Interview: Moox Design Studio

Interview with Moox Design

Tell us a little about the background of your design practice? I have been running my interior design practice alongside my architectural practice since 2011. With the passion I have to create beautiful and functional spaces; to deliver results that surprise and delight with their craftsmanship and vision, I studied interior design in Milan alongside my architecture master program. After taking over the family business, we have accomplished residential and commercial projects in both the UK and overseas. Our experience spanning over years in property development and know-how of architecture and construction places us well to advise our clients on the most effective way to achieve maximum returns. Specialising in bespoke, quality interiors, we create beautiful living spaces for private and commercial clients at any scale.

What is your customer process from receiving that first enquiry? First, we start each client with an initial discovery call, to understand their vision and needs, to discuss their priorities and expectations. Then we outline our plan to see how we can help them. We also consider if the property is realistically aligned with what they want to accomplish. We exchange many initial ideas on areas to focus on that will give them the most return on their investment. When the project starts, first we run further consultations as we are committed to providing truly bespoke design and as we approach every project as a unique design journey. Over the years, we developed many unique and helpful tools to define the needs, daily habits, routines, style preference lifestyle and inspirations of the clients. Concept design is the first stage where we invest most of our time and focus on how we can execute the client’s needs while maximising the true potentials of the space with the right space planning. We generate many alternative designs alongside different mood boards, samples and 3D visuals to enable the client to grasp the whole vision and choose the best option that absolutely meets their needs. Then we develop the ratified concept design to design every last detail and specify the exact production, instalment, material and item details to physically execute the project. We provide a transparent list of breakdown of all the costs with alternatives to enable clients to be in control of the budget breakdown. Following that, the procurement phase starts to get all the items that the client approved, ordered and received on their behalf unless they prefer to manage this on their own. Finally, we finalise the project by installation and styling. We coordinate, schedule and manage trades and during the installations, we arrive on-site to manage the entire process from start to finish.

Is there a type of commission that gets you particularly excited? Actually, every commission excites me as each one works wonders when their potentials are truly explored and executed right. Also, period buildings excite me as we offer schemes unique to the building’s character, while adding to our unique sense of aesthetics and design.

What advice would you give a family appointing an interior designer for the first time? If they plan architectural alterations first, I would advise them to commence their interior project during the architectural design or at least one month before the construction works take place. That enables them to ensure the proposed alterations integrate with their entire space and future proof the design as well as specifying the right items, ordering them on right time considering the lead times to be able to execute the project on time.

What’s your favourite thing about working in the St Albans area? I love everything about St Albans, I live here as well as I work. St Albans is very inspiring city for a creative industry as the social environment is vivid, the architectural character of the city is beautiful.