This year's WOW!house displays, oh so eloquently, the capacity of detail to elevate a space, from joinery and upholstery to furniture and finishes. It also offers an insight into how spatial planning is a far greater focus for designers than ever.
Here, both have been delivered with aplomb — a juggling act that distinguishes the most capable designers from the rest.
How to visit WOW!house
• Where WOW!house, Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, London SW10
• When Monday–Saturday, June 3–July 3
• Entry Morning/lunchtime (10am–2pm) or afternoon (2pm–6pm), with arrival at any time during those hours. Final entry is recommended by 5pm
• Tickets Individual, £25; two tickets for £40 on weekdays (£35 on Saturdays); student tickets £10. A portion of each ticket price will be donated to charity partner United in Design
• To book Visit www.dcch.co.uk
What’s on show is more than a succession of rooms. Instead, they are spaces configured with enormous cunning, notably in the Sims Hilditch Courtyard Room that artfully combines beauty with all the functionality required by a busy family.
It’s not only floor space that has been deployed so deftly, but also height, from the monumental scale of ADAM Architecture’s grand entrance, designed by Darren Price, to the lofty lantern in Ben Pentreath Studio’s kitchen for Lopen Joinery.
Nor is the experience limited to interiors: there’s a seamless join between inside and out. Visitors are met with the imposing sight of the Artorius Faber Entrance Garden, in a variety of British stones with planting by Alexander Hoyle, and the McKinnon and Harris Garden Terrace offers visitors somewhere to cool their heels after the visual whirlwind.
There are other attractions, too, not least panel discussions featuring Alessandra Branca, Daniel Slowik, Nix Harding, Alex Dauley and Laura Hammett.
At 3pm on June 25, I will talk to Emma Sims-Hilditch, Rupert Cunningham of Ben Pentreath Studio and Jay Grierson of Martin Hulbert Design about creating beautiful spaces with high functionality.
Visitors to this year’s WOW!house are greeted by the impressive sight of the ADAM Architecture façade, designed by Darren Price with stone by Artorius Faber.
The Artorius Faber Entrance Garden, designed by Alexander Hoyle and constructed in Forest Marble from the Somerset stone specialist, which has its own quarries in Dorset.
The House of Rohl Primary Bathroom by 1508 London.
The Treasure House Morning Room by Daniel Slowik.
The Casa Branca bedroom by the US designer Alessandra Branca.
The Drummonds Powder Room by Nicola Harding.
The Sims Hilditch Courtyard Room by Emma Sims-Hilditch.
Shepel’ Home Bar by Toni Black of Black Sheep.
The Samuel Heath Bathroom by Laura Hammett.
The Hector Finch Snug by Thurstan demonstrates the transformative effect of subtle lighting.
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