covers at the Duck – the highest ratio in the country.’ How many times a week does he cook properly, whites on? ‘I don’t cook; I haven’t for a while. If I’m in the kitchen, I might look afer the pass, testing and checking the dishes.’

Customers at the Fat Duck are, he says, surprised to see him there at all. ‘But it’s where I feel most

Blumenthal even dines out occasionally with Michel Roux.

Where do two chefs with six Michelin stars between them go to eat? ‘The local Indian!’ complicated.’ He laughs. ‘I mean comfortable. No! I mean confident!’ Whatever his Freudian slips, he feels in control in the kitchen and proudly says that afer Zanna, his wife of 23 years, made him confront his anger issues, he hasn’t raised his voice for eight years.

Sipping jasmine tea, he says he’s now ‘a more relaxed version of the same person’ and, afer the norovirus outbreak at the Fat Duck last year, realised just how far goodwill goes. ‘I closed the restaurant not knowing if I’d ever open again. I didn’t know how people would respond. But the support was fantastic.’ He cites Michel

Roux, who opened the Waterside Inn in 1972, as a primary influence. ‘He’s been amazing. He never speaks badly about people, he’s the consummate professional, comfortable in his skin.’

Blumenthal, who admits to being more relaxed but not so good at relaxing, even occasionally dines out with Roux. Where do two chefs with six Michelin stars between them go to eat? ‘The local Indian! And there’s a fantastic pub down the road in Marlow called the Hand & Flowers that has a Michelin star. It’s such a treat to be able to go out for dinner with friends.’

Apart from Roux and Marco Pierre White, who looked afer him at Le Manoir and remains a friend, Blumenthal’s chef mates are mostly overseas – he flew to Spain for the day recently for the opening of a friend’s restaurant. He loves hanging out with other chefs – as long as they talk shop. ‘You’d be amazed how many aren’t interested in talking about cooking. I can talk and bore people about food till the cows come home.’ Isn’t it like any other work?

Some are consumed by it, others see it simply as a job?

‘I just don’t get that. If you see it as a job, it’s one of the hardest given the unsociable hours.’ He smiles, like his 16-year-old self must have smiled at his culinary epiphany all those years ago in Provence. ‘But if you cook because you love it, it’s one of the best jobs in the world.’

Amy Raphael writes for The Observer and the Guardian CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The fireplace at The Hinds Head in Bray, Heston’s hotel and restaurant; jelly of oyster and passion fruit with lavender; quail jelly with truffle toast and oak film strip

Hinds Head; asHley PalMeR-WaTTs/FaT duck

of staff can ruin a meal and customers won’t return. But they might forgive a couple of mistakes in the kitchen.

The service at the Mandarin Oriental, which is one of the top hotels in the world, is fantastic. So we’ve already got the support of their team. Hopefully we can then get the balance right between a beautiful dining room with a view of Hyde Park, but with some noise and atmosphere. I don’t want it all stuffy and hush-hush.’

Although the menu at Dinner will differ from the Duck – Blumenthal talks of rib of beef and chips; lamb and cucumber; apple and onion tart – it will still reflect the chef’s obsession with culinary science. If everything goes to plan, there will be a rotisserie powered by a giant watch and he will convert an old sewing table into an ice-cream maker, attaching the foot pedal to a mixing bowl, using liquid nitrogen to make and serve ice cream at the table.

Blumenthal clearly thinks about everything very carefully – he never thinks a job is quite finished; to his mind, a dish, a recipe, an eating environment can always be improved – and yet one wonders if there’s a danger of him doing too much. There’s a second pub in Bray – The Crown – and the pressure to excel at Dinner. He has written several cookery books and created a plethora of weird and wonderful dishes on Channel 4’s Heston’s Feasts series.

So, is he spreading himself too thin? He laughs.

‘I would never have agreed to do Dinner without Ashley.

