Mount Street in Mayfair is one of the most desirable addresses in the heart of London and a longtime favourite of Christian Bense. The designer has been in love with the neighbourhood since he created a tablescape at Jessica McCormac’s store, so when he was asked to transform an apartment just a few doors down, he jumped at the chance.
The apartment’s owner had been following Christian’s work for some time; ‘A pretty flattering and daunting thing to know’ he laughs. With their main residence out of London, this place was intended as a mid week crash pad or base for the occasional weekend trip.
As such, they wanted it to feel like a ‘home from home’, suitable for entertaining but also intimate and relaxed. Delighted by this open brief from his ‘cool’ client, Christian notes, ‘It was honestly quite refreshing that we were able to design a space that nudged form over function.’
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‘The apartment had been bought as a rental in early 2000s and not much has been done other than the odd lick of paint between tenants’ he recalls. Decor aside, the biggest challenge on this project was down to the size of the property. With just one bedroom and an open plan living room and kitchen, the existing layout didn’t do the space – nor the building’s grade II listing – justice. ‘It was just a little sad’ he says.
Starting with the basics, Christian was relieved to discover that the footprint of the apartment was lovely, but the open plan layout had been poorly carved up, with fitted joinery in the wrong place in every room.
He took a bold approach to the arrangement of spaces, moving the joinery from the bedroom to the living room and cladding it in mirror so it felt less like a wardrobe and more like a piece of furniture. He also flipped the kitchen which previously had cut the living area down the middle. Now it runs along the back wall as the main focus of the room.
Describing the apartment as a ‘boiled egg and sushi house’, Christian still had to find a way to fit a fully functioning kitchen and utility into a very small, open plan space. His solution was to design it to be entirely tucked away behind folding pocket doors, so it reads as a panelled wall when not in use.
The custom-made island is designed to look like a solid piece of stone which appears to be more like a restaurant bar than a kitchen. ‘I don’t think the apartment would have been as successful if we hadn’t tackled this issue with a fully bespoke solution’ he says.
Christian chose the stone for the kitchen the same way as he selects art - by picking something he loves and ignoring the room. ‘We stumbled on the stone at the end of a very long and cold day of sourcing’ he recalls. ‘We fell in love with it immediately, and without realising it, it acted as the lynchpin for the whole scheme. As a result the room feels quite considered and organised, even whilst having such an eclectic array of materials and textures.’
Due to the building’s listed status, architectural details such as the panelled ceilings had to be retained and incorporated into the design, but this challenge ended up becoming the core of the design philosophy. ‘Amplifying the traditional detailing, so that we could create a juxtaposition with the more contemporary decorative elements’ as he puts it. Stylistically, Christian’s first aim was to recreate an authentic feeling period property, bringing the space back to life, but within that creating a contemporary home that felt effortless and curated.
The colour scheme evolved over time, with paint colours being informed by the fabrics and materials. This part of the process was a close collaboration with the client and as things progressed, the palette evolved into a warm, autumnal scheme that almost mimics the colours of the brick buildings on the street.
‘As you can literally see everything all at once, I was quite strict about ensuring we maintained a high diversity of materials, ensuring the rooms felt layered and interesting’ Christian notes. Where they did need to repeat materials, they ensured each treatment was different from the next, for example introducing clear glass only once (on the dining table) with any other glass used being smoked, reeded or opaque.
Keeping his client closely involved throughout the process meant there were no surprises, just glowing reviews all round ‘and there may have been a tear or two on handover day, but that may have just been the light…’ christianbense.com
