Fran Hickman – Moda Operandi, Belgravia

Fran Hickman – Townhouse, Notting Hill

Inside a Grade II listed Westbourne Grove terrace, this first floor bedroom suite demanded a complex series of shifts in function within an extremely limited amount of space. Adjacent to an opulent bedroom, the confines of studio living necessitated a great many things happen in the same place.

In homage to Carlo Mollino, form and function evolved together. Inspired by the erotic photography taken in his Turinese apartment, Casa Mollino, as well as his fictional autobiography, Vita di Oberon, in which the twenty-eight-year-old Mollino, in the guise of a young Turinese architect who died tragically young, describes architecture, among all the creative disciplines, as demanding the most intricate shifts in shape. Accordingly, the architect is forced not just to be ‘a poet and a mathematician’ but also ‘a mechanic, an accountant, a lawyer, a slob, a gentleman, a swallower of bitter pills, an old lady’s dancing partner and a snake charmer’.

The leopard skin and cane panelled doors, therefore, hide as much as they reveal. The space is conceived of as a dressing or ‘changing’ room, expressing the occupant’s natural affinity for metamorphosis while serving multiple purposes simultaneously. Behind the cedar-lined wardrobe doors, closing one inside the other, are: a travertine bath, a campaign style ‘water closet’ and a breakfast bar in natural brass. This encasement of multiple functions within one structure makes possible sudden and radical changes of form, behaviour and state of being. Thus the space as a whole is set on a path of endless change, at one with the flux of existence.

Fran Hickman – Locket’s, St. James’s

Behind the grand, often ancient buildings of St James’s stands a great monument to twentieth-century brutalism. Designed by Alison and Peter Smithson in 1964, this fourteen storey tower block, flanked by two low rise buildings, has now been radically reinvented and suitably renamed. Locket’s wine bar and restaurant – from the family team behind Wilton’s and Franco’s on Jermyn Street – sits within the double height reception area of the original building and opens out onto Smithson Plaza.

The Smithson’s influence runs throughout Locket’s interior. Sudgen House (1955) inspires the monochrome polyvinyl flooring and veneered timber paneling. The House of the Future (1956) – along with the mid-century sensuality of Villa Borsani – inspire the curved lines and bull-nosed edging of the bar tops, as well as the scalloped detailing of the flooring and wall-mirroring – all of which bring a feminine curve to traditionally masculine lines. Working within the fenestration of the building’s original façade, timber ribs were used to emphasise the subdivision of the glazed elevations. These ribs wrap across the ceiling to redefine the interior space and frame the surrounding streetscapes. By extending rather than augmenting the existing structure, the studio has carefully honoured both the building’s heritage and its architectural philosophy.

Drawing on the visual vernacular of the London private members’ clubs which haunt this part of London and also taking inspiration from the colours of St James’ Park, the studio chose a palette of copper, cork and green veined marble coupled with an array of autumnal shades. The dark and light amber resin tabletops were a bespoke specialist manufacture, while the handwoven fabrics, derived from sixties styles and inspired by gentlemen’s outfitter’s weaves, were drawn directly from Tibor’s archives – one of the few textile makers still working on handlooms. These fabrics not only cover the seating, but inspire the flame-stitched veneer wall-cladding at end of bar. Milan’s grand entryways inspired the lacquered brass door detailing, while mid-century decorative table lights wear shades of parchment and across the space a palette of moss greens and burnt yellows combine with cork and patinated copper work to create a warm, lively, intimate atmosphere.

Awards: Winner of Best Leisure Interior London at the UK Property Awards 2020 | Shortlisted for the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards 2020 | Longlisted for the Dezeen Awards 2020 (Bar Interior).

Fran Hickman – Emilia Wickstead, Knightsbridge

Arranged over two floors, in an enviable corner building on Sloane Street, this 2,000 sq ft split space is designed to tell both sides of the Emilia Wickstead story. The ground floor is architecturally focused. Fran Hickman chic, sophisticated use of materials, inspired by Emilia’s feminine, strictly tailored approach, reflects the spirit of Le Corbusier’s modernist Villa Savoye: carefully considered, sweeping cuts of terrazzo combine with sharp, clean lines and soft, curved forms.

The lower ground imitates a private dressing room. Upholstered wall panels, bathed in Emilia’s signature pink, hide an atelier, a larger fitting room, wardrobes and a guest WC. The furnishing and fabrics all take their cue from the floral playfulness of Dorothy Draper.

Awards: Winner of Best Retail Interior UK, at the UK Property Awards 2017.

Following a scorching first experience in the desert void, the great architect’s renowned structure – built to prove the sun ‘can be controlled at all four cardinal points of an edifice and, in a hot country, even manipulated to reduce temperatures’ – became the studio’s inspiration. The aim: to build a members-only dining oasis designed to address guests’ needs swiftly on arrival, then playfully reflect the exterior with abstract mirages of shape and colour.

The restaurant is a space in which desert elements are tamed – a place to revel in the outside whilst safely within; the deep, planted greens and streaks of gold are an homage to old Dubai – a fishing port and waystation for smugglers en route to India.

Fran Hickman – Townhouse, Belsize Park

This 4,500 sq ft townhouse – home to a senior director of modern British art at a leading London auction house – showcases the skills of Britain’s finest craft makers whilst comfortably honouring modernist sensibilities.

An eight-bedroom family home which celebrates unadorned simplicity, stays honest to quality materials and still contains timeless, elegant works handmade with heart by Marthe Armitage, Soane, Pinch and Marianna Kennedy.