We know how important it is to get it right. And the places in Bray are all within 150m of each other. There

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W h e n e n t r e p r e n e u r Bo Bendtsen first came across the former studio of legendary photographer Terence Donovan, the only hint of the Mayfair mews property’s illustrious history was a blue plaque on its Grade-II listed façade. Inside it was forlorn and semi-derelict.

‘I was excited at the prospect of transforming this 6,000f shell into an amazing property,’ recalls Bo. ‘And afer witnessing Candy & Candy’s exceptional work on a close friend’s house, they were my only choice for the job.’ Bo’s main wish was to make the place swing again, as it so famously did in the Sixties, by creating a fabulous entertaining space. ‘My original brief was an openplan area for both hosting visitors and general living; Candy & Candy did more than just fulfil the original functional brief, they exceeded all expectation and produced a dream home in the process.’

IT’S When entrepreneur Bo Bendtsen Wanted to transform a mayfair mews house he turned to designers Candy & Candy woRDs maria yacoob / PhoToGRAPhY Julian abrams

‘For the study [previous page] we simply took the idea of a Fifies Dunhill lighter and expanded it,’ reveals Candy & Candy creative director Martin Kemp.

‘We also used Tom Ford’s film, A Single Man, for inspiration.’

The bespoke desk by Rick Baker uses a luxurious rosewood veneer, and one of Bo’s favourite features is the cleverly disguised window which forms part of the champagne wall and which overlooks the entire reception area.

The reception area (lef), which greets guests as they enter the property, is magnificent. The space is fashioned from Egyptian grey stone, with a vast stainless steel kitchen counter, a dining table on a glass floor that looks directly down into the swimming pool, and a double-height ceiling with a striking bespoke chandelier

by Haberdasherylondon. The champagne wall, a work of art in its own right, houses over 400 bottles and keeps hidden a well-stocked bar. With its atmospheric lighting, the impression is of the ultimate afer-hours party venue.

‘Candy & Candy exceeded all my expectations,’ says Bo. ‘Through ingenious architectural design and clever lighting they subtly connected the swimming pool [right], to the main reception, to the bar, to the study, adding a layer of intimacy to the building, integrating the living areas.’

Bo has relished the collaborative process of working with Candy & Candy.

‘The design team and I were together every step of the way. We even went on group shopping trips. I felt like an extension of their team.’

The property houses extraordinary features, such as a vertical garden that stretches up three storeys, and a master bedroom suite with a walk-in wardrobe and private study behind a secret door.

But Bo’s favourite area is the swimming pool in the basement.

‘I originally asked for a basic lap pool, but my idea was transformed into a space which effectively functions as a spa, complete with steam room and adjacent gym. The fibre-optic lighting cleverly connects the pool with the main reception area.’

WOrDs rob ryan / iLLusTrATiON brett ryder

a Life of Luxury in britain has Long been reLiant on superb service. Life at one hyde park maintains this weLL observed tradition

T h e r e i s a n o l d c l i c h é that suggests the British these days can’t do service. It is the sibling of that other old saw, that we can’t cook either. Both are crass simplifications. Heston Blumenthal, Tom Aikens, Gordon Ramsay, Mark Hix and a whole raf of others suggest we can rattle the pots and pans with the best of them; and few cities in the world can match the likes of London’s Savile Row or Jermyn Street emporia or its many top-notch hotels for polished and attentive staff.

Discreet and def service is a great British tradition originally created on grand country estates and in well-appointed town houses, when the moneyed classes were looked afer by a large and well-drilled entourage.

Hollywood appreciates this. When a consummate manservant is needed, the scriptwriter is likely to reach for a top-drawer English accent. Think of John Gielgud’s Hobson, butler to Arthur (Dudley Moore), or Bruce Wayne’s factotum, Alfred (although his consonants have slipped a little with the arrival of Michael Caine)

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and, of course, Jeeves. Be aware that Jeeves is not a butler, but a valet, ‘a gentleman’s gentleman’, who serves the man, not the household, although as Bertie has it, he can ‘buttle with the best of them’ when need be.

