Gregory Phillips
Published on: 2010-06-03
Gregory Phillips, BIID and RIBA, heads his own architectural and design practice in Central London. The practice, established 17 years ago, has worked on a wide variety of projects: privately owned art galleries, new hotels, restaurant and office interiors and retail stores. Phillips’ particular speciality is strikingly modern residential projects – light-filled, glamorous and comfortable houses for private clients. His range encompasses large-scale extensions, total reconstruction of interior space in period properties and the design of new contemporary houses. When planning an interior, Phillips will design bespoke furniture and storage solutions, emphasising the beauty of natural wood grain, limestone, marble and leather. Floor to ceiling glass walls reflect the beauty of changing seasons in the garden outside. Phillips is often also responsible for the landscape design. Work has extended from multi-million pound family homes in London to country retreats sensitive to the surrounding landscape. Gregory Phillips Architects has won several major design awards: the Daily Mail Best UK Interior Design, the Bentley International Interior Design of the Year, the D and D award for best Contemporary Residential Room and a civic award for outstanding new building design. For more information about Gregory Phillips, please visit www.gregoryphillips.com
What do you wish someone would have told you when you first started out?
It takes a long time both to develop your skills as an architect or designer and to find clients who want to commission the project that you want to create. I am now 45, and I feel I have found clients who want the designs I am passionate about producing.
If you would hire an interior designer, what is the first question you would ask them?
‘What is your passion?’ – I would want to know if the designer could add inspiration and commitment to fulfilling a dream.
Which aspect of your work do you find most challenging?
I try to improve the design of each project with every decision. However, traditional building contracts require you to fix everything very early on. We have now built up relationships with talented builders and craftspeople who care about the end result.
What do you do when you have a creative block?
I rely on others at my office for their creativity, so it is unlikely that all of us will have a block at the same time. And if a sketch is not working out I will leave the drawing, do something else and come back fresh.
The first thing you notice when you enter a room?
The atmosphere created by the space and light. I notice how you have to negotiate the room and the furniture when walking into it.
What is the strangest thing you have ever done for a client?
I once designed a bathroom with artist Bruce Mclean. We designed basins that looked like very sophisticated oil drums, but we forgot to find a place for the soap. So I designed a soap dish/tooth brush holder on a stand in polished stainless steel. It look
Which is your favorite room in your house and why?
I redesigned and extended my house last year. I created an open plan space that has a 10-metre-long wall of glass that looks onto a modern formal garden design. The integration of the landscape designed exterior, the architecture and the interior design g
If you could have the project of your dreams, what would it be?
We have some commissions that are close to my dream project. The ultimate would be a new house at the edge of a lake or on the sea front. I would design the landscape, buildings, interiors and furniture. To make it perfect, the client would say “Gregory,
What do you consider to be the most significant design innovation of the past 100 years?
Our houses are now designed to use as little energy as possible and to use technology to enhance the pleasure of using the house.
If you could have chosen any other profession what would it be?
Film director, but I would want to be the producer too!
What was it that most influenced your decision to become a designer?
When I was at school I was good at mathematics, but I could not see myself as a mathematician. It was an unknown challenge for me to start studying architecture. At some point I realised I could design spaces and got hooked on design.
Which celebrity’s home would you love to design and why?
Among others, I admire the work of artists Howard Hodgkin, Gerhardt Richter and Peter Doig. My favourite clients are those who allow us to create award-winning designs for them.