Building on a fine pedigree

Interior design by Richard Angel and Ed O’Donnell, Angel O'Donnell

From the interior designers:

Our apartment owner asked for understated luxury and oodles of comfort – a refreshingly grounded brief for a development as grand as The OWO Residences.

A fine pedigree

Once home to Britain’s military HQ under Churchill’s premiership, this neo-baroque Grade II listed building boasts a fine pedigree.

Luckily for us, when a building speaks as loudly as this, the interiors can work a quieter magic. 

We began by picturing someone well-travelled, with an eye for detail and impeccable taste. 

Over time, this person would add a Persian rug here, a hand-thrown vase there, and occasionally rearrange a picture wall to accommodate new art.

With this person in mind, we set out to create a welcoming home, one that looked like it had been lovingly assembled over many years. 

It needed to be a sanctuary – where craftsmanship, pin-sharp detailing, expert art curation and that all-important comfort work in concert with each other.

For us, this is what The OWO Residences are all about.

Living room/dining

Craftsmanship and comfort were at the heart of our designs – from the custom-made Murano-glass pendants in the hallway to the deep-seated, plush-velvet sofas in the living room. 

Beautiful embellishments played their part, too, with chairs upholstered in wool bouclé and densely textured embroidery, and curtains and cushions elevated with piping, brushed fringes, appliqué borders and leather trims. 

These soft and tactile elements contribute to the understated luxury our homeowner asked for.

In the living area, a specially commissioned Renaissance-inspired oil painting presides over a caramel-hued vellum sideboard. 

The bright colours and explosive brushwork create a dramatic focal point.

Opposite this, a banquet-sized dining table honed from a slab of rosso luana marble beckons friends and family to feast into the night. 

The stone’s swirls of rose and soft purple are mirrored in the bespoke carmine-coloured bench and blush, sand and chestnut-toned chairs.

Kitchen

In the kitchen, you’ll find a sculptural table of twisted oxidised copper, vintage chairs upholstered in a rust velvet, a fluted banquette with densely textured, multi-yarn weave cushions, and Delft blue ceramic wall plates by Joseph Dupré. 

It’s the kind of nook you want to sequester yourself in with a coffee and a good read.

Master bedroom

Then, in the principal bedroom, we’ve subtly carved the space into two zones – with a fairytale four poster at one end, and a comfy, lounge-y area at the other. 

The organically shaped plaster wall lights, coupled with the verdant foliage and soft wool chairs work beautifully together. 

It’s a room that transitions elegantly round the clock – by day, light, bright and revivifying and by night, soft, hushed and golden.

We created a cocooning space in the study by panelling the walls and painting them a deep midnight blue. 

It’s a calm backdrop for a gently curved oak desk, custom-made chair upholstered in dual tones of pale and dark grey leather, black and white photography by Eve Arnold, and a famously meditative portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Her majesty’s quiet composure adds a stately serenity to the space.

For guests

Both guest bedrooms have been treated to a mix of Savoir Beds, fluted wood drawers, ceramic vases, rippling plaster pendant lights, and piles of pillows, cushions and throws. 

The guest bathroom packs the final punch with a kaleidoscopically bright marbleised wallpaper.

Eliciting a happy response

Everything we sourced and had made was designed to elicit a happy response from people – so that whoever walks through the door feels compelled to inspect artwork, nestle in armchairs, luxuriate on sofas or even jump on beds.

It’s also a friendly space that doesn’t get swept up in the mythology of the building. 

We’ve exercised restraint, maintained a discriminatory eye, and wheedled out anything that evokes the building’s past too thirstily. 

Ironically, the more we edited and cross-referenced patterns, colourways, fabric choices, mixed-media art, lighting and furniture, the more effortless our choices appeared, which is what you want at the end of the day.

A riot of cultures

We pushed the brief to embrace a riot of cultures – it wasn’t a requirement, but it felt like the right thing to do. 

For while the building was designed by Scottish architects during the Edwardian era, it’s in the baroque style, an aesthetic which flourished in 17th and 18th century Europe.

In honour of this heady mix, we decided to weave multicultural flavours into our designs. 

These include a hand-knotted rug of Arabesque ornamentation; a vibrant marbleised wallpaper popular in 17C Europe; cocktail chairs upholstered in a slubbed jacquard weave based on 17C Bargello fabric; an exciting mix of British Mid-century art and American reportage photography; and a Renaissance-inspired oil painting by a Columbian-born artist.

A sensory joy 

The pieces work harmoniously together, creating pockets of pleasure throughout the apartment. 

Safe to say we’ve been inclusive in our choices, which is fitting for a building poised to greet citizens of the world.