This valet/butler distinction is indicative of the complex history and hierarchy of service in this country, which was formalised as far back as medieval times.

Back then, an army of servants was a sure sign of status, and the King and the aristocracy would be able to summon up hundreds (sometimes up to 400 in a single household — mostly male, apart from the washerwomen) of support staff in those great, beamed halls. Most of those on public show would be elaborately liveried, to indicate their master’s pre-eminence, and many would be of noble birth (think how high-born the senior courtiers in our Royal household are even now).

All this was codified in a kind of service-for-dummies manual published in the 1460s, under the title The Book Of Nurture. Author John Russell, a house steward (effectively the overall manager of a great manor), offered such gems as: ‘Look that your salt be fine, white, fair, and dry’. Salt, of course, was bleached gold dust at the time, its ruinous expense giving us terms such as a man being ‘worth his salt’. As well as giving

Above, left to right A chauffeur tinkers with the engine of a Rolls-Royce, circa 1940; nurses and their charges in a London park, 1916; a butler pours coffee at a party hosted by the Chilean ambassador in London, 1943; Luise Horner, an Austrian servant in England, 1937

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practical advice, he also laid out the precise role and status of individual servants.

Russell even foresaw the subtle shif that would happen over the next 200 years: ‘Be quick of hearing in every way, and be ever on the lookout for things to do him pleasure; you may advance well.’

By the 17th century this idea of being ‘ever on the lookout’ had evolved into a less obtrusive approach to service, creating the continuing illusion that the very

The servants’ part of the house was equivalent to the backstage of a theatre, inhabited by those all-but-invisible figures who create and change the scenery best members of staff are almost psychic in anticipating master, mistress and guest requirements. True, there were still fancy footmen and the like (and women had swelled the ranks), but the concept of service had undergone a marked alteration in tone. The paradigm was not the bustling all-hands-on-deck galleon, but the serenely gliding swan, with frantically paddling and

invisible feet providing apparently elegant propulsion.

Servants, therefore, moved to below the waterline.

This was when the house was effectively divided into two separate but interconnected worlds, later classified as Upstairs and Downstairs. There was the servants’ area, equivalent to the backstage part of a theatre, inhabited by those all-but-invisible figures who create and change the scenery and settings, and the more formal, so-called ‘polite quarters’ of the hallway, drawing rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms. The back stairs and dumb waiter were introduced so that food, laundry and people (as well as full chamber pots) could be moved clandestinely around the building. Racks of bells (and later buzzers and lights) were installed downstairs for the summoning of staff to a specific room.

Servants’ halls (where the staff ate) in the basement and garret attic bedrooms became the norm, as did the ‘tradesman’s entrances’ at the side of the house. By the mid-18th century, staff were also increasingly female, hired, overseen, and let go by female housekeepers — a stage for some fascinating territorial struggles (an early version of those seen in the film The Remains of The Day, with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson).

Thus the blueprint was created, one that would be constantly redrawn and redefined as some roles

Hulton ArcHive/Getty

disappeared (the ‘chamberlain’, basically the overseer of the lord’s bedroom, gave way to the valet; the house steward’s role was merged with the head butler’s) and others — such as the chauffeur — became necessary.

From this end of the telescope it looks like a world of masters and serfs, but being ‘in service’ was better paid (and safer) than either a job on the land or in the factories of the newly industrialised cities. Up to two million people are thought to have been in service (out of a population of 40 million) by 1901.

It was also a complicated relationship, with good staff highly valued, the best even considered part of the family. As another household manual, Lady Troubridge's The Book of Etiquette, warned: ‘It would appear that there are people who feel that those who labour in the capacity of servants are inferior, but in most cases it is those who place servants on a lower plane who are themselves inferior. We owe to those who take part in the work… more than the wages we pay them: we owe them gratitude, courtesy and kindness.’

