Project Overview

This Grade II listed church dated 1890 was converted into a residence in 2005. At the end of 2013 I purchased it for myself, to be an expression of all I had dreamed about a space to work and live in.
At the start, this church was (apart from its magnificent architecture) a white canvas, it didn't have a single piece of furniture.
Along the way, I kept focused on my view that, despite its contemporary ID scheme, this property deserved to be respected for its historical value. So, white was chosen as the predominant colour to enhance the original architecture. The zebra printed rugs link the white furniture to the black grand piano and the navy ottoman and cushions.
Gold, black and browns combined with images of baroque angels brought a sophisticated look into the guests bedroom.
In the master bedroom, a large arc-shaped niche became an extra dressing room with mirror doors to reflect the original beams: finding every small part of this building absolutely beautiful, it had to be kept untouched and cherished.
Putting all these aspects together was a good challenge, but I believe that the intent has been fully achieved.

Organisation

GIANNA CAMILOTTI LTD.

Team

The Interior design concept and sourcing were made by myself. I have also designed many of its items (like the large 3D sofa, the dining table, cupboards, printed cushions and canvasses), although I counted on long-term collaborators to develop and/or supply furniture and accessories.

Project Brief

The Interior design project started in January 2014 with an idea in mind: the house wouldn't just be beautiful, but also the perfect place to work and relax. A house spacious enough to work comfortably with a team of assistants and that eventually would have its doors open to friends to enjoy cosy dinners and cocktail parties in an atmosphere of London piano-bars!
The open, white space of the living area accommodates a working station /dining room, a grand piano, a small living room, a large living room and kitchen. It had enough space to separate the working area from the living area, but following my view that we should have fun even when we are working, they have been integrated. So ... the digital grand piano has a self-play system and is often "on" during the working hours and the single working table which is 4,5m long becomes a dining table that accommodates 12 people. The massive high gloss cupboard is white and keeps all sorts of working materials but a small part of it has been reserved as storage for china and cutlery.

Project Innovation/Need

The layout chosen for the living area follows a new concept: the use of oversized furniture.
The room was large enough to fit three standard-sized sofas into it, but in the early stages of the project, the three sofas were replaced by a massive "3D" sofa, which is more than five metres long by three metres at its widest part. It was named "Everybody" and accommodates up to eighteen people. A “quarter-shaped” ottoman has been integrated to the sofa. It is detachable and can be moved to any other part of it.
I have applied this concept in all larger spaces I have done: it is always preferable a few pieces of oversized furniture. They will ensure a great, impressive visual impact.

Design Challenge

Due to the ample living area and its high ceiling, it was hard to find furniture in measurements that were proportional to the room, so the solution was to design and to produce them. Basically, most items of furniture in this house are oversized and have been designed especially for the space, although the real challenge of the project has been the budget: in fact not much was spent on it and so the resource was to use a few pieces of furniture and accessories that, despite being of reasonable cost, are oversized, eye-catching items.
The garden was the last part of the house to be made, so in here, the challenge regarding the budget was imposed as an even more difficult obstacle to overcome ( and it had to be totally renovated and furnished). Even so, the result achieved was very satisfying: in designing the garden, reasonably priced but charming items were used to bring back my memories of travels to Provence, as well as remote places in Amalfi, Italy, with its lavenders in flower, olive trees and bistro-style chairs: in other words, a mediterranean atmosphere!

Sustainability

The house has a total of 106 indoors and 15 outdoors spot lights. I made sure that everyone was to be replaced for low energy LED bulbs.
Also: due to the high ceilings of this building, the energy consumption to heat the house was too high, so an efficient thermal insulation has been done to reduce this consumption.