Cobalt is the colour of the moment, and this Dublin home’s interior will take your love of it to new heights!
When most people buy their first home, they want something hassle-free, with size and price the biggest factors. Then there are the few who see it as a chance to create something special, to shape the space around themselves. This was the case for Emil Patel, a Dublin-based derivatives trader. When he approached Kingston Lafferty Design, his aim was to get some help with choosing the furniture for his townhouse. Things escalated considerably.
‘The client’s brief was pretty free. He wanted a really cool house,’ explains KLD founder Róisín Lafferty. ‘This is a big investment for him. He’s travelled a lot, rented lots of properties, but he wanted something that no one else had and that’s not your traditional depiction of what a home is. It’s a pretty great starting point for us.’
KLD is used to working with period buildings that involve lots of restoration work and getting things up to modern standards with a high level of finish. This home, however, is a new build on a small development in the south of Dublin, offering the architecture studio a blank canvas.
‘The house was finished in a boring showhouse-type style and the details weren’t very good,’ recalls Róisín. ‘It was very much about making sure everything we did enhanced the house and that the execution was perfect.’
The four-storey home has two bedrooms, four bathrooms, a study, home gym (with a ping-pong table), reception rooms and even a terrace. The architects really freed themselves with this project and, together with their open-minded, trusting client, went on to complete the home within just four months.
The intervention was total: walls, stairs, floors and even ceilings got the KLD treatment, and the result is a uniquely bold interior with a theatrical flair. ‘Because we were given so much freedom, I started to think about the space like installation art and set design,’ says Róisín. ‘I wanted to create more interjections so it didn’t look like we came in and just decorated it.’
With marble archways and graphic perspectives created by floor-to-ceiling mirrors, every corner makes a statement. One of the most extraordinary elements is the staircase, a cobalt-blue design that streaks through the four floors like an electrified central core. Previously it had been a combination of plain glass, concrete and timber, but Róisín saw its potential.
‘We stripped it back to its bare bones and wrapped it in tinted blue glass, combined with blue mirror in the kitchen, so wherever you look, it feels like this glowing blue box,’ she explains. ‘The impact of it can be felt on every floor. It’s this dramatic spaceship-like creation.’
The level of finish achieved in such a short time is a testament to the artisans who worked on this project, as well as to the design team who invented this dream house. But the biggest plaudit should go to its owner, who had the courage to trust the professionals he chose to deliver a uniquely fun home. kingstonlaffertydesign.com