The Great British Household probably reaches its apotheosis in the Edwardian age — prior to the slaughters of World War I, the murderous influenza epidemic of 1919 and the penury of the Depression – although it was still in reasonably rude health in the

Twenties and Thirties. Consider Robert Altman’s Gosford Park, which brilliantly recreates the complexities and conventions of service in a grand country house in 1932.

Within seven years, however, these would be gone forever, when World War II and its subsequent social upheavals dealt fatal blows to the great estates.

However, the writer of that film is convinced the core values of such service haven’t simply evaporated, just moved on to a different phase. As Julian Fellowes told

In the 21st century, the highest levels of service are found not in private houses but in the world’s grand hotels, or equally opulent residences often attached to them Jeremy Musson, the author of the excellent Up and Down Stairs, a History of the Country House Servant: ‘Money is always spent on comfort and part of being comfortable is being looked afer well. Every generation evolves its own version of what that means.’

So, in the 21st century, the highest levels of service are found not in private houses but in the world’s grand

hotels, or equally opulent ‘residences’ ofen attached to such hotels. One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, one of the most anticipated and desirable addresses in the world, is the kind of environment that Fellowes means.

Although it consists of separate apartments, it operates as a single organism, with the Mandarin Oriental next door providing an essential life support system when required. Food can be supplied from the hotel’s excellent kitchens (via an underground tunnel) on request from the residents. There will be valet service on tap, which includes valet parking), along with uniformed doormen, who represent just the tip of a top-notch security iceberg. There will also be separate elevators and corridors for those clandestine and discreet members of staff to provide 24-hour pampering for residents (in echo of the ‘tradesman’s entrance’, the larger apartments will even come with separate staff entrances). And the old bell-pull summoning system has been updated, with residents able to reach the concierge directly by intranet and dedicated phone lines.

In short, One Hyde Park has the sort of attention to detail and anticipation of guests’ needs that might even raise a smile from the famously tight-lipped Jeeves. Even if he wouldn’t recognise the swish building, he would certainly be familiar with the service concepts behind it.

Robert Ryan is a journalist, screenwriter and novelist

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Candy & Candy interior-designed apartment at One Hyde Park, featuring in-built bar with reective semiprecious quartz crystal lining

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WhetheR you Staff it oR play at mein hoSt youRSelf, a HOmE BAR iS the ultimate upScale paRty acceSSoRy It’s the Ice that will set you apart. Sure, the bottle of 18-year-old Yamazaki single malt sitting on the shelf of your home bar will mark you out as an individual who moves in the higher echelons of drinking society. A Thirties cocktail shaker suggests to guests that your aesthetic and cultural radar remains remarkably well tuned.

But the presence in your personal entertaining space of large, semi-hollowed ice spheres — compacted and thus taking an age to melt — immediately signifies that you’re taking the issue of serving drinks as seriously as a master mixologist, just without the self-regarding rigmarole that accompanies that particular profession.

And quite right too. A carefully stocked bar sitting discreetly in a room into which one receives guests is fundamental to western civilisation. From Noël Coward’s endless and very English supply of cocktails to Marilyn Monroe dunking crisps in champagne in The Seven Year Itch, legendary scenes of stage and screen have been fuelled by domestic drinking. Back in the modern world, being able to fix a range of drinks at home confirms that you take an all-too-rare pride in the art of hospitality.

As a receptacle in which to house precious glassware, aided by a comprehensive range of bar tools, all with singular purpose and practice, as neat as a row of surgeon’s implements, the home bar is a very personal affair. And one to share: to display discernment and expertise, as a cognoscenti of liquor.

Equally, the pleasures of the drinks cabinet — complete with staples such as Sipsmith’s artisanal London-made gin and vodka, served with Q tonic water — can be accentuated when alone. Cocooned from the world in your own private luxury, mixing the right drink in the right receptacle can provide glorious moments of solitary satisfaction and self-indulgence.

