THE right note

By playing with scale and fine-tuning the balance between form and function in this London maisonette, designer Christian Bense has composed a stunning home

- EMMA J PAGE

The idea of ‘going big or going home’ might seem counter-intuitive in space-compromised schemes, but interior designer Christian Bense knows better than most when it comes to creating a sense of generosity and scale within conservative proportions. When reworking this compact city maisonette, he had plenty of tricks in his tool kit, not least because his own London flat is also on the diminutive side.

‘I love apartment living, but I find there are a few rules when it comes to doing it well,’ he says. ‘One is to avoid limiting the use of a room to a single purpose just because it is smaller. The key is to layer up the function instead, otherwise you’ll feel the space is lacking in some way and it won’t seem like a grown-up home.’

That’s exactly the approach that the South African designer took to the renovation of this first and second floor Victorian apartment. Fortunately, he had worked on another home in the same Grade II-listed building a few years before, though its proportions and style were different. ‘Many of the apartments were renovated in the 1990s and early 2000s,’ says Christian. ‘Some retained their period features and some did not.’

In the case of this home, owned by a couple with adult children - the bones were good, characterised, says Christian, by high ceilings, big windows and high quality fixtures and fittings. ‘But in a way, it was too perfect. The walls were whitewashed; there was an overkill on mouldings and panelling, which had been retrospectively fitted, and a sense that it had not been designed for everyday life. In essence, it needed soul.’