Inside the luxury development which aims to redefine Bloomsbury bohemia
Bloomsbury lent its name to the privileged bohemian set led by Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell at the turn of the last century, and ever since the area has cultivated an air of creative sophistication, a cultural hub of literature, law, medicine and the arts.
Now, Lincoln Square – a 17,000 sq ft, ten-storey residential development - is set to open on academia row by the end of this year and international eyes are once again landing on this central London locale.
Lodha, the developer, has assembled an impressive team for the project that includes Spanish design star Patricia Urquiola, interior designers Bowler James Brindley, landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman, and PLP Architecture has been responsible for the building itself, a sensitive scheme that blends in with its heritage location.
The building’s fa?ades in British and Portuguese sandstone respond to the scale, form and palette of the grand Victorian Gothic Royal Courts of Justice and the neo-Jacobean Land Registry building next door.
For Patricia Urquiola this will be her first residential design in London. Responsible for the amenities: a 25m pool, spa (with ice and mist showers), cinema, private club, snooker room, an on-site library and children’s play area, she has waved her magic design wand across the site and left a warm, yet glittering landscape of bronze mesh gilding, coloured glass, timber and marble.
“Our aim was to create a variety of beautiful yet unique spaces which have their own individual character yet are unified by subtle elements and themes,” she explains. “We tried to transmit the classic luxury feeling of London through a modern interpretation of materials and design shapes.”
For the pool Urquiola’s colour palette of neutral and natural colours like greys and sand lend an atmosphere of calm. “The integration of the light in the different rooms is one of the key points of the design, as we wanted to make the customers forget that the amenities are located in the basement, with no windows,” she says. “So, we created a skylight effect over the pool. In general, we give a lot of attention to the ceilings and lighting effects in each room.”
Urquiola has also created 30 limited-edition sculptural sand timers, each blown in Murano glass to celebrate the launch of the development. “It was in the process of designing various aspects of Lincoln Square that I immersed myself in the world in which this beautiful building sits - not just physically, but also in an abstract way. The development is on a rare island site with Covent Garden to the West and the City of the London to the East, and being surrounded by such a culturally rich landscape I found this very inspiring.
“We always try to adapt the design language to the location. This project made me more aware of the luxury of time, the investment we make in our education and in our understanding of culture and history,” she continues, explaining the sand timer. "The privilege we have in being able to expand our minds in these ways, is made possible by the luxury of time”
If you have that time, then a recommendation of how to spend it: grab a book, settle in to a penthouse suite, and revel in a little Bloomsbury bohemia.
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