But for those who can’t resist a dash of showmanship, and with a nod to gastronomic trends, a molecular cocktail siphon can be added into the equation. It works by injecting laughing gas into anything containing a little fat (such as sugar and lemon) to create a light foam.

One quick blast and sexy whisky sours are an instant creation. Let the clink of spherical ice do the talking…

WRITER Will Drew / PHOTOGRAPHY Beate Sonnenberg 79

Red silk and fur dress, John Galliano. Dark grey wool cargo waistcoat, Joie.

Nude suede platform shoe boots, Christian louboutin

HYDE PaRK PROMENaDE PhotograPhy Chris Dunlop / Fashion editor ursula lake

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Petal-washed evening gown and pink sash belt, Bottega Veneta. Diamond necklace, asprey

Green wool coat, BurBerry. Silk organza gown, AlBertA Ferretti.

Diamond bracelet, Boodles. Diamond ring, CArtier. Diamond brooch, ritz FiNe JeWellery

Military wool jacket, MaxMara. Chion animal-print dress, roberto Cavalli.

Nude suede platform shoe boots, Christian louboutin

Black rue gown, EliE Saab. Leather jacket, CHRiSTiaN DioR. Diamond bracelet, CaRTiER. Black leather ankle boots, SERgio RoSSi

Peach high-neck gown RobeRt Cavalli. Black leather ankle boots, SeRgio RoSSi. Khaki jacket Sonia Rykiel.

Thick black leather belt, gRaham & SpenCeR. Diamond ring, gRaFF. Diamond ring, bulgaRi Hair Christopher Sweeney at DWM. Make-up Sonia Deveney at Balcony Jump. Model Camille at Next Photographer’s Assistants Chris Kennedy; Ben Reeves; Yeh Hito. Stylist’s Assistant Naomi Mdudu Shot on location in Hyde Park. Thanks to Hyde Park Stables and Baron

 b U c E L L At I

 cLIVE chRIStIAN

 GIF t LIbRARY

Family-owned Italian luxury jewellery brand Buccellati has released the Cuff watch-jewel, inspired by Botticelli’s famous allegorical painting, ‘Primavera’ (‘the spring’).

The cuff bracelet dates back to Roman times, when it represented the endless and unbreakable bond of love between a man and a woman. In 18-carat yellow or white gold, the bracelet is typical of Buccellati’s style, featuring radial ‘rigato’ and ‘ornato’ engraving. It comes in four different floral designs, all set with brilliant-cut diamonds, and features a Swiss quartz movement and a push button instead of the usual crown.

Prestigious British designer and parfumier Clive Christian has launched two seductive and sultry new fragrances – the first release by the brand in 10 years.

Entitled C For Men and C For Women, they take inspiration from perfumes created in 1872 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and are designed to complement each other. C For Men is dominant and seductive, with hints of saffron and snow lotus, while C For Women is voluptuous and flirty, with violet and tuberose. They are available from Fortnum & Mason and the Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie in the Urban Retreat, Harrods, priced £195 for 50ml. clive.com

Gif Library, which brings together covetable items from all over the world for men, women, children, the home and even pets, has unveiled a new website. Many of the items can be monogrammed and all are beautifully packaged and dispatched on the same day. Founder and former personal style consultant Caroline Stanbury has teamed up with businesswoman and entrepreneur Goga Ashkenazi, who will become co-chair of the company. With an enhanced personal account option and check-out process, reminder service and separate ‘occasions’ section, the site aims to become the No 1 online gif service. gift-library.com

buccellati.com

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Adler 020 7409 2237; adler.ch Alberta Ferretti 020 7235 2349; albertaferretti.com Asprey 020 7493 6767; asprey.com Based Upon 020 8320 2122; basedupon.com Boodles 020 7437 5050; boodles.com Bottega Veneta 020 7838 9394; bottegaveneta.com Bulgari 020 7872 9969; bulgari.com

 h A R R o DS bY A P P o I N t M E N t

 J R o b E R t S c ot t

Burberry 020 7730 1234;

Since its launch in 2005, the bespoke premium personal shopping experience from Harrods has grown organically to become a highly exclusive lifestyle service and ‘club’ for affluent and discerning clients across the world.

