There’s something special about the Banda townhouse at Whistler Square – this seven-bedroom property that’s part of the Chelsea Barracks project, the masterplan for which was approved by Westminster Council all the way back in 2011. It’s a dressed home that actually feels like a home. The secret is Banda’s approach to the concept of ‘quiet luxury’.
‘There’s nothing worse than walking into a space where you feel uncomfortable, where you are told to take your shoes off, you don’t want to sit or put a drink down and people have karate-chopped pillows,’ says the design studio’s founder and CEO Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
This house is the antithesis of that. For Edo (as he prefers to be called), the definition of quiet luxury is the creation of a sanctuary, somewhere to relax.
Measuring a staggering 10 metres in width and extending across six storeys, this new-build house does not naturally lend itself to the word cosy. However, thanks to Banda’s attention to materiality, craftsmanship and storytelling, the space has been transformed into a cocoon.
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Chelsea Barracks has created a 21st-century take on a Georgian property – it has cornicing, architraves and skirting that nod to a sense of history, but there’s also air conditioning, underfloor heating, a gym, pool, cinema room and swimming pool, as well as a lift.
‘There are nods to a classical, Georgian rigidity in the symmetry, but with a more deconstructed modern approach,’ says Nicola Sherbon, Banda’s head of design. ‘It’s a reinterpreted approach, which is ultimately what we wanted to do with the layout and the furniture, too.’
Sometimes the designers have leaned into the symmetrical nature of the architecture, especially in the home’s more formal rooms, but elsewhere they have found joy in subverting it. The focus, always, is imagining how a real family would occupy the spaces – to that end, the reception room has a layout encouraging conversation and circulation, while the family room and cinema (in the basement) are all about comfort. ‘There’s a luxury to designing something for the way people actually live,’ adds Edo.
When it comes to furnishing those spaces, Nicola shares that it’s all about balance – ‘45 per cent contemporary, 45 per cent vintage and then 10 per cent of a little magical dust, the je ne sais quoi’.
Across the old and the new, it’s the origin of the pieces and being able to share the narrative of their creation and the beauty of the materials that is paramount. ‘It’s not about adding layer upon layer to try and make something luxurious, but about showing the quality in what’s there,’ explains Edo. ‘When you walk around a house and look at the pieces that you love the most, they’re often the ones that you’ve bought in a special place, you know the maker or you’ve inherited from your family – it’s those stories that give them value.’
The furniture in this home may not be a family heirloom, but by sourcing vintage originals from Edo’s little black book of dealers and experts across the globe (the team collaborated with design gallery Studiotwentyseven) and mixing them with bespoke designs by some of Banda’s most trusted brands and makers, the hope is that the pieces will be passed on to the next generation. Longevity is the ultimate aim.
Unlike many dressed homes, intended to wow in the moment, this is a project designed to get even better with age. ‘For us, a lot of the time, it’s about texture, tactility and how the materials work together,’ explains Nicola, pointing to the Alpi veneer by Ettore Sottsass on the cabinet that hides the TV in the family room, the irregularly sided oak table in the kitchen that highlights the grain, veined marble – ‘made by Mother Earth millions of years ago’ – and the patinated brass of the lighting made by Novocastrian. They are living finishes, not perfect, and Edo is keen to champion the beauty in imperfection.
Fittingly, the palette throughout is earthy: burgundies, greens and browns that are innately calming. ‘There is nothing too extreme, nothing too patterned, but when you get closer you can see that fine detail,’ says Nicola.
In homage to the neighbourhood of Chelsea, art was also an important component. ‘We really delved into the local context, tapping into the area’s bohemian past,’ continues Nicola, who explains how Banda commissioned local artists to create work especially for this home. ‘They were all given a brief and came back to us with their thoughts. Some have created multiple options and we’ve selected one or kept a couple for our archives.’
‘We certainly try not to follow trends. I even try and make sure we’re not copying ourselves,’ says Edo, who likes to go on a journey with every project, being authentic to both the location and the property. ‘I hope that everything we do is really unique. A lot of the time we are challenging ourselves to do what we haven’t done before. We want our designs to have identity, because if you try to design for everybody then it ends up being washed-out or bland in some way. Maybe that’s the opposite of quiet luxury; it’s generic luxury.’
Here, that constant questioning of what is possible has resulted in a very special family home. ‘Chelsea Barracks is 15 years into a 30-year project and they haven’t cut corners. They’re doing it once and doing it well to create a legacy. That’s something
we want to honour.’ bandaproperty.com; chelseabarracks.com
