The £18 million view: designer Martin Kemp on overlooking the Tower of London
Of course the money shot is the view,” says interior designer to the world’s squillionaires, Martin Kemp, pointing out the vista of the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the Thames at close quarters.
I can spare a glance out of the window, but turn back to the job at hand of stroking my way around the silk wallpaper, silk-velvet sofas and leather panelling of this £18 million show apartment in the newly renovated Ten Trinity Square.
One of 41 Four Seasons’ managed residences for sale, new owners will be cocooned in every conceivable luxury when the hotel, spa, bar, restaurant and club open at Christmas. Today, I have a sneak peek of the sumptuous work that Martin Kemp Design has spent the past ten months creating, and asks what makes him tick.
Kemp’s credentials include working in LA with Barbara Barry (“a female Ralph Lauren”), and being creative director with developers Candy & Candy (of One Hyde Park) for eight and a half years; his website is moody, dark and macho. I think he might be formidable. He is (sigh of relief) welcoming, relaxed, softly spoken and utterly charming. He’s wearing a presentable dark jacket.
“I’m not comfortable wearing jackets,” he tells me later. “I’m squirming. When I went to a party a lady whom I’d met at a lunch while wearing a jacket, suddenly saw me in totally unexpected zippy trousers, punk T-shirt and a crazy hat, and I said, ‘This is me!’ In LA [his second home] I blossom, I’m just more crazy. I’m very eclectic in every way, my home, my clothing, the lot. I can behave incredibly politely, but equally I can leave the house and go screaming down the street naked.”
This eclecticism – and character – is why clients seek out Martin Kemp Design for their private homes, property developments, yachts and even aircraft. “We try not to have a look. I’d like clients to come to us and not know what they are going to get, other than extremely good service, extremely high quality, and extremely versatile, flexible people. They come to us with a space and say, ‘Create a home for us.’”
What this client, Reignwood, has got for its show apartment is the hot ticket of handpicked vintage pieces seamlessly blended with custom-made furniture and decorative objects – “timeless, classic, modern styling, in creams, earthy colours, tonal, with tiny dots of colour,” Kemp says of the “safe scheme” of bespoke etched rugs, vintage cubic glass-and-brass side tables, Murano 1960s torpedo light fitting, handmade beds. “The only place I go now in London for antiques is Alfies [in Marylebone],” he says, preferring Paris, LA and Brussels.
I don’t pass up the chance to ask about style tips: “Angular design will soften and become slightly more rounded, more feminine,” he replies. “Inspiration will come from nature and organic forms, although with the usual London elegance. Drama can be equally achieved through softer pattern and form as much as through the richness and opulence which has prevailed for the last decade.”
• Martin Kemp Design, more information at martinkempdesign.com and tentrinitysquare.com