Throwing shapes: An apartment with a sense of flow

From the ripples in said marble to the undulating Corian used throughout, materials bring movement and metaphorical colour to Palace Court’s universally white backdrop. Sinuously biomorphic pillars encase a trio of structural columns in fibreglass, while the glacial-like kitchen island is a monolith of aforementioned Corian, all form and neatly disguised function.

Fluidity inspired the reconfiguration, explains Miska who got the keys to the apartment just before the pandemic. “When we bought it, a suspended ceiling concealed the top portion of the windows, and there were no features or architecturally interesting details to speak of,” she recalls. “So, the first thing we did was to really open the space up to enjoy the height afforded by its period framework. That’s the best thing about it – the feeling of space.”

In place of a series of once fragmented rooms, the reimagined footprint is free flowing, centred around a vast living, dining and working area that meanders into a semi-open bedroom. “It’s very organic,” explains Miska “When you make a space minimalist in this way, you allow all the elements of your life – whether that’s your furniture, book collection or artwork – to reveal who you are.”

One of the most memorable revelations here is Nicholas Alvis Vega’s evocative triptych of curvaceous crimson swirls, L’Amour (A Metaphor). “The marble has the same ergonomic shapes within it; the same fluid feel as the paintings,” she says. “They emulate each other.”

After four decades in the industry – as both a founding partner of Lovegrove Studio and now as head of her own eponymous practice, Miska’s minimalist designs often translate into encounters with a single object or material that might otherwise be overlooked. Context always comes to the fore, too. At Palace Court, sheer curtains mute rather than obscure the streetscape outside; the red brick buildings opposite providing a visual foil to the all-white, contemporary interiors. “You’re in the middle of London here, and considered design recognises how you live with those layers,” she notes.

Layering – interiors with exteriors, aesthetics with practicality – is certainly a theme. For all the apartment’s form, it’s the most functional of spaces that have given Miska scope to perfect her ideas. The bathrooms are a case in point: curving surfaces and Antonio Lupi fixtures are a seamless exercise in how to make the rooms “operational but at the same time in keeping with the overarching theme of fluidity”. Likewise, the kitchen looks more sculptural centrepiece than working hub.

Appearances, though, are deceptive. For Miska, the process of creating a space to live in means looking at the sum of its parts – metre upon metre of marble or bright white walls – in a new light. “A blank canvas doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of feeling or personality but exactly the opposite,” she observes. “Here, it’s a backdrop to life.”

Palace Court is currently for sale for £3,350,000