Each month we feature a business operating within the SW1 area. Please click on the links below to see past features and please contact us should you wish your business to be featured in the future.
Contact Rozanne Shipman, Stakeholder Engagement Officer by email: Rozanne Shipman
June 2011
: 1508 London
Luxury design house 1508 London was established after its founders: Fouad Qeblawi, Alex De Blonay and Kerry McClinton-King had identified room at the top end of the market for a more considered and responsible approach to their high specification design projects.
These range from developing unique properties, creating original interiors for luxury developments and arranging the seamless integration between old and new in architectural renewals, to commissioning bespoke furniture and contemporary art to order.
Add in property acquisition, planning,residence management, brand development and positioning and 1508 London really do provide everything you might need to identify, plan and carry out a successful luxury development. Simone Kane met with Alex De Blonay Director and Co-founder and asked her why had they set up shop inSW1?
Simone Kane: When did you open your business in SW1?
Alex De Blonay: We moved into 7 Howick Place in January 2011.
What made you choose the location?
Finding a home to house 1508, our luxury multi-disciplinary design house, was a strategic exercise for us. Our high net worth clientele revolves around Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Belgravia and although it was important for us to be located somewhere within easy reach of these locations, we also wanted to offer a different experience and find a location that had an edge to it and new possibilities. Victoria became quickly the centre of our attention, as we saw the potential of an area in search of an identity.
We completely fell in love with 7 Howick Place, which has been redeveloped by Alesseandro Cajrati Crivelli and Estate4. The extraordinary and unusual volumes of the spaces they created and the mix of illustrious tenants, all active in the best of cultural and design activities, made it an inimitable location to house both our design studio and gallery space, The Great Room.
How do you see all or the different aspects of your business in the context of the changing face of SW1, redevelopment, a creative hub and new hotels launching?
We are extremely interested in finding ways of putting Victoria on the map as a cultural destination for design excellence and are currently working with the London Design Festival, which attracts an estimated 350,000 visitors each September, to find a way of promoting the area as adesign destination. We would love to join forces with creative organisations in the area, as well as looking at public spaces and create an event, which would benefit both businesses and residents. As architects, interior designers and branding specialists, we are also offering our expertise to developers and investors who are either looking to invest in an up-and-coming area of London or are already participating in the redevelopment of the area.
Do you have any local clients in SW1 who you have done work for that you can mention? If so, what were the projects?
We have spoken to various investors about a few properties, but nothing we can talk about just yet.
You've just had your first exhibition in your new gallery space, The Great Room. What was it and how was it received? Was there much local involvement and attendance?
As an organisation, we constantly develop new ways of promoting creativity and The Great Room, our gallery and event space, has been conceived as a platform for collaboration and 'cross-fertilisation' between design and artistic disciplines. The program this year will involve an exhibition by the top students at the Chelsea College of Arts in June, a contemporary Middle Eastern Art and Design festival in July in collaboration with Brownbook magazine. We launch the new collection of two fantastic fashion designers based in Belgravia called Hemyca in August, and we are currently working on a month long event in collaboration with the award wining designers and makers of luxury life-style accessories and lighting Spina for the London Design Festival in September which will also involve some the work of some of the finest contemporary craftsmen from Japan. We are also have exciting plans around Frieze Art Fair in October and another show in November.
We launched the space at the beginning of May, with new work by artist Jessica Zoob whose abstracted impressionist paintings were received to great acclaim. We had over 300 people coming through our doors, mainly people who were not from the area and who were extremely excited to discover or rediscover it.
Does your business get involved in any charity work, particularly local? If so, with whom?
Not yet, but we would love to know what is being done by the BID and how we could participate with local events where we can.
1508 London, Design House & Gallery 7 Howick Place London SW1P 1BB
FOR MORE ABOUT 1508 LONDON
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