water music

A river was the inspiration for the serene schemes that ebb and flow beautifully in this Charu Gandhi-designed apartment

- Sean O'Connell

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THE INTERIOR

DESIGNER

Charu Gandhi, founder and director of interior design and architecture studio Elicyon.

THE PROPERTY

Single-storey apartment in one of three restored 19th-century townhouses in Knightsbridge, London. It has a living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast area, main en-suite bedroom with dressing room, plus two guest en-suite bedrooms.

The design brief presented to Charu Gandhi when asked to style a 19th-century townhouse gave her freedom to explore – and explore she did. ‘The developers had some cool must-haves they wanted but they also gave us leeway to carve out creative opportunities for ourselves.’ That took Charu on a journey of discovery that led to an unusual source of inspiration.

‘When taking on the design of a traditional property, we research the area and its history,’ she says. ‘In this case, we unearthed the fact that the location of the apartment in Knightsbridge was once simply a bridge over the “lost” Westbourne River – one of several ancient London watercourses that are now subterranean.’ Charu and her team at Elicyon design studio took that information and swam with it.