Using an ever-increasing black book of contacts and the extensive Harrods portfolio of brands and product suppliers, a team of personal shoppers aims to fulfil every need. Whether that is sourcing a new wardrobe, fine art or a private jet, or organising a banquet for 20, no request is seen as insurmountable. An ideal resource for the time-poor, the relationship will even extend to personal shoppers reminding clients of an impending birthday or anniversary, helping to select an appropriate gif and creating a fitting celebration.

Contact: byappointment@harrods.com

An innovative new concept in decorative furniture finishing has been introduced by internationally renowned luxury furniture and textile manufacturer J Robert Scott. Following three years in development, Ombré produces a distinctive, individual effect on veneer, resulting in subtle gradients in intensity and shade from light to dark. The term is commonly used in textiles to refer to a colour effect that is produced by arranging different tones of threads in the warp of a woven fabric, but this is the first time it has been achieved in furniture finishing. President and founder Sally Sirkin Lewis says she was intrigued by the transparent effect of watercolours, and wanted to translate the concept of a seamless colour transition to wood veneer. jrobertscott.com

burberry.com Calleija 020 7499 8490; calleija.com Cartier 020 3147 4850; cartier.com Christian Louboutin 020 7245 6510; christianlouboutin.com David Morris 020 7499 2200; davidmorris.com Elie Saab 020 7730 1234; eliesaab.com Glenn Spiro 020 7135 3535; ginternational.co.uk Graff Diamonds 020 7584 8571; graffdiamonds.com Graham & Spencer 020 7235 5000; grahamandspencer.com Haberdasherylondon 020 7503 7080; haberdasherylondon.com Indian Ocean 020 8675 4808; indian-ocean.co.uk John Galliano 020 7235 5000; johngalliano.com Joie 020 7730 1234; joie.com Mark Asplin Whiteley 01947 821911; markwhiteley.com MaxMara 0800 123400; maxmara.com Otoro otoro.co.uk Ritz Fine Jewellery 020 7409 1312; ritzfinejewellery.com Roberto Cavalli 020 7823 1879;

LMV DESIGN

 D o R N b R Ac h t

robertocavalli.com

The ultimate toy for sun worshippers, the Lasy Sun Bed

by LMV Design is a self-positioning lounger that rotates a full 360º in either direction. Sensors automatically orientate it to follow the sun, making it particularly useful when the environment itself is in motion, such as when one is on a yacht, which is why it was originally designed for Candy & Candy’s Candyscape II. Extra features include a head support that adjusts to keep you in the perfect position for reading, and the Mist Breeze system, which releases a fine mist to keep you cool and refreshed. Material finishes and dimensions can be customised according to client request. lmvdesign.com

Luxury bathroom and kitchen manufacturer Dornbracht has launched a new range. Tara, a simple and elegant collection of bathroom fittings by Sieger Design, is based on an original cross-shaped handle, and its modern interpretation is set to become a design icon.

