The living room features a round-end FOC sofa by Christophe Delcourt. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
Serbian-born, London-based fashion designer Roksanda Ilinčić has brought her innate modernist colour palette and sharp, geometric architectural lines to the curation of art and interiors for a three-bedroom duplex penthouse at Gasholders London, a residential development set within one of King’s Cross’s refurbished triplet of Grade II-listed, cast iron gasholder guide frames.
A handpainted mural decorates the kitchen wall. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
A Bola de Latao chair by Lina Bo Bardi for Etel in the dressing room. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
Working with Nick Vinson, a close friend and design consultant, to help source and curate a vision for the space, Ilinčić has played on a theme of sculptural form throughout the apartment. This flows from the murals handpainted across the kitchen wall and blinds by Paris-based artist Caroline Denervaud (“referencing the motifs I use for my dresses,” the designer explains) to Christophe Delcourt’s round-end FOC sofas in the living room and the Bola de Latao chair by Lina Bo Bardi for Etel in the cedar-lined dressing room.
Skin lamp by Eny Lee Parker and Latonda chair by Mario Botta. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
Flowers by Simone Gooch in Murano vases. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
There is a Skin lamp by Eny Lee Parker, all round and curvy, like two little girls standing together, and the double curved back of Mario Botta late eighties’ Latonda chair. The circular seat of a Börge Lindau for Blå Station stool in the dressing room echoes the large, organic-shaped Murano vases (filled with flowers by another Australian creative, Simone Gooch of Fjura) in the kitchen. In the internal courtyard, there are tubular clay pots, nipped in at the waist, from the Kaseholm Collection by Annette Lantsoght from Atelier Vierkant. On the roof terrace, there are Willy Guhl’s curvaceous Loop cement chairs.
Clay pots from the Kaseholm Collection by Annette Lantsoght from Atelier Vierkant. Photography by Jason Oddy.
Loop cement chairs by Willy Guhl on the roof terrace. Photography by Jason Oddy.
Warmth comes from the texture of beautiful woods in vintage pieces like 1950s Pierre Jeanneret chairs and a 1960s Guillerme and Chambron oak desk (“it’s like a piece of art in its own right,” enthuses Ilinčić), juxtaposed against the rosy pink of the curtains made in fabric by Kvadrat and custom-sprayed pieces in pops of intense sunshine yellow. A François Châtain lamp, resting low on the floor, has “a Barbara Hepworth feel,” says the designer excitedly. “I’ve been inspired by Barbara for so long – you can particularly see the references in my jewellery – so when I saw that lamp, I obviously had to have it,” she laughs.
Guillerme and Chambron oak desk from the 1960s. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
A François Châtain lamp sits next to custom-yellow chairs. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
Next, Ilinčić points to a wooden sculpture holding books. “It’s one of my favourite things here because it speaks to the female faces you can see everywhere in the apartment,” says the designer, referencing her own limited-edition vases (commissioned by Vinson, inspired by Le Corbusier tapestries and made by Linck’s Ceramics) for Matchesfashion.com, a lithograph of sensual figures by the British sculptor Henry Moore, and downstairs, in the dressing room, a naïve face painting by Virgilio Guidi.
A warm vignette of objects in the sunroom. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
The master bedroom features four different shades of red. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
So too has the designer added personal touches, like favourite architectural magazines and design books, including one by Selena Vicković, Ilinčić’s former tutor at the Faculty of Applied Arts and Design in Belgrade before she moved to London to study at Central Saint Martin’s. With an emphasis on women makers, both established, contemporary and emerging, there is a table by 20th century heavyweight designer Charlotte Perriand through to vases by young Australian ceramicist Alana Wilson.
A painting by Virgilio Guidi is displayed in the dressing room. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
Ilinčić’s bag and coat on display at the entrance. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
In the master bedroom, one of the designer’s favourite rooms, “you can also feel my sense of colour,” she enthuses. Here, she has applied four different shades of Burgundy red, “from the custom spray-painted Vanessa bed by Tobia Scarpa to the bespoke bedding, sheets and pillow slips by Ege of Germany,” she says.
A slim modernist desk is the centrepiece of the study. Photography by Michael Sinclair. Additional styling by Olivia Gregory.
Plants in the atrium of the Gasholders London apartment building. Photography by John Sturrock.
Creating spaces which felt warm and welcoming was a priority – “I wanted the dining room to be somewhere you want to dive into and stay for a long time,” she says. Ilinčić’s bags, coats and dresses also help “to bring an element of personality and make it feel like somebody’s home, not just a show apartment.” It feels instantly like somewhere to reflect and unwind. “I think that’s something we miss in our lives and it’s really the ultimate luxury. There is a tranquility here that appeals to me.”
Skylight of the atrium in the Gasholders London apartment building. Photography by John Sturrock.
Shared interior space of the Gasholders London apartment building. Photography by Peter Landers.
Having once lived in Kings Cross, Ilinčić welcomed the opportunity to bring her vision of art-meets-architecture to Gasholders, “creating a true reflection of my own aesthetic, beyond fashion,” enthuses the designer.
Exterior of the Gasholders London apartment building. Photography by John Sturrock.
The reception atrium. Photography by Peter Landers.
A structural view of the apartment complex. Photography by John Sturrock.
Visit: gasholderslondon.co.uk
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