Bridge For Design Spring 2014 Bridge For Design Spring 2014 Issue | Page 114

INSPIRED BY | Louis Henri

‘I did about 170 trips to Paris, staying in a different hotel almost
every time. If you want a Moroccan look, you can’t just look in a
book – you have to go to Morocco to live it.’
Louis started from scratch with this project, changing virtually
every room in the apartment to create a fresh layout which feels both
spacious and intimate. The space was stripped back to the bones
before being rebuilt using the finest finishes. The completed space is
an inspiring blend of traditional French elegance and contemporary
style.
The vast amount of marble in the scheme is entirely handpolished, with some bathrooms taking over two months to install
due to the exquisite detail. The guest cloakroom even features a
solid, aluminium-framed marble door that blends seamlessly with
the wall.
‘The execution from the marble workers was more than I could
have dreamed of,’ says Louis. ‘It took them about four months to
install all the marble.
Styling the space took just as much attention and time. The
breakfast nook features hand-painted silk walling, while the
adjoining corridor boasts a deep-etched, LED-lit glass wall which
brings light into the kitchen.
Nearly everything in this apartment has been custom designed to
suit the environment. Louis’ brother, a master cabinetmaker, crafted
the key pieces of furniture in South Africa, including the three-tiered
walnut bookcase in the sitting room, which is inlayed with églomisé
and finished with solid walnut detailing.
‘The largest part of the project was finding the right people to
do the work,’ he says. ‘Those who did the woodwork were fourthgeneration carpenters. We used workshops in St Germain that have
been there since Napoleon’s time.’
The bespoke lighting, which features in the principal rooms of
the apartment, was also designed in-house, and created using
the combined skills of artisans from Murano, London, Paris and
the United States. The sitting room chandelier alone has nearly
200 components, each meticulously created to achieve a singular
statement which complements the sweeping curves in the room.
Even the door handles were designed by Louis Henri, developed
from a sketch and brought to life over the course of eight months
by a foundry in New York. ‘Everything we found was either very
classic or too Deco – nothing was quite the look we were going for’,
explains Louis.
With so many family members to design for, one of Louis’ more
difficult tasks was the blending of individual styles, and the seamless
integration of classic French ambiance with 21st Century comfort
while maintaining a cohesive style.
Especially challenging was incorporating high-end technology
throughout the space. The apartment features an intuitive, custom
developed programme for controlling every aspect of the
environment; climate, audio, lighting and security are controlled via
iPods that dock discreetly behind every door.
Nowhere is the juxtaposition of new and old more apparent than in
the media room, which at first glance could be a formal French library.
Hidden behind its silk-covered walls are top-end speakers, and the
wall of faux books, constructed of leather by a traditional ►
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Bridge for Design Spring 2014