Whether tile or glass mosaic, ceramic or sandstone, a Japanese wooden tub or a glass shower, any bathroom interior would be enhanced by Tara. Based in Iserlohn, Germany, Dornbracht has evolved from a family firm and, this year, celebrated its 60th anniversary. The company regularly receives international design awards for its designs. dornbracht.com

Sergio Rossi 020 7811 5950; sergiorossi.com Sonia Rykiel 020 7493 5255; soniarykiel.com Stockinger +49 (0) 89 7590 5828; stockinger.com Tai Ping 020 7808 9650; taipingcarpets.com Tiffany 00800 2000 1122; uk.tiffany.com Vivienne Westwood 020 7352 6551; viviennewestwood.com

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Bruce Oldfield The designeR who has dRessed some of The woRld’s mosT beauTiful women indulges his love of music when away fRom The aTelieR Is learning to play the piano a refreshing challenge afer all you’ve achieved in your life? Yes, because it's something completely new to me. Although I sang in church choirs as a child, I was never taught to read music and even a brief dalliance with a violin at 12 years old didn’t engage my interest beyond an appreciation of music; I responded positively, but didn’t want to take it any further than that. Now that I have a great teacher in Jessica Chan, I understand music theory and have been taught how to navigate around the keyboard while reading the music in front of me and working the foot pedal. Not only does it challenge my musicreading skills, it also gives my co-ordination a great workout in a way that sudoku never could!

Do you find music an inspiring force in work and life?

Yes, I think it has always been, and a very varied and eclectic source, too – from my first musical awakenings around the age of 11, thanks to Smetana’s 'Ma Vlast', through early Dylan via my foster brother Barry, to anything from Tamla Motown until the Eighties. A chance encounter with a Mozart piece that featured in the 1971 film Sunday Bloody Sunday launched my love of classical music in general and opera in particular.

Do you think writing music and fashion design share the same creative processes? There’s a school of thought that has fashion design up there with the more cerebral pursuits, but I don’t really think so. That said, I think that all creative processes are a response to

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our need to express ourselves in some way or other; it depends largely on how that drive is channelled.

Some pathways are extremely complex and require total self-immersion and, in that regard, I think music is the most challenging. The ability to pluck sounds and rhythms out of the air and put them together in a way that lifs the spirits is pretty awesome – I’ve yet to see a frock that does that.

The ability to pluck sounds and rhythms out of the air and put them together in a way that lifts the spirits is pretty awesome – I’ve yet to see a frock do that Have you ever dressed any musicians and if not, are there any for whom you’d like to design a dress? I have indeed dressed some divas – Dame Felicity Lott and Angela Gheorghiu, as well as Rihanna and Taylor Swif – but I’m really delighted to dress anyone.

What is your perfect environment for listening to music?

Listening to music in my studio is probably the best,

when I’m working on my own with no distractions, though a close runner-up would be on a long flight, equipped with some ace headphones – although, admittedly, I still haven’t found a pair that excludes as much engine noise as I’d like.

How has your appreciation of different musical genres changed as you’ve got older? My awareness and assimilation of pop music probably develops more slowly nowadays. I still love all of Joni Mitchell’s work from 1969-78 and listen to it constantly. There’s nobody who has superseded her as a singer-songwriter in my estimation – others such as Tracy Chapman or Joan Armatrading have burnt brightly and then fizzled out.

However, with classical music, I’m finding new things for piano – Chabrier, Satie, Poulenc – all the time, and the music is still powerful and intriguing.

If you had to pick a favourite song or piece of music, is there one that has a particularly poignant relevance to you? In pop music, it would be Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On – the album I used for my final runway show at St Martin's in 1973, and the quartet ‘Soave Sia Il Vento’ from Mozart’s opera Così Fan Tutte, which set me on the right track. bruceoldfield.com

PHOTOGRAPHY sam christmas

steinway.co.uk

How do you feel when you’ve mastered playing a new piece of piano music? ‘Mastered’ might be overstating the level I’ve achieved… I get great pleasure from hearing a piece of music unfold as I tinker with the melody in my right hand and tentatively draw out the harmony with the lef. It’s really amazing and feels like a great step forward each time. When I started three years ago, I couldn’t even remember how to play 'Chopsticks', and now I’m practising Bach preludes.

Bruce Oldfield photographed at Steinway Hall in Marylebone, the London home of Steinway & Sons