Somewhere between an enchanted forest in the Yucatán Peninsula and a cave on the Mediterranean coast, we find this fantastical home designed by Danielle Moudaber. The British-Lebanese interior and furniture designer is known for her unbridled imagination that’s grounded in her upbringing in Nigeria and modern-art studies in London.
For the restyling of this loft space in a former shoe factory in Clerkenwell, she was commissioned by French-Lebanese sisters Yasmine and Laura. ‘They were already living in the flat, so they knew it well – where the sun shines at different times of the day and how the mood changes with the seasons,’ says Danielle of the sisters, who work in private equity and interiors.
‘Other than improving a layout weighed down by wasted corridor space, Yasmine, the elder of the sisters, requested organic shapes and a 70s palette of browns and cream, while Laura loves beautiful textures and green tones.’
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For this project, Danielle was obsessed by the curvaceous silhouettes of Gaudí’s chimneys, the flow of French architect Jacques Couëlle’s spaces and founding member of the art brut movement Jean Dubuffet’s cuts and veins. ‘I like the freedom of la fantaisie, but I also need clean lines and sharp details,’ she notes.
Most of the walls in the living area were knocked down, while the ones that couldn’t be removed were enveloped in sculpted plaster partitions. Danielle began by moulding plasticine at home; once her maquette was ready, she called Mark Swan, a sculptor from Pinewood Studios, to help. ‘Because I’m an adventurous person – not in my private life, where I tend to be boring, but in my work – I’ll go with whomever I feel fit to be part of my story,’ she explains.
There were restrictions on building heavy structures in the apartment, so Danielle rented a studio where Mark sculpted polystyrene foam blocks that were then transferred to the space. The builder reinforced the volumes and covered them with plaster, making them safe and solid without weighing on the property.
Little slits along the bottom of the walls, inspired by holy-water stoups in churches, act as pockets of light that enhance the mystical ambience at night. The polished plaster is textured with veins and was expertly painted by Italian maestro, Fabrizio Tiesi. Together with Danielle, he chose a shade of brown with an oxblood base that contrasts with a creamy white to amplify the effect.
Past the bespoke kitchen – as beautiful as it is functional for Yasmine, who loves cooking – the living area, bathed in natural light, is both a playground for entertaining friends and a chill-out area for relaxing.
Voluptuous modular Ennio Chiggio sofas, reupholstered in velvet, sit centre-stage, while the raised floor next to the windows (another 1970s touch) separates the dining and lounge areas. ‘The girls wanted a projector screen and a comfortable seating area to watch movies,’ Danielle explains. ‘This oval daybed was the perfect solution: comfy, sexy and so much fun to hang out in.’
‘I wanted to interpret what the sisters imagined and make their vision tangible,’ continues Danielle. ‘Because they are so young, this had to be a place where they can live, be and become. A home that will accompany them in a transformative period of their lives and that may even leave an imprint on them. Personally, I would have loved everything cream to have been silver, but it was too much for the girls, even if they are younger than me! Still, I was very lucky to have clients who aspired to something unusual, because I have a galloping imagination.’ daniellemoudaber.com