Sustainability

We believe that one of the best ways to create a sustainable look is to invest in well-made, high quality, timeless pieces. 

When your designs respect expertly crafted furniture, soft furnishings, wall coverings, artwork – all the things that make an interior sing – there’s no reason they shouldn’t last a lifetime. 

For instance, the marble-top dining table we designed will have remarkable longevity. 

And all it will take is the application of an eco-friendly sealant every six months to prevent staining and etching.

Other pieces we designed and had made by local artisans include the wood beading, coffee table, sofas and cocktail chairs in the living room; the panelling, shelves and chairs in the study; and the banquette in the kitchen.

UK suppliers also feature large throughout the apartment, including Porta Romana, Tom Faulkner, George Smith, Julian Chichester, Savoir Beds, and Georgia Stoneman and Cavaliero Finn Gallery, who helped us to curate £100,000s’ worth of art, which we rented.

The result couldn’t have been better – as the apartment sold with all the FF&E we installed within 48 hours of being on the market. 

Nothing was wasted.

Credit list 

Entrance hall

Ecco Trading – Portland stone table; Angel O’Donnell – Bench design; CM Upholstery – Bench maker; Romo – Bench fabric; Georgia Stoneman – Artwork, including figurative painter Henrietta Dubrey, and modernist pioneer Sir Terry Frost; Italight – Custom-made Petali Chandeliers

Living-dining area

Julian Chichester – Sideboard; Angel O’Donnell – Sofa design; Fabrilli – Sofa maker; GP & J Baker House – Sofa fabric; Angel O’Donnell – Coffee table design; Fabrilli – Coffee table maker; reclaimed from old project – Coffee table shagreen leather; George Smith Furniture – Lounge chairs; Porta Romana – Console table; Ecco Trading – Oval side table; Moheb – Rug; Julian Chichester – Drinks cabinet; Angel O’Donnell – Bench seat design; Fabrilli – Bench seat maker; Studiotex – Bench seat leather; Liang & Eimil – Dining chairs; Angel O’Donnell – Cocktail chair design; Fabrilli – Cocktail chair makers; Mark Alexander – Cocktail chair velvet; Dedar Flim Flam – Cocktail chair embroidery; Lux Deco – Chandeliers; Visual Comfort – Table lamps; Eichholtz – Wall lights

Kitchen

Tom Faulkner – Breakfast table; Angel O’Donnell – Banquette design; Dan Green – Banquette maker; CM Upholstery – Banquette fabric; Vinterior – Chairs; Romo – Chair fabric; Dairo Vargas – Specially commissioned oil on canvas; Georgia Stoneman – Mid-century abstracts; Cavaliero Finn Gallery – Ceramics on table; Lux Deco – Pendant light

Principal bedroom

Julian Chichester – Four poster bed; Savoir Beds – Mattress; Mark Alexander – Headboard fabric; Furniture Brands International – Bedsides; George Smith Furniture – Lounge chairs; Romo – Fabric for lounge chairs; Lux Dec – Coffee table; Angel O’Donnell – Sofa design; CM Upholstery – Sofa maker; Mark Alexander – Sofa fabrics; Julian Chichester – Dressing table chair; Kirkby Design – Dressing table chair faux leather; Northern Lights – Pendant lights; Porta Romana – Wall lights

Guest bedroom two

Savoir Beds – Bed; Lelievre Palisse – Fabric for bed; mMark Alexander – Fabric for bed; Fiona McDonald – Chest of drawers; Julian Chichester – Bench seat; Ado – Fabric for bench; Furniture Brands International – Armchair; Vaughan – Bedside lamps; Visual Comfort – Pendant light

Guest bedroom three

Savoir Beds – Bed; Romo – Fabric for bed; Metaphores Eden – Fabric for side panels; Bedsides – Ecco Trading; Heathfield – Bedside lamps; Heathfield – Pendant light

Study

Theodore Alexander – Desk; Angel O’Donnell – Desk chair design; Fabrilli – Desk chair maker; Studiotex – Desk chair leather; Angel O’Donnell – Guest chair; Fabrilli – Guest chair maker; Reclaimed from old project – Guest chair fabric; The Rug Company – Rug; Georgia Stoneman – Eve Arnold reportage photography; Chris Levine – Queen Elizabeth II portrait; Ralph Lauren – Desk lamp

Joinery

Dan Green – Large beaded panels to living-dining area; Dan Green – Half-height panels to study

Window treatments

Angel O’Donnell – Curtain designs; Audrey Johns – Curtain makers

Awards

Trends International Design Awards (TIDA) International Interior of the Year – Finalist

Story by: Trendsideas