In the Post

A post room didn't initially strike me as a terribly exciting assignment. I had visions of a very functional space somewhere in the bowels of a building, like in those film scenes where someone is given the lowliest job possible in a huge corporation, pushing round trolleys laden with mail. Naturally my preconceptions were all wrong. This was 199 Knightsbridge, after all, a luxury apartment block rather than offices. The post room was a richly finished polygonal space of almost religious intensity. A temple lined with veneered letter boxes centred on an altar. My mind kept wandering to the rickety pine table in the dowdy lobby of my South London block of flats, upon which, junk mail is messily strewn.

Architects: Squire & Partners 

Fashion Press

Before we've had a chance to don so much as a lightweight linen suit or some bold summery prints - I'm told they are hot this season, fashion retailers are already showing off their autumn/winter collections to an eager press. Gap & Hermes, more or less polar opposites in the fashion world, held their press events in very different locations. Hermes chose Burlington Gardens, a grand Victorian edifice, formerly home to the Museum of Mankind, and now a large blan canvas of a space, hired out for just such purposes. Gap, meanwhile were to be found in a converted dairy shed near Kings Cross.

The Hermes show, which covered their signature scarves, fashion, accessories, and an interiors collection, was displayed like art, with reverence, in vast white rooms. The scarves, having a whole room to themselves were particularly impactful, strung across the room, as if on a washing line, while film was projected onto the wall behind. It was the jewellery display that really drew people. Set within a glass top of a giant table, under which people stood, necks craned.

By contrast, the Gap show played on the rugged industrial nature of its surroundings, installing an architectural framework in which to display their no nonsense clothing collection. The music was loud, the lights bright, the mood was more nightclub than art gallery, and refreshments were served from a airstream caravan parked at the entrance.

Mood Indigo - Part 4

Reception Rooms

Some houses were made for hosting great events and parties, and the principal rooms on the ground floor here could happily accommodate receptions of an ambassadorial scale. The drawing room could easily double as a ballroom; the  grand piano is already in position. And it would be no surprise to find yourself sitting next to a crowned head of state in the dining room.

Drawing Room

Dining Room

Study

And when the party's over, there's a more informal space to retire to.

 Architecture & Interiors by Studio Indigo

Book Worms

"A room without books is like a body without a soul". So said the great Roman author and orator, Cicero. I would have to agree that a home devoid of books feels somehow incomplete, like a show home awaiting its occupants. Books not only tell you something about the person who lives there, but can also serve an aesthetic and decorative purpose. A wall of books can add as much visual interest as, say, a series of framed prints, or a patterned wallpaper. And who wouldn't want to get stuck into a good book while sitting in one of these two rooms...

Interior by Sally Dernie

Interior by Studio Indigo

Tickets Please!

They're about to start work on refurbishing the grand old station at Crystal Palace, which has been unused for decades, so I was delighted to be allowed in to photograph it before works begun. Read more...